Mentoring

7 – Providing Ongoing Support

Ongoing support may be through continued mentoring, which was also suggested during the pre-application stage.

It is important to weigh up the possible pros and cons of whether to make mentoring a mandatory scheme or not.

Pros can include ensuring all are given equitable opportunities to learn more about your institution, how to manage a funded grant, how to network and give a crucial boost to people who often face barriers to inclusion. These same people may slip through the cracks if mentoring is not made mandatory, since they could be less likely to advocate for themselves in securing a mentor.

However, it is also true that for some people, mentoring can take valuable time which would be better spent in other ongoing support such as staff networks. In general,

Ensure that you discuss with the individual who would make the best mentor for them
Ensure the chosen mentor is agreeable and makes initial contact with the mentee
Leave it up to the mentee to decide on how they engage with the opportunity (or not)

It should be made clear to all concerned that the mentor-mentee relationship is not an alternative form of performance monitoring and that mentoring conversations are confidential.

There are many sources of guidance for mentoring. See for example the GROW model, which can be used to help a mentee develop a plan to achieve a stated goal. It structures conversations around a mentee’s

Goal
Their current Reality
Their Options
What they Will do now to achieve their goal

Likewise, the Wheel of Life (a diagram mentees complete to indicate their satisfaction with different aspects of their life/career) can be used as a visual tool to assist with discussion of more personal issues, or allow comparisons of issues over time.

SECTION 7: Providing Ongoing Support

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