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![“If I’m honest he didn’t really raise many questions to me. *...+ It was more me trying
to force the issue sometimes. He’s a very polite guy, he’s a very nice guy, I wonder
whether he’s almost too polite to ask me certain things thinking he was taking up my
time. [...] I mean some of the things – he kind of indicated stuff as he was sending an
email through he’d say coming towards the end of his PhD kind of thing and from
that I kind of latched on to you know what are you thinking of doing? This is what I
did, you know use the library to look at companies and stuff and we kind of got a bit
of a rapport going near the end and I think it had some success hopefully. He was
thinking that he would have to go back to Nigeria and possibly into academia and I
kind of said actually there are different routes through.
He’s almost too polite to ask me certain
things…](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/moscowpresentation-130618073553-phpapp01/85/Moscow-Baunman-University-FULL-Presentation-24th-June-2013-47-320.jpg)
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Moscow Baunman University FULL Presentation 24th June 2013
E-mentoring can improve student employability and develop intercultural skills. A pilot e-mentoring program paired civil engineering students with industry mentors through online communication. Mentees reported gaining career advice, networking opportunities, and confidence. They discovered skills they did not know they had. Mentors helped optimize CVs and provided multiple perspectives on interviews beyond one-dimensional sources. E-mentoring allowed discussions that looked deeper at individual strengths beyond CVs. It can facilitate understanding of different working cultures and mutual development of intercultural competence for global industry.
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Moscow Baunman University FULL Presentation 24th June 2013
- 1. Dr Andrea Wheeler,William Bancroft, Professor Simon Austin and Professor Jacqui Glass The Centre for Engineering & Design Education, 1st Floor, Keith Green Building School of Civil and Building Engineering E-mentoring: Developing powerful partnerships with industry employers June 24th 2013 Moscow State Technical University, Bauman University
- 2. Higher Education AcademyAward – Departmental Grant - School of Civil and Building Engineering £39,500 January 2012 – June 2013 E-mentoring for employability
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- 5. • Construction vacancieshave dropped 50% since 2001 . • 5.1% reduction in graduate employment from 2001 to 2012. (18.9% unemployed) • Figures show that nearly 36% are employed in a lower skilled job compared with 26.7% in 2001 (the Graduates in the Labour Market 2012 report published by the Office for National Statistics). Statistics
- 6. Humanities graduates find itparticularly difficult to find relevant employment.
- 7. Loughborough University Engineering Statistics GraduateEmployment Statistics for Loughborough Engineering Graduates (6 months after graduation) Standard Publication Category Number of Graduates Percentage of Graduates Full-time paid work only (including self-employed) 384 65.1% Part-time paid work only 17 2.9% Voluntary/Unpaid work only 4 0.7% Work and further study 71 12.0% Further study only 41 6.9% Assumed to be unemployed 45 7.6% Not available for employment 23 3.9% Other 2 0.3% Explicit refusal 3 0.5%
- 8. I really haveworries about my post PhD life because I would like to be involved with industry, but suddenly feel like I am a fresh university graduate (even after getting PhD!). There is so much uncertainty, and if I am being honest some lack of confidence on my part (Loughborough University, School of Civil and Building Engineering, International PhD Student 2011).
- 9. I spent myplacement year working in Malaysia. I am a home student but have no work experience in the engineering or construction industries in the UK.
- 10.
- 11. THE TEAM Associate Deanfor Teaching, Professor Simon Austin; Director of Under Graduate Studies, Professor Jacqui Glass; Staff Development Officer (Research Staff Mentoring), Michele Zala, Senior Careers Development Advisor - Susan Reed; Design Education Coordinator and the Regional Representative of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Malcolm Jackson.
- 12. Industry and IndustryBody Support
- 13. THE SUPPORT FROMINDUSTRY Interserve Construction CH2M Hill A-one AMEC Environment Agency Atkins Ltd Smith and Wallwork Engineers Pick Everard Morgan Tucker Costain Balfour Beatty Pick Everard Arup Midland Construction Jacobs Engineering Stomor Limited Network Rail Morgan Sindall Carillion British Power International AECOM Halcrow Costain Interserve PrP UK Kier Construction Limited Laing O’Rouke
- 14. Institute of CivilEngineers (ICE) President, Richard Coakley “Harnessing the energy of the ICE’s partnerships with industry and Government” presentation to the Department of Civil and Building Engineering The President of the ICE, Richard Coackley: The e-mentoring pilot scheme, headed by Professor Simon Austin, links students with construction professionals according to interest and career path to provide the principles of traditional mentoring but exploiting the free and readily available technologies of Skype, social media and e-mail to foster the awareness of professional practice and the needs of employers. This is an excellent example of harnessing the energy: with mentors using their time and energy to harness and refine the energy of their mentees providing them with important experience of industry. (Richard Coackley, 20th April 2012, Loughborough University School of Civil and Building Engineering).
