Call for mentors: mentoring schemes to support early-career academics in UK HE
We are currently seeking new mentors to add to our database in all disciplines covered by UCML – and in particular Hispanic Studies and Italian Studies.
Further details of the schemes below – please contact the coordinator Dr Kate Foster (ecasn.contact@gmail.com) with any queries.
What we do:
The increasingly precarious nature of career paths in Higher Education, particularly Modern Languages, means that many early-career academics find themselves adrift from mentors able to provide the guidance and feedback so essential for developing a professional profile and navigating the myriad experiences which characterize the initial years of an academic career. UCML’s ECA Support Network (ECASN) seeks to alleviate these obstacles through academic mentoring.
We currently run two schemes:
1) Individual requests: this connects researchers at the start of their career who have standalone projects on which they need advice with more experienced peers and colleagues who can provide constructive feedback: for example, article submissions, plans for events and public engagement, book proposals, CV design, and bids for research-council fellowships/grants.
2) Year-long Mentoring Partnerships: this pairs an ECA with a more established and experienced colleague for monthly online meetings to support their general career development over the course of one academic year.
Mentors are welcome to volunteer for one or both of the two schemes – and can always opt in or out when requests for support come through according to availability at any one time. We are mindful of the pressures facing experienced colleagues: the flexible nature of these schemes make it possible for the mentor to choose how often and when they feel able to offer their time and support.
Further details available here: https://university-council-for-languages.org/early-career-academics/eca-support-network/
Who can be a mentor?
Colleagues with approximately 5 or more years of experience post-viva are encouraged to send their details to the list moderator Dr Kate Foster – ecasn.contact@gmail.com) to be added to a closed database of mentors. Mentors may be colleagues with a current institutional affiliation and on a stable academic career trajectory, as well as those navigating multiple temporary contracts.