Some Issues in Mentoring

The following comments and issues on mentoring were prepared by Phil Race, Programme Director of the Certificate in Teaching in Higher Education at the University of Durham, UK (1996). Comments on some of the questions raised can be found in the comments archive.

What's Mentoring?

Most people's view of Mentoring is as a process whereby new people are helped into an organisation or system, or backed-up regarding their own personal or professional development.

The person who does the supporting may be called a Mentor (or may still do the supporting but have no such title!). Most people are someone's Mentor in fact, whether they know it or not. Everyone needs a Mentor, and most of us have one or more.

The person being supported may be called the 'Mentee'. There are several other terms which have been used, including 'Mentoree' and 'Protege', and it really does not matter which term we choose to adopt - but for brevity and consistency let's stick with 'Mentee' in this debate.

Essentially, a Mentor is usually regarded as some combination of 'a trusted colleague' and 'a critical friend'. But how would you define a mentor?

Who can be mentor?

It could be said that the best mentors are born, not made! Some people seem to have an innate talent for providing the informal, yet authoritative support that is most useful to less-experienced colleagues. Let's think of the case of Mentor support for new teaching staff in a university or college. There are several options regarding who should do the mentoring. Each option has its own pros and cons, some of which may be included in the comments already presented here, but more important ideas will be coming from you we hope!

Mentors chosen by head of department
This is quite a common approach in those universities which already implement mentoring. The advantages include that the mentoring is legitimised and may even be duly rewarded in terms of time allocation. Disadvantages include that inevitably some choices are unsatisfactory - not everyone can be a good mentor. Some staff are just to busy with teaching or research to devote enough time to mentoring; some are too judgmental and intimidate their mentees; some never manage to achieve the 'trusted' status, or the 'friend' part of 'critical friend'. Another disadvantage is that mentees can feel that their mentor has been imposed upon them, and is therefore part of the system, making it difficult to achieve an open and informal relationship. A further problem is that some heads of department may place mentoring duties on staff who are underutilised for one reason or another - not usually a sensible decision. The most effective mentors are often the hardest-pressed, busiest members of the department!

Volunteer mentors
This can work well, providing the volunteering is done for the best of motives. Simply wishing to please a head of department (or appease!) is not a good enough motive. That said, it is much better to have willing mentors than pressed ones. It is important that having volunteered, mentors are provided with sufficient insight and training, so that they know what they are taking on, and how to approach fulfilling the mentor role.

Probably the greatest danger with systems that depend on volunteer mentors is that there may be no come-back should situations arise where mentors are not doing a good job. No-one can be blamed very much for something going wrong if they have volunteered to do it in the first place, and they are getting no recompense or reward for doing it anyway!

Mentors chosen by mentees This can work well. The word quickly gets around regarding who is a good mentor and who is not-so-good. There is also the advantage that when mentees choose their mentors, they are probably more willing to take their advice and guidance seriously. However, there can be problems. Those with the reputation as good mentors become seriously overstretched, with everyone wanting them as their mentors. Also, there can be a tendency, having chosen a mentor, for the mentee to feel that the mentor should be flattered or grateful, and this can lead to the relationship losing the essential characteristic of objectivity.

What does a mentor do?

In essence, mentoring is about supporting mentees, encouraging them, helping them to keep going, and helping them to deal with obstacles or problems. Mentors may serve mentees well by doing a selection of the things listed below (though don't imagine a single Mentor doing all of these at the same time):

• simply being available for a chat - face-to-face or on the telephone;
• smiling, encouraging, being optimistic about development programme or processes being undergone by mentees;
• helping mentees feel good about what they have already achieved;
• helping mentees keep to deadlines and schedules. The simple fact that someone may ask you 'are you going to have a particular task ready by next Friday?' is a powerful incentive not to be in the position of saying 'I'm afraid not!'
• helping mentees with bits of their work that temporarily have 'stopped them in their tracks';
• 'knowing someone who can' when they can't offer direct help themselves;
• helping mentees plan their work, for example agreeing targets and deadlines;
• giving mentees informal feedback on work they do as they develop their teaching or research. Feedback from mentors may not be as authoritative as that from line managers, but it provides a useful 'first reaction' to mentees' work.
• helping mentees to get the most out of feedback and advice from other colleagues or from students;
• making learning 'more possible', for example by providing time, space, and facilities which mentees may need to do some of their learning in their day-to-day work;
• asking simply 'how it it going?'. The fact that someone will ask this is a powerful motivator; mentees don't want to have to reply 'well, nothing much is happening at present'.
• helping mentees 'maintain their want'; when mentees are going through a difficult part of their own development, mentors can gently remind them of the value of the final goals, and that tough parts are only to be expected, and 'a problem is only a problem until you know how to solve it', and so on.
• cultivating mentees' feelings 'go on - you can do it', 'you're not on your own', and that 'there's at least someone rooting for you'.

Who needs mentoring?

Mentoring is increasingly used as a support and development process in the world of business, commerce and industry, as well as in education contexts. Mentees can be just about everyone. However, in the context of universities and colleges, mentees fall into a number of distinct categories. Let us consider teaching staff first:

• new lecturers during the first year or two of their first teaching post;
• experienced lecturers joining a university or college from elsewhere;
• lecturers in their first teaching post, coming into higher education from commerce, industry, or the professions.
• lecturers who for one reason or another need help and support, and may benefit from the support and guidance which a good Mentor may provide.

