Mentoring
What is mentoring?
Mentoring is a supportive and non-judgmental relationship in which a more experienced individual undertakes to help a less experienced individual to fulfill their potential and ambitions. In essence it is a relationship which will facilitate and lead to career development.
Mentoring may help you with:
- your career planning and development
- considering your future options, aspirations, strategies and decisions
- current work issues
- reviewing your skills, experience and achievements
- your work/life balance
Types of mentoring
- One to one mentoring is the most common form of mentoring. These mentoring relationships can be formal, e.g. the mentor has been assigned a mentee, or informal when a mentee has approached the mentor. Often one to one mentoring is usually conducted through face to face meetings, but it can also be done via telephone email/electronic communications.
- Mentoring circles are a collection of mentoring relationships that meets on a regular basis for an agreed upon length of time.
How to get mentoring
- You can find yourself an individual mentor.
- You can join the appropriate mentoring scheme offered by the University of Bath.
Schemes in Bath
- All academics on probation are allocated a mentor by HR/their department as stated in QA9 section 7.
- Pilot: Mentoring Circles in the Faculty of Science: mentoring circles offer an opportunity to discuss issues that relate to your career development, work and work/life balance in a confidential environment
- Pilot: Mentoring Circles for BAME staff
- Peer mentoring scheme for PhD students
Terminology:
On these pages the term ‘mentee’ is used to described the less experienced member of staff whilst the term ‘mentor’ describes the more experienced member of staff.
