The AHGBI is launching a new phase of its mentoring scheme. The scheme will now enable early career members (>2 years post doctoral award) as well as mid-career members (>8 years post doctoral award) to benefit from the experience of senior AHGBI colleagues.
Goals:
1. Sharing knowledge and expertise across ranks of the Association.
2. Increasing cross-institutional networking and mentoring in the discipline.
3. Supporting members mentored with goal setting and career management.
4. Supporting mentored in taking responsibility for their own skills and career development.
Eligibility:
Colleagues wishing to be mentored by a senior AHGBI mentor should be early career (>2 years post doctoral award) or mid-career (>8 years post doctoral award) members of the association.
All senior AHGBI members are welcome to volunteer as mentors. All applications, from potential mentors and mentees, are on a voluntary and self-nominated basis.
The Association will support up to 15 pairings annually.
Financial support:
Each mentoring pair will be able to claim up to £100 per year towards supporting visits.
Applicants should fill in the relevant form (Form 1 for those requesting mentoring or Form 2 for those wishing to volunteer as mentors) and email it to the scheme’s Director, Dr Arantza Mayo (arantza.mayo@rhul.ac.uk). The Director will match mentees with mentors, enrolling both in the scheme.
Participants should be willing to commit for an initial period of 12 months. Where both parties agree, it will be possible to request an extension for a further 12 months, up to a maximum total of 24 months.
Mentees will have the opportunity to suggest potential mentors and to state preferences about their profile; they will have the final say on appointment of their mentor. Following formalization of the mentoring agreement between mentor and applicant, mentees will still have the chance to request a different mentor if the relationship is not fruitful. Mentees may also terminate the mentoring ‘contract’ at any point during the period. Mentors who agree to providing mentoring support must be prepared to commit for 24 months.
AHGBI Mentoring Scheme – General-Information – 2022 (.docx)
Download application FORM 2 (.docx) for those offering mentoring (2022)
Download application FORM 1 (.docx) for those requesting mentoring (2022)
This means setting high expectations of yourself in relation to what you can contribute to the meeting, rather than having such expectations of the other person. If you create expectations for yourself and work on achieving them, you allow the other person to develop and set their own expectations instead of having to react to yours.
This means that the mentor and mentee will seek to work together through giving and openly receiving feedback, joint negotiation, decision making and consistent support. Making changes and moving out of comfort zones will always be stressful, so the supportive yet challenging climate created by the mentor will be crucial in determining the value of the process. Growth and development occur best within nurturing and supportive conditions and relationships.
You must be able to trust each other and to develop a safe, non-judgemental relationship where you can both be open. Mentoring relationships have little value if they are not based on truth. This may be difficult if, for example, you are discussing difficulties with people known to the mentor. But unless you are sure about confidentiality your partner will feel inhibited about explaining all the details of a situation. You should each continue to respect confidential information, even after the mentoring relationship has formally been completed.