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- 16. Can e-mentoring provideengineering and construction students, particularly those with an international perspective, with an educational opportunity which will significantly improve their employment opportunities? If it can, how does it do it?
- 17.
- 18. I was broughtin during the summer 2012 to review the first mentoring scheme and assist with the organisation of the second but I also took the programme into my final year dissertation so I am still involved in the project.
- 19.
- 20. …boundaryless, egalitarian andqualitatively different…. …ease and immediacy… Same function as mentoring added benefits… But a difficulty in forming mentoring relationships virtually? O'Neill, k. D., Li, S. & Weiler, M., 2005. Software support for online mentoring programs: a research-inspired design. Mentoring and tutoring , 13(1), pp. 109-131. Single, P. B. & Muller, C. B., 2001. When e-mail and mentoring unite: the implementation of a nationwide electronic mentoring program. Creating mentoring and coaching programs , 1(1), pp. 107-122 Bierema, L. L. & Merriam, S. B., 2002. E-mentoring; Using computer mediated communication to enhance the mentoring process. innovative higher education , 26(3), pp. 211-227. Zey, M. G., 1984. The mentor connection, IL:Dow Jones-Irwin: Homewood.
- 21. • e-mentoring programs…to “‘level the playing-field’ by providing mentoring opportunities for those who otherwise would be left out of important informal network”. • Earliest e-mentoring programs focused on creating educational and professional opportunities for underprivileged or underrepresented populations. The history of e-mentoring
- 22. Less stereotyping withinmentoring relationships… Outsiders…more impartial advice… less vested interest Sproul, L. & Kiesler, S., 1993. Connections: New ways of working in networked organisations, Cambridge: MIT Press. Single, P. B. & Single, R. M., 2005. E-mentoring for social equity: review of information to inform program development. Mentoring and tutoring , 13(2), pp. 301-320.
- 23. E-mentoring v. mentoring Advantagesand Disadvantages Advantages Disadvantages It creates an egalitarian environment Slower relationship development Mentors provide impartial inter- organisational advice Lesser role modelling Logistics / ease (communicate anywhere any time) Reduced commitment? Miscommunication Computer and writing skills needed
- 24.
- 25. • The impactof social and cultural capital: graduates from less privileged backgrounds are less likely to know how to “work the system” • Developing ‘soft skills’, personal qualities and dispositions is easier for some than others. • Students often do not know what they want their working lives to be. Employability – the literature – the problems
- 26. Drivers for achanging work context • Extreme longevity • Computational world • Superstructured organisations • The rise of smart machines and systems • New media ecology • Globally connected world Willen-Augenti (2012) Society 3.0 How Technology is Reshaping Education, Work and Society
- 27. Changing skills/ FutureWork Skills 2020 1. "transdisciplinarity" (understanding concepts across multiple disciplines), 2. "virtual collaboration" (proficiency in working as part of geographically dispersed teams), 3. "cross-cultural competency" (ability to operate in multicultural settings). 4. “Social intelligence” (workers who can build collegial and productive online relationships will be in high demand). “As organizations expand globally, social intelligence will help managers build virtual workgroups comprising the right blend of talent and personalities,”
- 29.
- 31. • Even withinan increasingly internationalised HE context international students can lack cultural competence: the ability to make correct attributions about the cultural values, beliefs and behaviours and norms of the new society. Internationalisation – the literature
- 32. “Intercultural competence” …the abilityto communicate those working in or from different cultures – free from prejudice and motivated to continued learning: A set of cognitive, behavioural, and affective/motivational components that enable individuals to adapt effectively in intercultural environments.