In universities and colleges, there are others who can benefit, including:

• library staff;
• research students and research assistants;
• teaching assistants;
• technical support staff;
• administrative support staff.

Should mentors be involved in assessment?

In some Mentoring schemes, as well as being a supporter, critical friend, trusted colleague, and so on, Mentors are required to play a more formal role, and be involved in the assessment of the development of their Mentees. This sometimes happens simply because with their close knowledge of the work of their Mentees they are regarded as being well placed to make judgments and evaluations.

However, many people express concern at Mentors having anything to do with assessment, and see this involving a conflict with the primary purposes of mentoring, or a compromising of the trust relationship that is intended. What do you think?

Please share your own views about whether Mentors should be involved in assessment. If you have experience of where such involvement has worked well - or worked badly - please send in your headlines on the issue now.

Should mentors be involved in probation?

Involvement of Mentors in probation touches similar issues to those raised in our debate about whether Mentors should be involved in assessment. However, there are differences too. For example, Mentors may be in a most effective position to support Mentees in the context of probation. But what would happen if they found themselves unable to be supportive?

The whole issue of probationary processes is becoming more critical. New staff (whether administrative, support, technical or academic) in universities and colleges normally have some period of probation, after which (if successful) their contracts may be renewed. This is normally fine as long as the probationer is successful! Sometimes, the probationer is not! What does a Mentor do in such circumstances? On whose side, then, does a Mentor end up? Please contribute if you have experience or ideas on this.

Please share your experience of the part Mentors can, or should, play in probationary processes. Please tell us of any problems this may have caused (don't name names of course!). Please tell us of any successful solutions to such problems that you know about.

What training may mentors need?

Mentors are usually busy people. They are often senior people in the organisation or context involved. They are often highly professional people. They may not think they need any training, or they may think they know everything they need to know about being a Mentor just because of who they are, where they are, where they've been, and what they do. Even if they recognise that some Mentor training may help them, they may be too busy to find the time, or they may question who has the gall to think that they can train such accomplished people!

Let's look at some of the qualities seen as relevant to being a good Mentor.

A successful Mentor should be:

• interested in being a Mentor.
• a person with stimulating ideas.
• someone interested in discussing others' ideas.
• someone with skills to exchange.
• supportive of change - personal, institutional, educational.
• able to adapt to change in time to influence and control future developments.
• able and willing to give time to the relationship to allow it to develop.
• ready to share concerns with other Mentors.
• a coach rather than a counsellor.
• open, inspiring trust and confidentiality.
• encouraging, helping mentees to value their own work and development.
• focused in approach, sharing clear aims, goals or objectives.
• able to inspire confidence.
• deserving respect, but not demanding respect.
• able to cut bureaucracy where there are no adverse consequences.
• engendering mutual respect in the mentoring relationship.

This is not an exhaustive list! You may well think of more qualities that Mentors need to develop. But how can this process be helped?

What sorts of Mentor training have you been involved in? What sorts of Mentor training do you think are most needed? Please send us your ideas now.

What mentoring strategies do institutions use?

Each organisation or institution has its own ethos and structures, and the shape of mentoring provision is necessarily different in every place. For an illustration of a starting-point towards a strategy for implementing Mentoring, here are some suggestions for the particular needs of a university-based mentoring scheme.

• there should be direct involvement (or demonstrated commitment) of senior management, who may be able to act as role models in the scheme.
• training needs to be provided both for mentors and mentees.
• there should be clear management structures for directing the scheme.
• the scheme should be reviewed and evaluated regularly.
• the scheme should be monitored in ways that allow the tangible benefits to be identified and valued.
• the scheme should be well understood within the department or university, so that staff (whether mentors or mentees) feel a sense of ownership of the successes linked to the scheme.

Please now add any further recommendations based on your own good (or bad!) experience of mentoring schemes.

Please send in your suggestions regarding strategies for making sure that Mentoring schemes actually work in practice.

How is mentoring monitored?

Of everything that has been written about Mentoring, probably the sketchiest area is about how the processes can be monitored effectively, and how quality-assurance can be brought into Mentoring provision. It is of course even more difficult to expect Mentors to be willing for their 'quality' to be investigated if they are taking part voluntarily and on a goodwill-only basis. Please share with us any steps that you have taken (or that you know of elsewhere) regarding monitoring mentoring.

Some mentoring dilemmas

The following 'Mentoring Dilemmas' are among those used in Mentor training workshops for academic staff about to start their roles as Mentors for new colleagues in colleges. In each instance, participants (in groups) can be asked to discuss the situation, and carry out role-play exercises to come up with suggestions in answer to the following questions:

• What will you do?
• What general recommendations about the design and implementation of a mentoring scheme would prevent or minimise such problems?

We invite you to choose one or more of the following scenarios, and reply with your own answers to these questions if you wish.

1. The crowding mentor
Your mentor seems not to recognise or respect your requirements regarding personal space. This mentor has been assigned to you by your Head of Department, but you are increasingly uncomfortable at meetings with this person. No-one else around you seems to have any problem of this sort with the person concerned.

• What will you do?
• What general recommendations about the design and implementation of a mentoring scheme would prevent or minimise such problems?

• What will you do?
• What general recommendations about the design and implementation of a mentoring scheme would prevent or minimise such problems?

• What will you do?
• What general recommendations about the design and implementation of a mentoring scheme would prevent or minimise such problems?

• What will you do?
• What general recommendations about the design and implementation of a mentoring scheme would prevent or minimise such problems?