This post was part of a broader initiative that uses a “chat-to-blog” model to help students explore complex ideas through structured, collaborative argument. We tackle a wide range of topics – from biology and evolution to culture, ethics, and the nature of science itself. One person poses a provocative question, we engage in a free-flowing but focused discussion in a Google chat group, and then co-author a blog post that distills our thinking into a concise narrative. 

Along the way, I occasionally introduce formal frameworks or theoretical lenses – whether from science, philosophy, or professional development – to deepen the conversation and challenge assumptions. In this case, Kram’s model of mentorship helped frame a debate about the effectiveness of Jedi vs. Sith mentoring styles in Star Wars.

The purpose isn’t to “win” the argument, but to wrestle with ambiguity, practice synthesis, and get comfortable in the grey areas – where most meaningful questions live. The final product reflects the collaborative nature of both the process and the ideas.

This post in particular collaborative synthesis emerged from a discussion among two students, a postdoc and two faculty members.

Effective Mentorship (in a Galaxy Far, Far Away)

Benjamin Acosta¹, Erin McKenney², Aram Mikaelyan³, Autumn Sylvestri⁴, Aurora Toennisson³

(Author names listed alphabetically)

¹Undergraduate Biology Major, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
²Department of Applied Ecology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, North Carolina State University
³Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, North Carolina State University
⁴College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, The Ohio State University

A recent group discussion about Star Wars mentoring relationships started with a simple question: “Who’s your favorite mentor in the series?” Most of the usual names came up – Obi-Wan, Yoda, Kanan – but then someone brought up Sidious (certainly not admirable in moral terms, but could he be considered as a structurally effective mentor?). This led us down an unexpected path: What do we actually mean by mentorship? And do any of the Star Wars mentors, Jedi or Sith, match what mentoring theory suggests these relationships should look like?

The Star Wars universe presents a surprisingly varied range of mentoring relationships. On the light side, Jedi masters train young apprentices (called Padawans) through a formal and ethical process. On the dark side, Sith Lords cultivate successors through manipulation, secrecy, and power struggles. Jedi apprenticeships, Sith successions, informal alliances, and manipulative grooming all co-exist within a single narrative system. This variety makes it a useful setting to apply Kathy Kram’s four-phase model of mentorship, a well-established framework used to describe the development of mentoring relationships in organizational contexts:

1. Initiation – forming a connection between mentor and mentee
2. Cultivation – ongoing guidance and support
3. Separation – increasing independence and growing apart
4. Redefinition – evolving the relationship, often into something more peer-like

Jedi Mentorships: Structured but Rigid

Many Jedi mentorships follow the early phases of Kram’s model closely. Take Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker (the future Darth Vader) or Yoda and Luke Skywalker for example; they both begin with structured initiation and periods of cultivation. The Jedi Order provides institutional scaffolding for these relationships – clear hierarchies, training stages, and rites of passage.

However, these relationships often struggle with the later phases. Emotional suppression, overindexed focus on duty, and a reluctance to embrace autonomy that often leads to challenges in separation and redefinition. Anakin never achieves a healthy separation from Obi-Wan, and Luke leaves Yoda before a true redefinition can occur (Yoda did provide some great philosophical guidance to Luke, but more as a crash course than an extended mentorship. Literally – Luke leaves mid-training). These relationships demonstrate how institutional mentorship can stall when psychosocial development is underemphasized.

Sith Mentorships: Autonomy Without Support

Sith mentorships invert the structure. Relationships such as that of  Darth Bane (who founded the Sith tradition known as the “Rule of Two” – a Sith principle dictating that only two Sith should exist at a time – master and apprentice) and Zannah or Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious (later the Emperor) follow initiation and cultivation with the explicit goal of the apprentice eventually surpassing – and replacing – the master. 

In terms of Kram’s model, these relationships often do proceed through separation and redefinition, but through coercion, violence, and mutually assured betrayal (usually accompanied by light sabers and a lot of lightning).

What they lack is the psychosocial dimension. Sith mentorships rarely offer sustained emotional or identity support. Instead, they function as high-stakes succession mechanisms. While they may fulfill the structural phases of mentorship, they fall short of supporting the full development of the mentee as envisioned in Kram’s theory.

Kreia/Darth Traya: A Rare Exception

A lesser-known but telling example comes from the video game Knights of the Old Republic II. Kreia (also known as Darth Traya), mentors a character known only as the Jedi Exile. Their relationship closely follows Kram’s full arc: Kreia initiates a bond grounded in mutual interest, cultivates growth through philosophical and practical challenges, and eventually steps back, allowing the Exile to form independent conclusions.

Kreia’s mentorship is not conventionally supportive – she withholds guidance as often as she offers it – but it is structured to produce independence. Her effectiveness, in terms of Kram’s model, lies not in warmth or authority, but in the clarity of her role and the space she creates for mentee growth. She doesn’t want clones. She wants you to question everything, including her. She intentionally withholds comfort to force intellectual independence. She’s the mentor who pushes you to kill your gods – figuratively. Ironically, despite being Sith, she’s one of the few mentors who actually completes Kram’s four-phase arc and leaves the mentee stronger than herself.

Application to Academic Mentorship

These fictional relationships offer a useful parallel to mentoring in academic settings. Like the Jedi, academic institutions often provide clear initiation and cultivation structures – advising meetings, research guidance, professional development. But they can fall short in facilitating separation and redefinition, particularly when mentors struggle to release authority or adapt to changing mentee needs.

Alternatively, relationships that emphasize autonomy without support – mirroring Sith dynamics – may produce technically capable mentees, but at the cost of emotional strain, burnout, or ethical compromise.

Kreia’s model, though embedded in a morally ambiguous context, suggests a version of mentorship that combines intellectual challenge with structural clarity. It underscores the value of mentorship that is intentionally designed to dissolve – not through rupture, but through the mentee’s readiness to move on.
(And ideally without anyone being thrown down a reactor shaft.) 

Takeaway

Applying Kram’s model to Star Wars highlights a central insight:

Effective mentorship is not defined by power, prestige, or even good intentions – it is defined by whether the relationship enables the mentee to grow, gain autonomy, and ultimately reshape the relationship without coercion or dependence.

Even for those unfamiliar with the Star Wars universe, the exaggerated dynamics within it help clarify key questions about how mentorship succeeds—or fails—across contexts. Whether in fiction, academia, or industry, mentors who succeed are those who prepare their mentees not to follow, but to surpass them.