Mentoring probationary women academics: A pilot programme for career development

ABSTRACT

Recruiting and promoting qualified women in academic staff positions challenges not only those universities with a commitment to support equal opportunity and positive action, but also those which are concerned about effective staff development in an era of change and expansion in higher education. This paper describes a 2 year pilot programme implemented in a public research university in the USA for mentoring new women academic staff from the time they enter the institution as probationers. The programme emphasises individual professional development, but also attends to the institutional factors which influence women's advancement. The activities include colleague-pairing, mentor training, the use of a mentoring agreement, and a multilevelled series of academic career development workshops, seminars and networking activities. The assessment and research component includes a needs determination study, pre-and post-participation perception of barriers studies, programme assessment, and the start of a longitudinal study of mentees from entrance to tenure or end of probation. It is suggested that the experiences of women academics in US universities and those in the United Kingdom are remarkably similar and that this type of mentoring programme could be adapted in a wide number of types of universities.