The term mentoring has traditionally been associated with mentors being senior in age and experience. However, as more people are entering the workforce or changing career paths at midlife, it is becoming increasingly common for the mentor to be close in age or younger than their protégé. There has been limited research that has examined the affects and outcomes of non-traditional age relationships in mentoring. The aim of the current study was to shed light on the limited existing literature surrounding the role of age in mentoring. Specifically, it aimed to investigate how age affects mentoring relationships in an academic setting, and what factors may be contributing to this. Participants consisted of students enrolled in postgraduate academic papers (Masters Dissertation, Masters Thesis and PhD) and their assigned academic supervisor. In total, 95 students and 89 supervisors were recruited from three universities with a total of 80 matched student and supervisor pairs. Two surveys were developed, one for postgraduate students and one for their academic supervisors. The student’s survey consisted of demographic questions, a measure of psychosocial and career mentor functions, and a measure of student competence. The supervisor’s survey consisted of demographic information, a measure of psychosocial and career mentor functions, and a measure of human capital investment. The results of the research indicate that within an academic setting, age difference does not have any aversive affects on the processes found in mentoring relationships. In future, mentoring literature needs to expand the conceptualization of mentors and protégés to encompass the increasing existence of varying age relationships. This would enable research to identify the challenges and unique strengths associated with age diversity in mentor relationships.

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Background: There is a direct emphasis on interprofessional learning and interprofessional education (IPE) at the accreditation and national level (IPE, 2016). There are, however, no studies on the effectiveness in the delivery of interprofessional collaboration in the academic setting, specific to occupational therapy assistant students. Therefore, the following research has been developed to address this area of need in occupational therapy assistant education. Methods: This research was conducted in the academic setting, through a simulated lab-based case with occupational therapy assistant and physical therapist assistant students as the participants. The perceived confidence and communication were measured through a pre and post survey using the Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (IEPS). Qualitative data was collected 10 months after the IP event in the form of a focus group. Results: Twenty-three students participated in the interprofessional event. The quantitative results while using a paired samples t-test indicated that IEPS pre-test mean scores (M = 90.08) were significantly different than the IEPS post-test mean scores (M = 97.95), (t [23] = 5.57, p < .001). The qualitative finding results resulted in the following themes: collaboration, building confidence and effective communication skills, during the IPE event, and student reflection of IPE. Conclusions: Many health program accreditation bodies include IPE within their educational standards. The results of this one-day interprofessional event demonstrated that the participants showed an improvement in their perceptions of affective domain components within an interdisciplinary education program. The results were IEPS and all four subscales within the IEPS were statistically significant indicating that student learning occurred in all domains. Occupational therapy assistant faculty need to continue to seek creative avenues to support and incorporate IPE in the academic setting to better prepare OT practitioners to work collaboratively in the workplace and with the clients they serve.