Mentoring in higher education

How to use mentoring in teaching, research supervision and university career development: academics explain coaching, support and skills development in the mentor-mentee relationship.

Diverse group of young adult students listening to their mature female professor during a chemistry lecture in a lab

Strong labs are built on shared ownership – with students as collaborators

Students learn more, contribute more and mature as scientists when given active roles rather than supporting parts in research teams

Robert Cooper

Virginia Tech

What’s in a name? How to build trust into a student mentor role

A new framework for student support meant the creation of a new role – but what to call it? Dana Abiltayeva explains why it matters

Dana Abiltayeva

Nazarbayev University

Students and mentors laugh around a table

Personalised coaching could be the key to postgraduate resilience

Democratise executive coaching for postgraduate students and help them develop the resilience and adaptability they’ll need for the future. Here’s how

Pamsy Hui, Terrance Leung, Celine Ho

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Preparing students for the workplace? Alumni could be the key

The alumni community have been exactly where students are now. Here’s how harnessing their expertise and guidance can be invaluable

María Manson

Universidad Austral

How part-time lecturers can protect their professional identity

You can teach hundreds of students, design learning activities, mark assessments and support academic success – yet still feel like a visitor in your own institution. Find out how to establish a sense of belonging as a part-time visiting lecturer

Katherine Mansfield, Yaz Osho

University of Westminster

Young healthcare student in a coaching session

How academics can use coaching approaches to support students

Academic coaching assumes students are the experts who already know how to overcome their barriers and achieve their potential. The key is giving them prompts and space to set their own action plan

Helen Foster

Canterbury Christ Church University

Racial diversity among university staff spotlight image

How universities can boost staff diversity

Advice for supporting racial diversity among university staff and faculty that better reflects the student population and society as a whole

Campus contributors

Campus

What co-creation taught us about solving university problems together

Small changes to communication can help students, faculty and graduates engage with each other on the issues affecting higher education today, writes Kawtar Abouhazim

Kawtar Abouhazim

Al Akhawayn University

A supervisor and supervisee chat over a tablet

Research supervision is about more than imparting knowledge – it’s mentorship

Combining mentoring skills with structured guidance can help doctoral researchers build confidence and refine their focus. Here’s how

Shavonne M. Ekeledo

Colorado State University Global

Build supervisory relationships that inspire, not just correct

The supervisory relationship can make the difference between a doctoral student thriving – or simply surviving. Here’s how to build productive, respectful relationships, grounded in mentoring principles

Elmeida Effendy

Universitas Sumatera Utara

Male forestry officer in high-visibility gear looking at a tree

Show graduate students how to identify careers beyond academia

Graduate students often feel unprepared for roles outside research or teaching. Ashley Dayer offers advice for equipping them with practical skills, professional networks and the confidence to pursue diverse paths

Ashley Dayer

Virginia Tech

Why professional development in graduate supervision matters

Graduate supervision is not an innate by-product of research excellence; it is a pedagogical practice that must be taught, learned, supported and refined, writes Katerina Standish

Katerina Standish

University of Northern British Columbia

What established academics can learn from ECRs

Professors can gain immediate, practical benefits if they listen to early career researchers, through inter-generational exchanges such as reverse mentoring. Here, Ian Williams offers five capabilities that ECRs can offer more seasoned scholars

Ian D. Williams

University of Southampton

A pedagogy of grief: dealing with loss in higher education

What happens when a university educator is grieving a loved one? Here’s how collective loss can shape an institution

Rachelle McKay

Dalhousie University

Two Asian students in a coffee shop looking at a laptop

How sustained mentoring can drive international students’ success

True integration for international students doesn’t happen during orientation week. It takes place over months and years, through ongoing mentorship, cultural events and year-round academic-career scaffolding

Jennifer Clevenger

Virginia Tech

Find purpose and identity in the ‘near-end’ season of an academic career

As careers near their later stages, familiar markers of achievement fade and professional identity shifts. Wendy Cowan and Bridgette Walker explore how academics can move from proving value to mentoring, shaping legacy and finding renewed purpose

Wendy Cowan, Bridgette Walker

Athens State University

Maximise student satisfaction in creative education: part two

In the second part of this guide to achieving 100 per cent student satisfaction results in the National Student Survey, here’s why creating community and centring mental well-being made a difference

