Top 10 tips for a successful mentoring scheme for researchers

All you need to know about setting up and running a mentoring scheme for researchers in a handy top 10 tips list. Chair of the mentoring committee, Dr Nicola Englyst, shares her personal and institutional experience.

"In the Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Southampton, we have an active mentoring scheme. It was initially set up for early career researchers over 10 years ago and, more recently, opened to PhD students and all staff.

During this time we have transitioned from an under-used scheme to an active and well-used scheme, and continue to devise innovative methods to improve. The mentoring scheme formed a crucial part of our successful Faculty Athena Swan Silver award application.

One

Active support from the senior management team is essential. Our Dean and Associate Deans are all on our list of mentors, and I know people seek mentoring from them when appropriate. This sends a strong message that mentoring is part of our culture, and that it is acceptable to seek and take the time to partake in mentoring (either as a mentee or as a mentor)

Two

Diversity in mentors, with a variety of professional and personal backgrounds, is a benefit. Each mentoring relationship is unique, based upon the individuals involved, the needs of the mentee and the mentor’s skills and experiences. Personal rapport is crucial.

Three

Match mentors carefully with mentees. We found that people were overwhelmed by the number of mentors on our database, and even with a search function they found it daunting to identify a mentor. We therefore introduced a mentoring matching service where I meet with mentees for 15 minutes to find out what they would like from a mentor, and during the meeting I send an email to them with 4 possible mentor names on it. We received great feedback from these sessions.

Four

Tell people how to contact a mentor. I recommend sending an email. Make it as easy for them as possible by giving them the wording. Suggest they have a one off meeting initially and then if there is a rapport then ask to meet again in a longer term mentoring relationship.

Five

Advertise everywhere and all the time. I give talks at all staff induction events, at academic unit events, at the early career researcher induction events, during the PhD student induction week, at our Faculty annual research conference and anywhere else I am invited (or can wangle an invitation to!). We also have leaflets which we distribute. We found uptake was very slow for the first few years- but remember it is not all about numbers but about the quality of mentoring and the effect on individuals.

Six

Don’t make mentoring compulsory. You only end up with disgruntled mentors who are being made to do it, being “matched” with unenthusiastic mentees who have nothing in common with them. True mentoring should be a professional relationship between two people with the right attitude and motivation.

Seven

Offer your mentors and mentees training. We run an annual training event that last 3 hours including a nice networking lunch. We explain what mentoring is, that the mentee should be doing the work, and that the mentor should help them think through their decisions rather than dictate the solution to them. We do some practical exercises using some basic mentoring tools. We also run rapid refresher sessions (30 minutes) and specific training for our maternity/paternity/adoption mentors.

Eight

Initiate peer mentoring groups. Our experience is that these are best supported with tea and cakes, and are a successful way of helping people move forward to the next stage in their career.

Nine

Offer a dual level mentoring service: long term mentoring is the gold standard but encouraging people to meet with a mentor once for a specific purpose (for example to talk about applying for a fellowship) is also useful.

Ten

Be creative and innovative, and modify what you offer in response to the changing work environment. Don’t be afraid to try something new (we were not sure about the mentoring matching service but decided to try it out and it has been a great success). Be enthusiastic and have passion!"

Dr Englyst is Chair of the Mentoring Scheme, Associate Professor and Programme Leader for MSc Diabetes Best Practice in the Faculty of Medicine.  This article is also published on Vitae.