- 33. • Still askingcan e-mentoring improve employability and how? Also, asking: are there new ways thinking about employability emerging from a changing and more internationalised Higher Education community – from students, academic and industry collaborators - demanding curriculum support from HE; • Do e-mentoring schemes provide a testing ground for the discovery of this need for change? • Can e-mentoring schemes support international students whose work experience (or lack of) can differ significantly from UK based or European students • Can such programmes prepare them for work either in the UK or internationally where industry is becoming increasingly globalised? Research Questions
- 34. METHOD Two pilots, each5 months. 12 relationships in each pilot (self- selecting). Launch event (meeting for the first time), interim questionnaires, interviews and final “cafe-event”/workshops. Qualitative evaluation of both mentor and mentee experiences
- 35. The E-MENTORING Pilot1: “Improving Student Employability Through E-Mentoring”. (February 2012 – June 2012) • Recruited mentors and mentees. Mentors were young, 2- 7 years post qualification. Mentees from the School of Civil and Building Engineering (without placement experience). • Invited to a launch meeting to meet mentors/mentees and have some training (all online). • Left to get on with it. Some emails. Some invitations to feedback via online questionnaires. • June – August interim interviews. • September, review of programme and revision ahead of pilot 2.
- 36. The E-MENTORING Pilot2: “Improving Student Employability Through E-Mentoring”. (October 2012 – March 2013) • Recruited mentors and mentees (included some PhD students). • Invited to a launch meeting to meet mentors/mentee. Refined and less formal meeting. • Left to get on with it. Some emails. Some invitations to feedback via online questionnaires. • Interim questionnaires. • Cafe event • Videos
- 37. THEMES Success (mentee andmentor benefits) Limiting factors (including mentee motivation) Matching (poor matching) Communications, type and frequency Relationship progress (poor relationship development) Qualitative Thematic Analysis
- 38. Insights • Success -mentees have reported (to various degrees) career development, networking, and in some cases, role modelling. • Limiting factors - PhD and Masters students weren’t able to commit sufficient time to the scheme; • Matching - more parallel educational and career paths were, the more the mentoring pair perceived their match as a success. • Communications - all mentoring pairs who explored communication technologies but didn’t have regular contact showed some heightened relationship levels but not to the levels of mentoring pairs with regular contact. In terms of technology use there was no general consensus as to which method was better for facilitating an e-mentoring scheme. • Relationship progress - during pilot scheme 1 an international student reported finding it hard to break the ice in the questionnaire but when interviewed 2 months later reported having a close and meaningful relationship; this was backed up with a dramatic increase in communication and a change in communication technique. A handful of mentees reported not feeling comfortable asking probing questions of their mentor even at the end of the e- mentoring scheme, but a lot of mentoring pairs built very close relationships and have continued the mentoring outside of the Loughborough programme.
- 39. Does e-mentoring improveskills for the graduate employment market ? E-mentoring provides an opportunity for mentees to discover the skills they may need in a rapidly changing work context. But it is also much more than this… giving confidence, networking, discovering work skills they don’t know they have
- 40. The main discussionswere about identifying the skills the mentee has got and bringing it out and presenting it nicely whether that is on the CV or whether that is at interview. For example, some projects or coursework he has done that he is not aware that could be used to show the development of, or skills he has got, actually I brought that out from him. *…+ So it is mainly about identifying his skills but also about providing advice about how he could get employed through fairs, through journals and through relationships with people really. So giving advice, sometimes encouraging and giving him confidence, I think that’s really important especially in this economic climate, as I am sure he is a good candidate. He will be employed. MENTOR confidence skills he did not know he had http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfWDGmmu2Kw
- 41. Mainly it wasabout the CV, tweaking it to specify for certain companies or certain audiences. And Chartership, looking at how to get yourself chartered, just developing the professional side of your personality with professional skills so that they can all add onto your CV. Even if you’re just starting your Chartership or your personal development plan, put that in you CV. Stuff that I wouldn’t have even thought about, even though I haven’t completed it, show I’ve started it, shows your willingness to engage and willingness to progress your knowledge. *…+ Where to look for jobs don’t look where everyone else I looking, there’s a good reason why everyone is looking there but you’ve got more competition, things like cold calling, letters, looking at who’s doing well in the news, industry specific magazines and things, so they will have a good chance of recruiting, and approach them but with a tailored CV to make sure you *seem like+ you’re going to them in the first place. MENTEE Stuff I had not even thought about http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yJSa4ip7rM
