New Mentoring Programme for All Staff at AAU

By Louise Toft Andersen, HR Department. Photo: Colourbox.

– Conversations with a mentor can highlight career paths and contribute to planning and achieving goals. We must support career development regardless of job category, and therefore we are launching a mentoring programme that targets both academic staff and technical and administrative staff, says Lars Hvilsted Rasmussen, Chair of the Committee for Equality and Diversity.

AAU’s new mentoring programme is aimed at all AAU staff members regardless of job category, age and nationality. The scheme is cross-organisational, and matches mentees and mentors across faculties or departments. This is to ensure a neutral and confidential space between mentor and mentee.

A cross-organisational scheme

Previously, the Committee for Equality and Diversity coordinated a cross-faculty mentoring scheme for researchers at AAU. Based on its positive evaluations, the scheme is being relaunched in an extended format.

– It turned out to be a great opportunity to discuss my work situation and future career with someone who has a lot of experience but is not familiar with my department. It gave my situation a fresh pair of eyes, says Ida Sofie Gøtzsche Lange, Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology and former mentee of AAU’s Mentoring Programme.

A former mentor also had a good experience with mentor and mentee being matched across the organisational structure:

– It confirmed for me that being a mentor is interesting and rewarding. This is something I would like to do in the future to expand my mentoring skills as these are different from supervision. The fact that we came from different research environments was an advantage because I could provide a different perspective, says Anja Lisbeth Frederiksen, Senior Physician, PhD, Clinical Professor in the Department of Clinical Medicine and former mentor.

Mentoring in groups

The mentoring programme differs from traditional mentoring programmes because it takes place in groups. Group mentoring provides an opportunity to discuss common experiences; it allows for conversations with multiple perspectives and an expanded focus on career development. It also gives participants the opportunity to expand their network at AAU.

Groups are matched to consist of a mentor and four to six mentees. When they register both mentors and mentees must indicate their seniority and select the themes where they want feedback or to offer mentoring. The participants are then matched in mentoring groups.

The mentoring scheme consists of two models – one for academic staff and one for technical and administrative staff.

Get well-equipped along the way

Jakob Nørlem, Teaching Associate Professor in the Department of Culture and Learning, is affiliated with the mentoring scheme and will support mentors to act in the best possible way in their role of mentor to a group of mentees. Jakob Nørlem has helped develop the concept of coaching in Denmark and co-founded the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC). He has published articles and books on mentoring and has previously assisted AAU’s cross-faculty mentoring programme.

Clinical professor Anja Lisbeth Frederiksen believes that Jakob Nørlem’s workshops for mentors were a great help and inspiration when she was to be a mentor:

– I learned a lot from the different tools that I can use in the future, including asking questions in different ways. It undoubtedly helped me in terms of building a good relationship with the mentee, she says.

As a start to the programme, AAU is holding a kickoff event for all mentors and mentees where the participants are introduced to the different roles and what can be expected from the programme.

Become a mentor or mentee

Registration for the AAU Mentoring Programme opens on 4 January. Registration is open until 24 February.

You will find registration forms for mentors and mentees on the AAU Mentoring Programme website. When you register, you have the option to indicate whether you prefer to participate in Danish or English.

On the AAU Mentoring Programme website you can read more about the programme and find information such as a timetable for the programme.

The launch of the AAU Mentoring Programme is part of the university’s initiatives on equality and diversity. Read more here about the Committee for Equality and Diversity and the AAU Mentoring Programme.

The mentoring programme runs over 12 months. The format and content will then be evaluated before a multi-year scheme is launched.