Mentoring early career researchers within a cross-disciplinary research project

Abstract

This paper reports on the mentoring of early career researchers at a regional campus of a University in Queensland, Australia. The mentoring process involved mentees actively participating in a community research project. As the participants took on the roles of mentee or mentor dependent upon the research activity at the time, the mentoring process could be deemed as being a mentoring mosaic. Participants who identified themselves as being mentees were interviewed to identify their reasons for participating, the outcomes they experienced and what caused the outcomes to occur. They also completed self assessment scales to identify changes in the levels of their research skills, confidence and attitude towards mentoring others. The results clearly showed that the mentees had very positive outcomes associated with their involvement in the project both in relation to research confidence and capability and also the development of positive working relationships. Mentees reported that the key drivers leading to the identified outcomes as being the structure of the research project, the diverse backgrounds and generosity of the participants as well as the inclusive practices employed.