This article describes changes in student–teacher relations in the context of academic institutions and variation in methods of teaching. On the basis of empirical research (interviews conducted currently among employees of Polish institutions of higher learning and analysis of source materials concerning the past) the authors advance the thesis that the figure of the mentor—which was once associated with scholarship and academic institutions—has ceased to have meaning for contemporary scholars. Instead of mentors, persons who are called “quasi-mentors” have appeared; they act temporarily as guides for young scholars and most often perform only one of the functions formerly fulfilled by mentors (for instance, organizers of academic life, seekers for research funds, promoters of doctoral theses, etc.). The authors consider that these alterations have been caused by general processes of economic, technological, political, and axiological change.
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