Equity , diversity and belonging
... the mentorship programme has had a successful first year and we look forward to developing it further . It has shown itself to be a worthwhile and viable project and has achieved some success with very few resources .”
Equity , diversity and belonging
Feature
While as educators – and indeed as a profession – we are working hard to increase diversity on programmes and make every effort to be inclusive in our pedagogy , for example , increasing diversity of teaching staff , decolonising the curriculum and following guidelines for inclusive curriculum design , there remain intersectional challenges for our students ( Beer 2015 ; Webb et al 2021 ).
One reason is the dominance in higher education of positions that initiatives such as the now outdated unconscious bias training has done little to resolve . More recently , there is now a move towards anti-discriminatory training and a commitment to reporting and investigating discriminatory practices , as well as greater commitment to inclusive pedagogy .
However , the issue of students having a safe space to discuss individual issues , explore some of the individually experienced complexities of joining our profession , as well as how to negotiate the bureaucracies involved in negotiating higher education , can remain uncatered for as , for many reasons , students may not seek support from the course team or existing university structures .
Therefore , the risks persist of some students disengaging from the profession and perpetuating the profession ’ s identity as unrepresentative of the communities we serve .
Within Leeds Beckett University ’ s School of Health , we carried out some research that found that statistically and experientially the courses across the school were representative of the national issues as far as attrition and grades were concerned .
A recommendation of the research was that mentorship could be helpful in addressing some of the concerns and has the potential to have many benefits for the students .
In addition , we reviewed evidence surrounding mentorship in higher education and found it to be promising ( Milner and Bossers 2005 ; Moore 2018 ; Schoen et al 2021 ). Therefore , we aimed to provide additional individual support to students via a mentorship programme .
We organised a steering group that explored the practicalities required of such a scheme , such as its name , how it could be delivered and co-ordinated , where we could find mentors , and how it could be evaluated .
The steering group included multiple representatives across the school from occupational therapy , physiotherapy , psychological therapies , administration , research , careers and public health , students ’ union and students .
... the mentorship programme has had a successful first year and we look forward to developing it further . It has shown itself to be a worthwhile and viable project and has achieved some success with very few resources .”
Tasks were allocated into individual work during a series of six , one-hour meetings . Documentation in the form of a handbook for mentors and mentees was developed . Two expression of interest forms for mentors and student mentees were created and an online evaluation survey was set up for anonymous feedback .
Coaching and mentorship resources were accessed and available as training resources . Trainers in mentorship became accessible via the Leeds Beckett University ’ s students ’ union and the author had recently completed an International Leadership Management Coaching and Mentorship programme .
Mentors were accessed from Beckett Connect ( the Leeds Beckett University alumni online forum ), local NHS trusts , Leeds Beckett University alumni , RCOT and social media .
We avoided students mentoring other students to reduce the pressures on existing students , but did advertise the programme with graduating students – four of whom are now offering mentorship as newly qualified therapists .
The aim was to begin with a small number of mentors and mentees and build gradually from a small cohort and we began in October 2022 . Once the information was shared with students ( levels 5 and 7 ) we soon had a list of possible mentees and at the time of writing ( having started with low numbers ) we have 21 pairs of mentors and mentees working together . Mentors are encouraged to offer up to six sessions , which can be anything from one to six , and in some cases , the number has progressed beyond six . There are some joint projects , as well as some excellent opportunities accessed via the mentors .
The list of mentors includes qualified occupational therapists , some of whom have been qualified a long time . Others are newly qualified ( including Leeds Beckett University
February 2024 OTnews 43