Students navigating the tension between support and assessment in mentoring: an ethnographic case study across disciplines

Purpose This study centres on the tension between support and assessment in mentoring, exploring how students experience and manage the tension during extended internships. Design/methodology/approach Using an ethnographic case study approach, we shadowed seven mentor–student dyads in teacher education and medical education over the course of an internship period, through observations, interviews, audio diaries and document analysis. Data were analysed using an integration of positioning theory and frame analysis. Findings Findings indicate that students experienced the tension with different intensity, depending on the topic, the students’ and mentors’ developing expectations and the progression over time. Their experience of the tension informs how they navigate it: by focusing on regulating the self, the mentor or their performance. Originality/value The three navigation foci suggest that students do not passively undergo the tension and that the tension is potentially productive in terms of their development and learning. The experiences and navigation foci were not determined by the formal regulations of the programme. Rather than eliminating this tension, programmes should support students and mentors in engaging with the navigation foci.