Mentoring
Retaining Scientific Excellence through Mentoring
Click here for an update on the current status of mentoring in Trinity College
What is mentoring?
Mentoring is a formal, confidential relationship between two people which is designed to:
“Support and encourage people to manage their own learning in order that they may maximise their potential, develop their skills, improve their performance and become the person they want to be.”
(Eric Parsloe, Oxford School of Coaching and Mentoring)
WiSER launched its pilot mentoring programme for the academic year 2008 - 2009. This pioneering programme aimed to give a group of 20 early-career academics an exciting opportunity to fast-track their careers by pairing them with a more senior academic who could offer support, advice and guidance.
Mentoring provides a positive opportunity for women at early stages in their careers to make connections with other academics in College, and to access the information they need to advance. It can be especially beneficial to women who work in fields where they are in a minority, such as academic SET, as these women may have less access to informal opportunities that occur among their male colleagues. Mentoring can counterbalance this, and has proven to be an effective tool in retaining and advancing women in academia
The WiSER programme has successfully matched 20 women postdoctoral research fellows and lecturers with mentors. The mentors and mentees received initial training, and at present we are conducting a review of the programme development and strengths.
Objectives
The WiSER Mentoring Programme aims to:
- Retain scientific excellence in College by providing a one-on-one facility for professional and personal development and support to women academics
- Provide women with a structure which will encourage active decision-making about their careers and assist them in planning the next steps
- Create diverse communities across schools by connecting academics from varying disciplines
Key Features of the WiSER Mentoring Programme
- Established as a one-year long pilot programme
- 20 partnerships were formed and meet one-to-one on a regular basis
- Female mentees were matched with either female or male mentors as requested
- All mentees were paired with a mentor at a more senior career stage and from a different school than the mentee’s own.
- The partnerships are mentee-led, and as such the topics covered and the pace maintained are driven by the mentee.
April 2010: Update on the Status of Mentoring in Trinity College
Mentoring for academic staff has now been mainstreamed within Trinity College. The WiSER Mentoring Programme has provided the basis for the new scheme, called the Early Career Mentoring Initiative. The Staff Development Unit will run the new initative, and WiSER will continue to support it.
To find out more about the Early Career Mentoring Initiative, click here to visit the Staff Development website.