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In master's theses it is common to state two people who oversaw or should have overseen the project.

It is common that only one of these engaged himself with the student's work. At my university these two are the same who decide the final grade of the work.

If only one of them was regularly supporting you in your work and the other just participates in the grade-finding, does this this justify the use of the word "mentor" and if so, could both be stated "mentors" on paper ?

Or let's put it easier. Would you call these two within your thesis at the site they are just listed "mentors" or "supervisors" ?

thanks a lot.

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  • If it was necessary to distinguish the two words - perhaps because you've just been told "X is your supervisor, and Y is your mentor", and you want to know the implications for your future relationships with the two people - you should probably just assume the mentor will more actively engage with your ongoing education on a regular basis, and the supervisor will only intervene on a less frequent (and more formal) basis.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jun 24, 2014 at 15:21
  • I've only seen this listed as a committee and the [committee] chair as in: There were 3 people on my wife's dissertation committee and her chair was the one who provided close guidance throughout the effort.
    – Jim
    Commented Jun 24, 2014 at 15:50
  • @FumbleFingers It is important to note that the words mentor and supervisor have quite different meanings. Supervision suggests a level of authority over the subject. A 'mentor' is defined by Oxford Dictionaries as 'an experienced and trusted adviser'.
    – WS2
    Commented Jun 24, 2014 at 15:53
  • @WS2: Of course. But if I were in OP's position, and I only had the two people he describes available to cite as "references", things might be a little different. If some organisation's application form required two names in a "mentors" box, I'd put them both there. If the box was headed "instructors" I'd still put them both in. But if both boxes were present (and only required one entry in each) I'd fill them in as described.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jun 24, 2014 at 16:12
  • @ FumbleFingers I realize I wasn't clear. There has to be a page where both are listed under one title. So my question is what to use as a title for both. "Mentors:" or "Supervisors" I would tend towards "supervisors" but I would like to know what is more common in english speaking areas. If anyone cares to put a cognate comment within an answer I would gladly vote up by the way
    – pidoretroma
    Commented Jun 24, 2014 at 16:17

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I'm assuming you're fully capable of figuring out the difference between a mentor and a supervisor. In the situation you've described it's definitely more descriptive to refer to one individual as a mentor and the other as supervisor. In application you should follow whatever is conventional within the context of the institution. If the role the 'supervisor' is filling is generally referred to as mentor then that is the name of the role; regardless of how well the word describes the reality.

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