Kate Cotter , Elizabeth McLaughlin

University of the West of Scotland

How financial literacy empowers first-generation students

Institutions that aspire to be truly inclusive must go beyond scholarships and access policies to embed financial literacy, writes Manjari Sharma. This can be done through workshops, mentoring and career services

Manjari Sharma

Christ (Deemed to be University)

How vertical tutoring builds community

Students on joint or interdisciplinary degrees often struggle to feel they truly belong. Vertical tutoring – a structured, cross-year peer support model – offers a solution

Owen Tomlinson, Mary O’Leary

The University of Exeter

How compassionate spaces support career development for graduate teaching assistants

Bringing GTAs together in a safe space not only develops career identity, it fosters belonging, respect and care. Here, Kristy Campbell explains what a reading group offers those in the space between student and staff

Kristy Campbell

King’s College London

Medical students in discussion around a table

Far from home, but not alone: peer mentoring to ease culture shock for international students

Upper-year student mentors can provide freshmen mentees with practical tools to settle into a new environment, manage their mental health, navigate the workload and stay grounded throughout their medical studies

Eden Friedman, Adrienne Stauder

Semmelweis University

Can peer mentoring support under-represented students into postgraduate research?

Mentoring is often seen as a silver bullet for tackling complex challenges such as unequal access to postgraduate research opportunities. So, can a peer-to-peer scheme support under-represented students into PhD study?

Maisha Islam

University of Southampton

Co-created research to boost a student mentoring scheme

A foundation mentoring scheme helped students widen their networks. But how to increase participation? Involving students in a co-creation research project provided the answer

Amy MacLatchy

University of Westminster

An academic listens attentively to a student

University students need emotional support as well as intellectual challenge

Empathetic teaching is about more than lectures and grades – it’s about helping the whole student grow. Find out how

M. Devendran Manogaran , Nor Adilla Rashidi

Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP)

What can university lecturers do to ease students’ exam anxiety?

Exam stress in all its forms will be familiar to most university lecturers. What is less discussed is how educators’ awareness can ease students’ nerves and lead to better outcomes

Melinda Cserép

Semmelweis University

A student talks intently to an out-of-focus lecturer

Empower LBGTQ+ people to be their authentic selves on campus with Rainbow Office Hours

A simple, low-cost idea helped one university campus become a more welcoming space for members of the LGBTQ+ community. Here’s how it worked

Rafael Henry-Venson, Emily Nordmann

University of Glasgow

What’s the next step for widening participation? Make it personal

Despite admissions numbers soaring, students from low-income backgrounds are still missing out on the best graduate jobs. Here’s how personalised one-to-one coaching can dismantle the invisible barriers to career success

Ollie Taylor

UpReach, University of Liverpool

Three strategies to close the exam feedback gap

Exams are still a common choice of assessment, but do they really offer the feedback students need? Here’s how to make exam feedback impactful

Edd Pitt, Naomi Winstone

University of Kent, University of Surrey

Young black woman before panel during job interview

The challenge of building a diverse faculty in a world that has turned on diversity

In improving recruitment and retention of faculty from under-represented groups, universities can learn strategies from the corporate world – and let go of contentious remedies that do not work

Frank Dobbin, Alexandra Kalev

Harvard University, Tel Aviv University

Empowering academics for greater student success

Student success initiatives traditionally focus just on the students. Empowering academics with effective engagement tools opens another pathway for scaling up success

Kaylene Sampson

University of Canterbury | Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha

Three reasons why university libraries are key to belonging

The university library occupies a unique place in the campus community. Find out the three reasons it’s integral to the creation of an inclusive learning environment in higher education

Bethany Wilkes

Hong Kong Baptist University

Use coaching to help students juggle the pressures of academic life

Academic expectations and personal responsibilities are crushing students’ mental health. Could coaching offer them a way to take control of their own learning?

Bavani Divo, May Lim

Singapore Institute of Technology

Peer review and career developing in university teaching

Peer review as a collegial approach to educator development

Expert support, structured reflection and near-peer dialogue can replace compliance and evaluation as a way to improve teaching practice. This practical framework aims to turn conversation into action

Hasti Abbasi

Deakin University

Level the playing field for student apprentices with ILPs

Read advice on how to support student apprentices with independent learning plans, including guiding them through the off-the-job hours logging process

Joskaudė Pakalkaitė

The University of Exeter

Is the tick-box structure of promotion preventing true collaboration?

