Perspectives on mentoring in an Australian medical faculty.

Mentoring programs have been reported to improve cultural socialisation, emotional support, and networking, as well as better performance at work[1]. This idea builds on social capital theory, which underpins the way social relationships influence access to social resources[2]. Mentoring programs have been reported to improve professional success of mentees[3], and to foster deep relationships with peers, promoting career development and vitality[4].

In our Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human sciences, we have a small established mentoring initiative led by our early career researcher network, however, we have identified a need for a broader faculty-led mentoring endeavour to support our wider research community across our six departments, particularly our postgraduate student community. To best tailor the development of this mentoring initiative, we designed and delivered a survey for all staff and students, asking demographic and professional questions, as well as about on mentoring experiences and interests. Given that staff in the faculty offer valuable insight about professional development in their speciality of interest, this mentoring study includes all academic, professional, and technical staff, who may each provide valid mentoring support. Follow-up focus groups were held following a question guide focused on the practical elements of mentoring.

We will present our results from our survey and interviews here, which demonstrate not only doctoral student perspectives, but also that of their faculty community. The details of our pilot mentoring initiative to support higher degree research students and their community of practice will be presented, which is based on the finding of our survey and focus groups.

References:
[1] A. Lumpkin, A Model for Mentoring University Faculty, The Educational Forum, vol. 75, no. 4, pp. 357–368, Oct. 2011, doi: 10.1080/00131725.2011.602466.

[2] S. E. Seibert, L. D. Sargent, M. L. Kraimer, and K. Kiazad, Linking Developmental Experiences to Leader Effectiveness and Promotability: The Mediating Role of Leadership Self-Efficacy and Mentor Network, Personnel Psychology, vol. 70, no. 2, pp. 357–397, 2017, doi: 10.1111/peps.12145.

[3] A. Vassallo, K. Walker, M. Georgousakis, and R. Joshi, Do mentoring programmes influence women’s careers in the health and medical research sector? A mixed-methods evaluation of Australia’s Franklin Women Mentoring Programme, BMJ Open, vol. 11, no. 10, p. e052560, Oct. 2021, doi: 10.1136/ bmjopen-2021-052560.

[4] L. H. Pololi and A. T. Evans, Group Peer Mentoring: An Answer to the Faculty Mentoring Problem? A Successful Program at a Large Academic Department of Medicine, Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 192–200, 2015, doi: 10.1002/chp.21296.