Mentoring.

SWIP UK runs a mentoring scheme for our members from Masters level onwards. We also support the British Philosophical Association's mentoring scheme. 

Why a mentoring scheme?

Women are under-represented in UK philosophy at all levels, from Masters students to Professors. Mentoring is a key mechanism by which women can gain valuable skills, advice, perspective, and experience that will help them to realise their potential and develop their academic careers. Studies have shown that women in male-dominated fields often receive far less mentoring than their male colleagues. With this in mind, we have developed a national scheme so that all SWIP members in any stage of Postgraduate studies or un/employment from Masters level to Professor are able to take advantage of the benefits that mentoring has to offer, if they wish to do so.
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The aims of the scheme are to:
  • increase self-confidence and reduce isolation of women philosophers in what is still a male dominated environment;
  • encourage more women to continue within philosophy and to take on more senior roles;
  • provide women opportunities to discuss the problems they face;
  • offer women informed advice about their personal career development;
  • raise the profile of women in philosophy.
For more detail on how we conceive of women in this context, please see our recognitions and aims.

Who can join the scheme?

As mentees, the scheme is open to all SWIP members from Masters level to Professor who are students of philosophy or employed on teaching and/or research contracts (including fractional contracts) in universities in the UK or Ireland. It is also open to women philosophers who are between jobs or who have completed their PhD and do not currently have - but are aiming to secure - academic employment.

Mentors are all academics in permanent employment (both male and female) at Lecturer level or above. We welcome new mentors onto the scheme.

We use the 'mentee application form' to match mentees with suitable mentors based on their requirements, or, if we cannot find a suitable match, we may seek to recruit a new mentor to the scheme. Mentees will be matched with mentors who are more senior (e.g. if a mentee is a PhD student they will be matched with a lecturer or above; if they are a senior lecturer or reader they will be matched with a professor). We appreciate that different mentees will have different preferences for the kind of mentor they want, based on what specific goals they are hoping to achieve. For this reason, the mentee application form lists some standard preferences (gender, subject area, career stage), but mentees can also add their own. (For example, a mentee who is planning on applying for academic positions in the US might request a mentor who is familiar with US hiring procedures and philosophy departments). The form allows mentees to select, in order, their strongest preferences. We will do our best to match mentees with a mentor who meets their preferences, but this may not always be possible.

How does the scheme work?

Once a mentor and mentee have been paired, they will agree a 'mentoring agreement', which will be confidential between them. As part of this process, both parties need to be clear as to expectations. This should include what they expect to achieve, the means by which it should be achieved and the timeframe. In some cases this will involve sending a personal development plan and CV. In other cases it might include a log book or diary. When mentoring takes place face-to-face, the mentor and mentee agree to the quantity and length of meetings. Where mentoring takes place over email, in order to manage the amount of email traffic it is important to be clear as to how often communication should take place, the aims and objectives of communication and the anticipated speed of response. Where some face-to-face meetings are part of the agreement, again the number and duration should be specified.

Mentoring agreements will normally be for one year in the first instance, though this period can be curtailed by the mentee at any time for any reason, and by the mentor if the mentee has violated the terms of the mentoring agreement. Mentees who end a mentoring agreement can request a new mentor by submitting a new form. Mentoring agreements can also be extended with the agreement of both mentor and mentee. In addition, goals should be clearly identified. These might include:

  • improving the presentation of your CV;
  • identifying relevant skills and experience that would enhance your employment or promotion prospects and finding ways to acquire them;
  • setting and achieving targets for completing work for publication;
  • getting and acting on advice concerning publication, applying for jobs, promotion, etc.

In addition, the mentor may of course be able to provide help or advice on an ad hoc basis with a range of other issues, e.g. implementing the recommendations in the Women in Philosophy in the UK report in the mentee's department, problems with colleagues and/or students, etc. Please note, however, that the mentor should not be expected to act as a source of comments and suggestions on specific pieces of philosophical work. Mentors will not agree to provide any advice that specifically relates to the completion or submission of a PhD thesis, since this falls within the remit of the PhD supervisor.

We would like to keep track of the extent to which the scheme is succeeding, and for this reason will ask both mentees and mentors to complete a short questionnaire when their mentoring contract expires (or after one year if they have agreed to extend it).

How can I join the scheme?

To join the scheme, you just need to fill in a short online form to let us know about what you are looking for as a mentee or what you can offer as a mentor. Please save swipbpamentor@gmail.com as a contact to ensure that our emails arrive in your inbox (especially if you are providing an institutional email address). We warmly welcome new mentees and mentors, and we are extremely grateful to all the mentors on our scheme for volunteering their time so generously.
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If you have any questions about this Mentoring Scheme, please contact Lucienne Spencer who oversees this scheme. Lucienne can be contacted at swipbpamentor@gmail.com