Early career academic staff support: evaluating mentoring networks

Which academics benefit from participation in formal mentoring programmes? This study examined the needs and mentoring networks of new academics with evaluative data from a pilot mentoring programme. Themes from these data point towards re-envisioning initiatives for academic staff development. Firs...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of higher education policy and management 2015-05, Vol.37 (3), p.320-329
Main Authors: Denard Thomas, J., Gail Lunsford, Laura, Rodrigues, Helena A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
academic staff
Academic staff attitudes
Academic staff development
Administrators
Beginning Teacher Induction
Beginning Teachers
Career development
College Faculty
Computer networks
Educational Benefits
Educational Needs
Educational Practices
faculty
Faculty Development
Higher Education
Interviews
Likert Scales
Mentor mentee relationship
Mentoring
Mentoring programs
Mentors
networks
Online Surveys
Participant Satisfaction
Participation
Pilot Projects
Preferences
Professional development
Program Effectiveness
Program Evaluation
School Support
Social Networks
Teacher Participation
Teacher Workshops
Tenure
United States (Southwest)
University faculty
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Summary:Which academics benefit from participation in formal mentoring programmes? This study examined the needs and mentoring networks of new academics with evaluative data from a pilot mentoring programme. Themes from these data point towards re-envisioning initiatives for academic staff development. First, an examination of the expansion of mentoring networks of new staff suggests that some need more support than others. Second, new academics have common needs in professional development support, despite disciplinary differences and the beliefs of many administrators. Third, evaluation of new academics' self-reports show that there are differences in mentoring preferences that influence programme participation. Fourth, participant reports reveal both perceived benefits and some detriments of programme participation. Fifth, a somewhat widespread academic mentoring mindset was identified that may lead to problematic mentoring outcomes depending on demographic characteristics of protégés. Implications for administrators in charge of staff development and avenues for future research are presented.
ISSN:1360-080X
1469-9508
DOI:10.1080/1360080X.2015.1034426