Academics can be so focused on the hoops they have to jump through on the path to success, they forgo opportunities for genuine collaboration. Perhaps it’s time for a shift in mindset, writes Nick Quinn

Nick Quinn

University of Glasgow

Three ways to spot someone struggling – and six ways to support them

Institutional policies can only go so far when it comes to mental health. Find out how to spot a student or colleague in crisis – and what you can do to help

Sumbal Riaz, Aqsa Khan, Soha Saifulla

Dubai Medical University

A woman sits in a beanbag chair with a laptop

How to spark student start-ups

Universities are the ideal environment to turn ideas into businesses. Here’s how to encourage entrepreneurship and foster a start-up dynamic in your students

Robert Crammond, William Shepherd

University of the West of Scotland

A hand places a wooden block atop three others

Are module leaders missing out on professional development?

Let’s support module leaders with effective and engaging training opportunities. Here are five ways to do it

Gustavo Espinoza Ramos , Louis Spring

University of Westminster

A mentor having a meeting with her mentee

Become a better mentor by asking yourself these questions

Our mentees face a far more complex educational, social and geopolitical landscape than we did, and we must practise humility in the face of that reality, writes Maria LaMonaca Wisdom. In this piece, she explores how self-reflection enhances effective mentorship.

Maria LaMonaca Wisdom

Duke University

An illustration of tiny figures putting together a giant jigsaw puzzle

Universities need to move interdisciplinary professional associations to the next step

Inter- and transdisciplinary teaching is going beyond communities of practice – but it’s still too small to compete with discipline-based professional associations. Here are the questions we should be asking to move forward

Gabriele Bammer

Australian National University

A recipe for effective undergraduate research mentorship

Strategies for giving effective feedback, addressing common challenges and fostering a supportive and productive mentor-student relationship

Jamie Gilbert Mikell

Athens State University

Five ways coaching can improve the university experience of Black students

The ethnicity awarding gap continues to be an issue in UK universities, especially for Black students. Could coaching be the answer?

Yaz Osho

University of Westminster

A group of PhD students touch mortarboards

Four ways to enhance the postgraduate student experience

Postgraduate students are our future colleagues – let’s put ourselves in their shoes. Here are four ways to help your PhD students thrive in higher education

Miller Alonso Camargo-Valero

University of Leeds

Female lecturer speaking to students at the front of class

Low-cost ways to support women academics

Offering mentorship opportunities, supporting peer groups and addressing bias are some of the ways institutions can support women academics

Asri Saraswati

The University of Indonesia

A group of people sit around in discussion

Supporting education-focused academics on the road less travelled

Education-focused academics must often navigate an unclear career path with limited opportunities. Danijela Serbic offers advice on how to set up an educational group to support their career development

Danijela Serbic

Royal Holloway, University of London

Encouragement and talent development for future scientists

Secondary students need access to practical laboratory experience and career guidance. Mamta Sharma explores ways to introduce budding researchers to the lab setting and broaden scientific horizons

Mamta Sharma

Wellcome Sanger Institute

How to succeed as an early career researcher? Be motivated and inspire others

Pursuing a research career, especially in a competitive field such as neuroscience, requires commitment, early action, long-term goals and, above all, ongoing passion and curiosity about your field

András Horváth

Semmelweis University

Smiling Chinese college tutor at whiteboard

Setting boundaries for teachers’ well-being

Practising self-care and saying no can help university educators manage the increasing demands of teaching and find a sustainable work-life balance

Cheong Fan

Macau University of Science and Technology

New hire shakes hands with hiring manager

Get inboarding right in five easy steps

Internal hires don’t need traditional onboarding, so how do you ensure they find their feet quickly and thrive in their new position in your university? That’s where inboarding comes in

Alexandra Head

University of Southampton

Teaming up with students to design sustainability education

Involving students as co-creators and mentors in sustainability courses can help address differences in their understanding as well as issues such as eco-anxiety

Anne Le Goff , Yacine Baouch , Frédéric Huet , Pierre Feissel

Université de Technologie de Compiègne

1 2 3