ASBTE Mentorship Program
ASBTE believes that mentorship is critical to the development of our members, regardless of career stage. As such, we will organise a mentorship program that will launch at our April meeting. If you are interested in being a mentor or a mentee, please read more below.
What is a mentor?
A mentor is a professional, trusting relationship based on guidance, support, and encouragement that is mutually beneficial for both the mentor and the mentee. While mentorship can be formal or informal, the ASBTE is organising a formal mentorship experience for interested members.
Who can be a mentor?
Participants from any career stage may act as mentees, mentors, or both! For instance, we have paired senior HDR mentors with junior HDR mentees, Lecturers with Postdoc Fellows, Professors with Senior Lecturers, and had several Industry-Academia mentorship pairings. The ability to get placed in a mentorship will depend on the availability of mentees and mentors, and you are certainly welcome to list any preferences or requirements.
What the program entails?
Mentees will be matched with a mentor from a provided list based on their preferences. The scope, time, and topics discussed will vary between pairs and will be decided between the mentor and mentee. Ostensibly the program will run for 6 months. However, if both parties feel that they are benefiting from the experience, they are encouraged to continue.
A few general notes about this program:
-
There is an expected input of a one-hour meeting per month across the six months.
-
This is not a forum to discuss or provide advice about mental health. Mentors are not expected to act as trained counselors.
-
If you feel the last 6 months just weren’t long enough, mentor-mentee pairings can continue only if both mentor and mentee select 'keep pairing' or 'no preference' in the survey.
Get involved!
Register your interest to be a mentor or a mentee in our upcoming 2023 ASBTE's Mentorship Program, prospectively between October 2023 and April 2024. ASBTE's Mentorship Program is testament to its supportive research community; across just the last year, there have been 96 unique participants and 65 mentor-mentee pairings
Register your interest by Friday, September 22nd at the following link: https://forms.gle/EXCcZ5g1gx6wpWNS8
Mark Allenby is currently running this semiannual program, and can be the contact point for any concerns (m.allenby@uq.edu.au).