The Talking Points Tool: A Brief Intervention to Support Predoctoral Student and Faculty Advisor Communication

Excellent relationships between predoctoral students and faculty supervisors can lay the foundation for a satisfying degree program and productive future. Contrarily, poor relationships can frustrate both students and supervisors. We examined mentoring experiences focused on career development. Students desired enhanced career mentoring but were uncomfortable approaching their supervisors with these concerns. Faculty advisors reported willingness to support students’ career development, yet expected students to initiate those conversations. Responding to this communication disconnect, we developed a brief intervention to facilitate conversations—a Talking Points Tool (TPT). In this paper, we examine whether the TPT influenced students’ career conversations and development.