- 42. MENTORActually we didn’thave a very good start with my mentee because he couldn’t attend the first meeting so we didn’t have the first face- to-face conversation with him. But I just dropped and email and then everything started. It went quite well actually I got quite nice responses from him and so we are still in contact and you know sharing ideas, just telling what’s going on in his life and his application he’s done lately. So yes it is quite good. *…+ He is looking for a graduate engineer role in a large sized company and he wants to know how he can find a job of course but he does have enough experience in interviews, so generally we are talking about job interviews and using the job search tools and how he can find a job on the internet. Well we started with LinkedIn because I’m sort of active on LinkedIn so I just shared all my networks so he can just see recruiters HR people headhunted etc., he is quite good with that one. *…+ I advised him to create a profile on LinkedIn and he did. We started with that but we will try the other websites where he can look for a job and also I am planning to send him to graduate engineers in my company so he can share ideas with them because I know there are some specific websites just for graduates. networks and networking skills http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V97XkN1O35c
- 43. MENTEE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvo-7IY0l08 It has beena wonderful experience having someone who you can call a mentor has been the greatest experience as we’ve been discussing earlier, there are so many avenues in terms of what’s available to help you out in terms of getting a job or becoming more employable but these avenues are very one dimensional. For example I could use a magazine and it would tell me what I need to do with my CV and what you need to say in an interview but this is very one dimensional *…+ whereas having a mentor they can give you various perspectives on what these interviews or job opportunities have and they can give you more than one route to follow. That is one of the greatest things mentoring can provide. Discussions are around what I as a mentee have been facing discussion and have looked deeper than what the mentors have said and it is about making yourself an all rounded person beyond the CV. The CV is the first point of contact but when you’re called in for an interview the CV becomes a side issue, they want to see what you are as an individual. Not one dimension avenues in terms of employability, various perspectives… Discussions look deeper, start with what I as mentee have been facing…
- 44. Can e-mentoring facilitatean understanding of inter-cultural employment skills - working practices across cultures ? • Understanding different working cultures • Mutual development of intercultural competence – mentors and mentees
- 45. Internationalisation - Narrativesand experience (Mentee Pilot 1) A different work culture …things that really stand out for me are that at this level after Masters when we go back home we’re going to be more of manager’s than technical people. People management, which is a very difficult thing, working with big groups, I’ve learnt a couple of things about that. The thing I’ve learnt is about strategies, this was completely new to me, you know. Every business, everything in life, there’s a strategy. You need to know where you want to go and have some sort of plan to get there. Before we just used to wake up and do things and get there (International Masters Student).
- 46. Things are goodin Kigali Rwanda. Yes am still in touch with him. I got a new job since I returned so I run that concurrently with my private business. Its all in real estate and architect consultancy. I hope life is good for you in UK. Thanks for asking. Do keep in touch. Still in touch…
- 47. “If I’m honesthe didn’t really raise many questions to me. *...+ It was more me trying to force the issue sometimes. He’s a very polite guy, he’s a very nice guy, I wonder whether he’s almost too polite to ask me certain things thinking he was taking up my time. [...] I mean some of the things – he kind of indicated stuff as he was sending an email through he’d say coming towards the end of his PhD kind of thing and from that I kind of latched on to you know what are you thinking of doing? This is what I did, you know use the library to look at companies and stuff and we kind of got a bit of a rapport going near the end and I think it had some success hopefully. He was thinking that he would have to go back to Nigeria and possibly into academia and I kind of said actually there are different routes through. He’s almost too polite to ask me certain things…
- 48. SUMMARY – Adifferent sort of employability programme - a student led approach to employability and a unique time and space ? Less limiting definition of employability: an opportunity to being the live the lives they value – to discover the sorts of working lives they would like, identify aims, and begin to make decisions that will allow them to achieve these lives.
- 49. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJzHY9LN7F8 We’re been talkingabout how I can help him improve his CV and a lot about interviews. At the start there was a lot about this but as the conversations moved on it was more about what should I say at interview, what’s the industry like, what sort of job roles should I pin point, life experience in general. You know I’ve been working afew years now and I’ve got experience to tell him …you should really avoid this sort of thing but if you enjoy this sort of thing go for it and do your best. MENTOR CVs and interviews but about life experiences in general Insight into the industry Tailored advice, what he should avoid and what to go for
- 50. I was inplacement in another country so I still didn't have UK experience. I was in Malaysia with a UK contractor but it was still a lot different to what it would have been with a UK contractor. He offered to help me in a variety of different ways including course work with the University but we chose to focus on employability and applying for jobs, helping me with my CV and he was open most of the time so I could speak to him whenever I wanted to . It was good for me as I always had someone to speak to about subjects quite formal but he gave me the opportunity to speak quite informally so it was very comfortable for me. MENTEE He was open to me so I could speak to him whenever I wanted to. He gave me the opportunity to speak quite informally. He helped me make decisions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpBL6IO54RY
- 51.
