Q&A: BAME Mentoring Scheme

BAME staff are under-represented at senior levels across the School.

This scheme aims to address these inequalities by:

• Supporting career progression and confidence in BAME staff
• Support BAME staff with personal branding
• Support BAME staff to navigate the workplace by having support from other/senior BME staff members
• Support BAME networks within the School and sector
• Building a toolkit to deal with real workplace issues i.e. inequalities, bias, microaggressions, racism

If you identify as a BAME member of staff, you can join the mentoring scheme as a mentee or mentor. 

You do not need prior experience as a mentor as training and support will be provided.

This is the School's first internal BAME Mentoring Scheme and  is currently being piloted with Professional Services staff. 

We will be reviewing the scheme over the coming months looking at expanding to other staff groups i.e. academic, research.

The scheme will run for 6 - 9 months initially with periodic reviews including feedback from mentees and mentors to direct the scheme moving forward.  

Mentors will be expected to:

• Meet their mentee every 4-6 weeks for 1 hour for the duration for the scheme
• Provide support, offer suggestions and be a sounding board for mentees' career goals and development 
• Provide and be open to feedback
• Maintain confidentiality between one another (if facilitating a mentoring circle, confidentiality within the group)
• Use active listening skills at all times
• Address stated needs as best as you can
• Be honest about any concerns with the mentoring relationship; you can contact the HR OL Team regarding this

Mentees will be expected to:

• Meet regularly with your mentor i.e. once every 4-6 weeks for around an hour
• Use active listening skills at all times
• Be prepared with topics regarding your career objectives
• If participating in Pathway A: Mentoring Circles, engage in discussions within mentoring circles 
• Be honest about any concerns with the mentoring relationship; you can contact the HR OL Team regarding this

Yes, you are more than welcome to apply to be a mentor on this scheme. 

If you already have a mentoring relationship, we encourage you to continue this so please do ensure you have the capacity to take on another mentee and/or facilitate a mentoring circle. 

Yes, you are more than welcome to apply to be a mentee on this scheme. 

If you already have a mentoring relationship and you find this beneficial, we encourage you to continue this until the end of the mentoring relationship period.

At present, both pathways are only avaialble for Professional Services staff. 

We will be reviewing the scheme over the coming months looking at expanding to other staff groups i.e. academic, research.