Athena SWAN/TRIGGER Mentoring June 2016
Context: in 2014/2015 and then 2015/2016, TRIGGER in collaboration with Birkbeck HR and Athena SWAN developed a mentoring programme aimed at academics.
Conclusions from 2015/2016 sessions from the flip chart, the talk and the feedback forms:
The programme needs to be more clearly delineated with rationale and expanded. We need to assess all the existing mentoring programmes within the college and their purpose.
It is as important to meet the mentors as to meet the other mentees since both type of exchange is as vital (peer to peer mentoring).
Key mentoring means: network exchange, new perspectives, discussions, dissemination of knowledge and learning.
Key steps is to have everyone participating in the mentoring programme ( mentee and mentor) in a compulsory one session (that cannot be missed as it may jeopardise the programme) on the purpose of the program and the objectives setting of the future mentoring sessions.
If during the programme, the couple has less than 3 mentoring meetings, it will be unsuccessful.
We may need to list a code of conduct for mentee and mentors e.g. mentors need to be supportive as well as give practical help.
It is important that the mentoring programme be recognised in the workload model for the academic as it is taking time from the day-to-day work.
Appendix 1: Session Flipchart
1. Surprises
Mentor:
- Understanding the vulnerability of people on short term contract
- How enjoyable it was/how little time it took
- How useful my own experience was for others
- Differences between disciplines
- Needed subject specific advice
- Could indicate lack of support
- Some generic areas were covered
- Insight into quite how competitive her subject area is
- Was able to use position of influence to bring a useful resource.
Mentee:
- Meeting with mentees really beneficial
- “deep work” book from mentor
- That advice from someone outside of our department would be so positive though sometimes equally negative
- Honest opinion made me reflect on my work and areas that were a problem that I hadn’t entirely considered before
- Structural problems across college, not departmental Systemic problems
- Across generations, discovering this is a difficult time to be an academic
- Difficult to make Athena a priority but those are systemic problems
2. Disappointment
Mentee:
- Expected more supportive rather than practical help
- Identified problems that they couldn’t help with and you then needed help from someone in own dept (but don’t have access to) or in similar situation (i.e. post maternity leave)
- Difficult to meet when work part time.
- Responsibility put on the individual at a difficult time, knowing we are not reciprocating support
Mentor:
- Powerless to help
- Not meeting as much as expected/feeling the need to chase
- How isolating Birkbeck can be for people
- Lack of Time
3. Programme impact
Mentor:
- Opened my eyes to a need to re-evaluate How we interact with sessional lecturer in our dept
- Understanding challenges facing early career academics in short term contracts + what they need to know.
- Gained more confidence as a mentor (also outside Athena swan)
- Feels fulfilling to be helpful
- It went very well
- Met 3 times good pairing
- Frequency of meeting (some only once)
- Limited impact
- Listening to my own advice
- Is this a deficit model?
Mentee:
- Thinking strategically about my progression through Birkbeck in term of promotion/research teaching admin support missing in the department/school
- Identify
- Help me (my first year) to settle in at Birkbeck, better than my expectation.
- The meeting with other mentees was the most helpful part in many ways and helped to feel less isolated.
- Nice to have someone to talk to
- Expected better pairing with mentor in terms of similar career trajectory
- The process put a bit of extra pressure on me, pressure to perform
- Finding ways to create time for meetings
- Someone to meet + talk to but this didn’t change the situation
- Generating have wildly different experience (advice might be time limited)
- Having a focus or specific agenda for the conversations