- 52. “But the onesort of big area I reckon you could improve would be to have like a central knowledge exchange or database, kind of like a website essentially where …you could have information, again about how to be a good mentor, what to expect from the mentee’s point of view and perhaps you could have things on there like…. Mentee and mentor participation in the specification for the website/ “tool-kit”
- 53. WorkInsight (website) http://www.workinsight.info Improving StudentEmployability Through E-Mentoring (HEA title) E-mentoring for Employability
- 55.
- 57. Municipal Expert Panelof the Institute of Civil Engineers, project on e-mentoring: “Passing knowledge and experience to a new generation of municipal practitioners”.
- 58. Dr Andrea Wheeler Teachingand Learning Co-ordinator (Projects), The Centre for Engineering & Design Education a.s.wheeler@lboro.ac.uk
- 60. Dr Andrea Wheeler,Dr Paul Rowley, Martin Hamilton An Innovative Knowledge Platform for Business and Community Engagement A co-developed service model for online continuing professional development in the energy sector A CROSS-INSTITUTIONAL LEARNING FRAMEWORK FOR ENERGY CPD: MEGS-KT
- 61.
- 62. The Problem How todevelop a relevant, up-to-date desirable platform for “CFD” opportunities, opening up University resources and allowing SMEs to share their knowledge.
- 63. Questionnaires and InterviewsSMEs • 10 paper filled questionnaire • 18 online surveys • 16 transcribed interviews • 1 work shadow day (excellent data but too time consuming) • 3 planned “co-design” workshops
- 64. Building the MEGS-KTcommunity of practice – the Jisc, the fellows (the catalytic individuals) and SMEs team Fellows Lecture Series 17/10/2012 Robin Nicholson, Edward Cullinan Architects 24/10/2012 Russell Smith, Parity Projects 14/11/2012 Terry McGivern, The Institute for Sustainability and the Flash Programme 05/12/2012 John Davis, Domestic Green Deal Assessor 16/01/2012 Carl Benfield, Prescient Power 30/01/2012 Keyur Vadodaria, Researcher, CALEBRE project 20/02/2012 Rich Cartwright, RDC Energy , Jonathan Gilbert, The Rapid technology Transfer Group, and Tracy Thomas To ensure the sustainability of the project CEDE has agreed to fund the continued development of the community and engagement with the demonstrator / website through monthly evening lectures.
- 69. Catalytic Individuals andOur Social Media Fellow Tracy Thomas
- 70. LinkedIn Community (50+additional members in the East Midlands)
- 71. Twitter Group 920Followers
- 72. Barriers and limitationsto this sort of primary research • Hard to engage SMEs • SMEs don’t know what their knowledge needs are (they don’t know what they don’t know) • Professional bodies/networks limiting access to SMEs by “outsiders” (difficult to send out questionnaire via professional bodies) • Concerns about sharing commercial information from SMEs – “I prefer not to say”
- 73. The Community Views •http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx602KnO iFM
- 74.
