Miranda Ashby-Wood, Christina Emery & Marios Karouzos, mentors on the 2024 ALPSP Mentorship Scheme
The close of 2024 saw the official wrap up of the 2024 ALPSP Mentorship Scheme that attracted more than 119 mentees from at least 18 different countries, mentored by 103 mentors over the course of eight months, from May to December 2024. The programme provided mentees with a wide network of expertise and skills to help foster their skill development and career progression. It also encouraged collaborative learning between mentors and mentees, both benefitting from the shared dialogue and experience.
Let us take stock of 2024’s mentor/mentee cohort. Most
mentees self-identified as female (80%). While the same was true for mentors,
the gender ratio was slightly less skewed (75% female) - you can see the full
distribution below. Under the assumption that mentors are likelier to be more
senior in their careers than mentees, this difference illustrates the
well-known leaky pipeline effect, where women are less represented in more
senior roles.
In terms of regional diversity, perhaps unsurprisingly, most
mentors and mentees were based in Europe and the UK, reflecting the ALPSP
membership. Interestingly, while the geographic distributions of mentors and
mentees broadly matched, we note a clear dearth of mentor representation from
the Asia Pacific region, which includes the Indian sub-continent.
So, what do these numbers tell us? We are not as diverse as we would like, especially lacking in male representation – something which we hope will improve for the 2025 scheme. The numbers may also imply that certain groups of people within our industry may not feel as empowered (or welcomed) to step forward as role models and mentors. What can we do about it? This and other similar mentoring programmes are great tools to increase skills and senior leadership capacity across the industry with mentees of today becoming the mentors of tomorrow.
This blog post also aims to dispel some myths about what a
mentor can look like and seeks to
empower those of you considering taking up the mentor mantle in the 2025
iteration of ALPSP mentorship scheme.
What does a mentor look like?
Many people may immediately generate an image of a very
senior professional – perhaps a senior manager or head of department, or even a
CEO – when asked to visualise a mentor, but this is a common misconception.
Anyone can be a mentor, and in fact having a range of
individuals at different stages of their careers can benefit
a programme such as this. It isn’t necessarily a senior individual
mentoring a more junior individual; you could mentor someone at the same career
level as you or even someone more senior. One example of how this could work is
the scenario where you are perhaps at an earlier stage in your career, but you
may have experience in a particular project or area that someone more senior is
new to, or is looking to move into. Another scenario is where an early career
individual may provide a different perspective to a common problem that is
complementary, thereby providing new insights and diversifying established
views.
Each mentor-mentee relationship is different, and every individual
will have different goals. The aim of the ALPSP Mentorship Scheme is to pair
individuals together to ensure both meet their goals. If you have been
considering signing up but don’t feel experienced enough or are concerned you
don’t have enough knowledge, fear not. We can guarantee there is a mentee out
there who would love to learn from your experience and would really value your
insight!
Embrace the leap: first-time mentorship matters
First-time mentors often underestimate the impact they can
have. Some new mentors expressed an initial hesitancy to participate, fearing
that they might not know enough to help their mentee. However, after completing
the programme, they shared positive feedback with ALPSP that everything worked
well and that they felt their contributions were worthwhile.
Tips for first timers
·
The mentee sets their own goals and meeting
agendas, so just by having regular meetings you can guide them through their
goals which helps them find motivation and be accountable.
·
You’re not expected to know everything, but you
may be able to help your mentee help themselves. You could share useful links,
provide them with training resources, or connect them to others who may be able
to help.
·
Just by providing another perspective or asking
provocative questions, you can challenge your mentee to see things in another
light and consider other routes or solutions.
·
There is support available to guide you through
the process. The Mentorloop platform has many useful resources on being a
mentor, and there is a group chat where mentors can support each other. This adds a real community feel to the
programme, and some mentors utilise the chat to ask others for advice or to
meet at conferences.
·
In addition, the ALPSP team holds check in
sessions at the beginning, during and at the end of the programme to help
prepare you.
It’s time to take action
So, apart from helping others, why should you sign up? Being
a mentor is extremely rewarding, with benefits including personal growth,
increased confidence, learning from your mentee, and expanding your network.
To summarise, the ALPSP mentoring programme needs you! We
need diverse perspectives from all regions, genders, backgrounds and levels of
seniority, so consider signing up today. To learn more about the benefits of
participating, we will be releasing a second blog post focusing on the
advantages for mentors.
Testimonial quotes:
Miranda:
“Being part of the ALPSP Mentorship Scheme was an extremely
rewarding experience. I developed my mentoring skills and gained confidence in
my own abilities and knowledge, and also learnt a lot from my mentee – it was
always refreshing to hear another perspective on many aspects of publishing. It
was great to see my mentee grow in skills and confidence and reach their goals,
and I thank them for their time, commitment and enthusiasm. I encourage anyone
reading this to sign up as a mentor!”
Marios:
“Every mentorship is unique in its challenges and rewards.
All of them, however, catalysed growth and development for my mentee and
myself. I am very proud of my mentee’s achievements and their thoughtful
engagement with our mentorship. Sign me up for 2025!”
Christina:
“Being a mentor was very fulfilling; after a great experience being a mentee the prior year, it was rewarding to give something back by helping someone else in need. It also helped me gain confidence through appreciating my own knowledge and skill set. Connecting with others in the industry was a bonus.”
About the ALPSP International Mentorship Scheme
The scheme aims to connect colleagues across the publishing industry and provide a wider network of expertise and skills to help foster development and progression. Open to ALPSP members (as mentees and mentors) as well as non-members (mentors only), the scheme was the winner of a ‘Most Impactful Mentoring Award’ in 2024. For more information and to register visit our website.
The ALPSP International Mentorship scheme is sponsored by Publishers' Licensing Services.
About the Authors:
Miranda is responsible for the strategic development of the BIR journal portfolio and leading the publishing department at the BIR. She is also responsible for the commissioning and development of BIR video courses and content within the BIR journal portfolio, working with members of the community to deliver relevant and high-quality material. Miranda is Co-Chair of the ALPSP Education Committee and a Director on the ALPSP Board.
Christina Emery, Head of Thought Leadership Programmes, Springer Nature
Christina is Head of Thought
Leadership Programmes at Springer Nature, where she is responsible for both the development and
execution of the organisation's thought leadership strategy. Christina is also
a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the OAPEN Open Access Books Toolkit.
Springer Nature
Marios is responsible for the strategy of the Reviews, News & Opinion content published in the Nature Portfolio. In addition to his role, Marios is a member of the editorial steering committee and a judge for the Inspiring Women in Science Nature Awards and co-chairs the Springer Nature SDG 5 "Gender equality" working group and the Springer Nature Women Employee Network.
No comments:
Post a Comment