Supporting women's mentoring in higher education

This project aims to support institutional change by exploring the impact of women’s mentoring initiatives on women’s career progression. Women are underrepresented in senior roles in higher education and at present only 18.7% of professors or heads of department are women. 

Research has taken place on how to establish successful mentoring initiatives in other sectors and in higher education across Europe, but there is limited research and a lack of practical guidance on what makes mentoring schemes successful in the UK higher education system and on the impact of the schemes.

Guidance will be developed as a result of the project to assist staff in higher education institutions. The guidance will support institutions to set up new, or develop existing, mentoring programmes for female staff. It will also help institutions improve their understanding of the impact of their mentoring initiatives. The guidance will contain case studies and will be aimed at staff interested in, or responsible for, continuing professional development.