Editor's Notes
- #4 CONTEXT:My paper describes the work of an HEA Departmental Grant with the School of Civil and Building Engineering. Problem: It addresses the question: can e-mentoring provide engineering and construction students – particularly those with an international perspective - with an educational opportunity which will significantly improve their employment opportunities? METHOD: Through narratives of mentees and mentors involved in the pilots this presentation explores notions of employability and internationalisation from their perspectives. It explores whether e-mentoring programmes offer a unique educational opportunity with benefits beyond simple approaches to employability: and argues that student led they offer a space for students to make good decisions, discover the career they want, and moreover start to live the lives they value. SOLUTION: Plan to sustain the programme and tool-kit for other Universities to deliver this e-mentoring approachIMPACT: real benefits to students – networks – introductions – cv and interview skills
- #21 O’Neil et al (1996) describe e-mentoring as the “…use of e-mail or computer conferencing systems to support a mentoring relationship when face to face relationships would be impractical.” Single and Muller (2001) state “e-mentoring is a computer mediated relationship between a senior individual, who is the mentor, and a lesser skilled protégé with the goal of developing the protégé.” Bierema and Merriam (2002) further define e-mentoring as: “A computer mediated, mutually beneficial relationship between a mentor and a protégé which provides learning, advising, encouraging, promoting and modelling, that is boundaryless, egalitarian and qualitatively different than traditional face to face mentoring.” This definition is a development of Zey’s (1984) mentoring definition, with the addition of the belief that a computer mediated relationship is one that is characterised by a boundarylessness and egalitarianism. All build upon an understandings of “traditional” or face-to-face mentoring. Each implies that e-mentoring still provides the same functions as mentoring, but that by using technological communication medium relationships have different characteristics and promote additional benefits. Mentors engaged in both pilots described these benefits in terms of ease and immediacy: email responses to mentee questions could be “rattled-off” in work time whilst face-to-face meetings required planning and preparation.
- #22 …The internet’s potential for supporting programs that address social justice and educational equity was recognized as early as the mid-1990s. Like mentoring programs, e-mentoring programs arguably have the potential to “‘level the playing-field’ by providing mentoring opportunities for those who otherwise would be left out of important informal networks”. It is thus not surprising that many of the earliest e-mentoring programs focused on creating educational and professional opportunities for underprivileged or underrepresented populations.
- #23 Kiesler (1993) suggests that markers of social status are less visible in e-mentoring dyads, rendering them less important to the overall exchange: traditional powers being eroded by the lack of visual cues that can lead to or reinforce bias and stereotypes based on demographic or status differences. Impartial advice was also seen as an advantage in e-mentoring studies because mentors are usually from completely different organisations so have less vested interest in the mentees’ activities. Single & Single (2007) for example, found that online mentoring participants cited that impartial advice was one of the most valuable attributes and facilitated a good foundation for relationship building leading to informational, psychosocial and instrumental benefits.
- #26 Within this context.
- #30 Engagement with employers. The Government White Paper Higher Education: Students at the heart of the system (BIS, 2011) states the need for employer engagement and similarly the Wilson Review (Wilson, ed., 2009) recommends that Universities work more with employers. The new graduate engineer needs new skills. The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) 2010 report Engineering Graduates for Industry states businesses have also stressed the new and distinct roles engineers now play in businesses: ‘…the technical specialist imbued with expert knowledge; …the integrator.. operating across boundaries in complex environments; and ... the change agent providing the creativity, innovation and leadership necessary to meet new challenges’ (RAE, 2007).
- #32 Graduates from some ethnic backgrounds still find it more difficult to gain employment compared to the ethnic majority and some other ethnic groups. Graduates with disabilities are equally disadvantaged and despite legislation for women, pay differentials in favour of males are commonplace for early career graduates. Parental socio-economic status has also been found to influence employment statistics. These inequalities remain unchanged in relation to salary differential and career prospects, despite greater equalities legislation. However, mentoring has a history of providing strategies to overcome the implications of underrepresentation within higher education. Even within an increasingly globalised higher education context, international students can lack the ability to make correct attributions about the cultural values, beliefs and behaviours and norms of the new society. Using their own culture as a standard for interpreting, judging and behaving in a new culture can result in difficultly within social situations. This is particularly acute within the employment context and students may need opportunities for cultural learning and cultural adjustment.Neal (2007), writing from within the context of U.S. colleges and universities, argues that it is white mentees, mentored by non-white academics, that have the most to learn; white mentors often need to develop a greater cross-cultural