D11 Workshop summary and outcomes

Effective mentoring schemes for researchers

Dr Denise Best and John Kirwan, University of Oxford Careers service

Overview

Creating effective mentoring schemes can be challenging, but the rewards significant. Successful schemes offer opportunities for both mentors and mentees to explore a different perspective and make lasting and valuable personal networks which can influence and shape an individual's career.

This workshop introduced a case study of a scheme piloted at the University of Oxford, funded by the Centre for Excellence in Preparing for Academic Practice (CETL) called Career Accelerator . The scheme was designed for aspiring academics, creating opportunities to explore different research environments and the different skill sets that might be expected by other academic institutions. It achieved this by linking doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers (as mentees) with Oxford alumni working in a different UK university (as academic mentors).

The session covered:

• approaches to recruitment
• learning outcomes for both participants and the scheme organisers
• evaluation and potential impact of a mentoring scheme
• next steps and sustainability
• exploring if this example can be transferred into other environments or sectors.

Presentation summary

The Oxford Career Accelerator  Programme (Pilot Programme) began in October 2007. It linked 15 research students and staff to the support of more experienced academic mentors from outside the University of Oxford over a six-month period.

The definition of mentoring employed by the project was:

Mentors are people who, through their action and work, help others to achieve their potential" GF Shea, Mentoring: A guide to the basics

Key features of the scheme's structure were:

• opening event comprised separate workshops for each group, who then met each other
• two interim workshops for mentees
• progress periodically checked by e-mail with mentors and mentees
• final event had similar structure to opening event
• participants were paid travel expenses and catering was provided.

Evaluation was conducted by observers from Oxford Learning Institute at each event. There was also a participant questionnaire at the closing event. Feedback from both mentors and mentees was very positive; the programme will run again in 2008-09.

Discussion outcomes

Participants gained a clearer understanding of issues relating to mentoring schemes for postgraduate researchers and research staff, including shared definitions of mentoring.

The workshop focus on one mentoring scheme geared particularly towards researchers seeking to pursue academic careers led to identification of practical issues, processes, and scope for development.

Outlining the resources used for the mentoring scheme at Oxford was helpful for those participants embarking on mentoring schemes to promote researcher careers.

View the D11 presentation slides