competence when dealing with international students, in particular. This, she argues “…goes beyond the traditional mentoring formats to consider other aspects involved in adjusting to different cultural systems and norms”. Neal also recognises that gender is identified as a difficulty for some mentors. She cites the work of theorists Carol Gilligan and Nancy Chodorow to support mentors’ identification of gender differences in communication styles. She cites the reflections of a male mentor stating: “I need to be particularly careful in mentoring women to be cognisant of their boundaries […] not intrude in ways that can be misinterpreted…as a straight white man, those kinds of boundaries are easier to work out with men than with women”. In addition, and perhaps more problematically, she cites another mentor Ross: “What I find for the most part is that men are socialized to pursue things fairly directly and linearly, and women are…socialized to be perhaps more holistic in their approach to issues or problems or matters of concern”15. Nevertheless, an unsophisticated awareness, or indeed overemphasis on differential treatment, could lead to stereotyping of interests, skills and career goals as Neal rightly states - whether in the context of gender, disability, race or ethnicity. There is a sbalance to be achieved in any mentoring relationship between trust, mutual respect, recognition of difference and personal growth.Identifying the skills to achieve this balance, as mentor or mentee, nevertheless presents a challenge. Moreover, Bird et al (1999) argue that cultural dimensions are necessary but not sufficient tools for making sense of complex behaviour within another culture. The danger of making these dimensions in a stereotypical manner is great and using these dimensions in a stereotypical manner prevents both partners seeing and understanding needs that do not fit the stereotype. Mentees or mentors may well behave in unexpected stereotypical ways which may not necessarily signal failure of a mentor-mentee relationship15. Bird et al, writing in a management training context, describe at least three factors which determine a person’s willingness to adapt to another culture and continue to higher levels of inter-cultural competence:High self-efficacy, which allows a person to see the expatriate experience as an adventure rather than a nightmare.Perceiving the purpose of the overseas assignment as a growth and development opportunity versus just another rung on the ladder.A focus on the intrinsic rewards of living overseas, which motivates them to continue learning, versus an expedient focus in which expatriates just learn enough to get by. These factors could be easily translated into “top tips” for mentors of international students and for mentees as well; yet this this still avoids the more complex question about the nature of the mentoring relationship. For international mentees, wanting to learn about the UK work environment, or indeed mentors wanting to mentor international students, good advice might be to progress slowly, making tentative hypotheses, modifying this as more information and experience is gathered. In this way, by continually refining categories and knowledge of the other culture cultural stereotypes can be avoided17. However, the unique mentoring relationship can provide much more than general advice determined through observation and analysis of individual mentor-mentee relationships due to the unique personal engagement offered.The growth of the global marketplace, and the need for competitive advantage, has meant that managers in industry will increasingly be called upon to balance tensions between local, regional and global market interests with an increased need for cooperation beyond traditional borders. Intercultural competence will play an increasingly important role in the skills necessary for an engineering graduate. The benefit of mentoring an international student therefore has an increasing significance for the development of the mentor as well as the mentee. Stanek (2001) describes mentoring programmes with these goals as “global mentoring”. She argues that “Good mentors can recognize skills that have atrophied and help reverse habits [and] Protégés who benefit the most from programmes seem to be those who are willing to reinvent themselves to keep pace with change…”. She also describes a self-selection of personality type amongst both mentors and mentees with both generally being very inquisitive, open to making mistakes and enjoying puzzles and learning. She writes: “They also feel the need to connect with others and to be a part of the larger picture”, suggesting an outgoing extrovert character18. Stanek sees global mentoring as helping to bridge information gaps, and reducing xenophobia and ethnocentricity where cross-cultural training is not otherwise available.Muller, 1997, Stanek, 2001Single et al, 2005Bierema & Merriam, 2002Blasko et al. 2002Blasko et al. 2002; Panel on Fair Access to the Professions 2009AGCAS 2007Panel on Fair Access to the Professions, 2009Chapdelain and Alexitch, 2004Neal, 2007, 2Neal, 2007, 3Bird et al, 1999, 163Bird et al, 164Stanek, 2001, 70Stanek, 2001, 71ext about employability
- #33 The growing internationalisation of HE adds a complexity to the problems of employability – address both employability and internationalisation were the theme of the research project. The problem of internationalisation in HE, as cited within literature is a rather fluid concept but also problematic. It may refer to very different problems: “Intercultural competence”, the ability to communicate those working in or from different cultures – free from prejudice and motivated to continued learning: "A set of cognitive, behavioural, and affective/motivational components that enable individuals to adapt effectively in intercultural environments.“ “Transnational education”, or equally the “Bologna process” and its potential for student mobility.
- #34 As a result of the literature review.
- #39 In both pilot schemes above and beyond employability or intercultural competence, mentees have reported (to various degrees) career development, psychosocial, coaching, networking, and in some cases, role modelling. In pilot scheme 2, work levels of PhD and Masters students was quoted as a reason for poor mentoring as they weren’t able to commit sufficient time to the scheme; this was highlighted by 2 of the 11 mentors interviewed. the general consensus was the more parallel educational and career paths were, the more the mentoring pair perceived their match as a success. All mentoring pairs who explored communication technologies but didn’t have regular contact showed some heightened relationship levels but not to the levels of mentoring pairs with regular contact. In terms of technology use there was no general consensus as to which method was better for facilitating an e-mentoring scheme. During pilot scheme 1 an international student reported finding it hard to break the ice in the questionnaire but when interviewed 2 months later reported having a close and meaningful relationship; this was backed up with a dramatic increase in communication and a change in communication technique. A handful of mentees reported not feeling comfortable asking probing questions of their mentor even at the end of the e-mentoring scheme, but a lot of mentoring pairs built very close relationships and have continued the mentoring outside of the Loughborough programme.
- #40 In both pilot schemes above and beyond employability or intercultural competence, mentees have reported (to various degrees) career development, psychosocial, coaching, networking, and in some cases, role modelling. In pilot scheme 2, work levels of PhD and Masters students was quoted as a reason for poor mentoring as they weren’t able to commit sufficient time to the scheme; this was highlighted by 2 of the 11 mentors interviewed. the general consensus was the more parallel educational and career paths were, the more the mentoring pair perceived their match as a success. All mentoring pairs who explored communication technologies but didn’t have regular contact showed some heightened relationship levels but not to the levels of mentoring pairs with regular contact. In terms of technology use there was no general consensus as to which method was better for facilitating an e-mentoring scheme. During pilot scheme 1 an international student reported finding it hard to break the ice in the questionnaire but when interviewed 2 months later reported having a close and meaningful relationship; this was backed up with a dramatic increase in communication and a change in communication technique. A handful of mentees reported not feeling comfortable asking probing questions of their mentor even at the end of the e-mentoring scheme, but a lot of mentoring pairs built very close relationships and have continued the mentoring outside of the Loughborough programme.
- #41 Employment statistics demonstrate a decrease in graduate employment and moreover illustrate how graduates are increasingly likely to take jobs that do not require a degree qualification spending many months or even years looking for a graduate opportunity after graduation. E-mentoring provides an opportunity for mentees to discover the skills they may need in a rapidly changing work context.
- #46 For international students the e-mentoring experience gives space to come to terms with different working practices and working cultures. This was particularly important, for one mentee in comparing UK and Ugandan context. The development of intercultural competences within the mentoring relationship is a mutually beneficial for mentee and mentors alike. Mentors also have the opportunity to build upon their knowledge and skills which are highly beneficial in an increasingly international marketplace.
- #50 The e-mentoring experience provides a unique time and place for mentee to think about employability. A time and place to be able to discuss with someone experienced in their field not only the practical skills that may help them find a job but in the tailored personalised and individual relationship, to explore they might begin to live the lives they value. This a less limiting definition of employability illuminates the unique benefit of e-mentoring for employability. E-mentoring gives students the opportunity to discover with the mentor the sorts of working lives they would like and moreover to identify aims and make decisions that will allow them to achieve,.
- #54 … you could end up with things like, from a mentee’s point of view it might be quite good to go on there and see, have like a ‘my story’ section so all the mentors could just do a short summary of how they got to where they are now so they’ve got an idea of what kind of things graduates go into and the fields that they’re going into and what they’ve done. Equally I think, and I think it’s important to have that sort of individual one to one but there were, I’m sure there are a lot of topics that were covered, that came up amongst all the partnerships that you put together, so to have maybe sort of .. I’m trying to think what’s the best way to call it, like a questions and answers page, so something that’s quite a general question like for example, I’m applying to Atkins for example, does anyone know anything about the process? Well you might find that you’ve got mentors who work for Atkins, equally mentees who are also doing that and they might be able to offer advice and some ideas, which you’re getting more opinions on a question that’s quite good to get more opinions on if you see what I mean. [...] Yes, like a networking group because obviously there’s a lot of things that you sort of discuss that you wouldn’t want to put out to the world and ask everybody, it might be quite personal but then again there are other things that you might want opinions on that would be worthwhile to try and get a few people on something that … But you could have, so to have that central website that all of you go on to and have a look at and it would allow you guys to put stuff up there as organisers of the scheme, put things up there about any information you might think we’d be interested in and that would be appropriate and all sorts whereas it seemed to be we had the opening meeting, which was brilliant, there you go, you’re in your pair, we went off and did our thing and then we came back at the end to have a chat and see how it all went, whereas to have that central thing equally …”