Africa mentoring scheme

The university has an extensive and very successful alumni community in Nigeria, many of whom are graduates of CEPMLP. As part of the new partnership between the university and the new Executive of the Nigerian Alumni Chapter, a pilot scheme is being established which will enable alumni to volunteer to act as mentors to current African students at the University of Dundee. The pilot scheme will be open to 20 students domiciled in Africa who are studying Masters programmes within the School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Law.

Objectives of the scheme

1. To promote the sharing of professional and transferable skills with a view to increasing the employability of Masters students as they transition to full time employment, whether in the UK, overseas or back in their country of origin. 
2. Promote effective collaboration and engagement between alumni / alumni Chapters and the university, as well as current students.

Benefits of the mentoring scheme

• Being encouraged and empowered in personal development
• Being helped to identify and achieve career goals 
• Being helped to identify and correct gaps in generic skills and knowledge
• Increasing confidence 
• Developing and maintaining a broader perspective on career options and opportunities
• Having access to an experienced role model

Mentor

The role of a mentor includes that of guide, support, critical friend, sounding board, devil’s advocate, confidante, information giver, role model. Mentors may help their mentees in the following ways:

• Encouraging and empowering personal development
• Helping identify and address gaps in generic skills and knowledge
• Increasing confidence 
• Developing and maintaining a broader perspective on career options and opportunities
• Supporting mentees in defining and achieving their career goals

Mentee

The mentee is responsible for being proactive and is expected to drive the mentoring relationship forward through:

• Maintaining contact with the mentor. 
• Setting up meetings and fixing the meeting agenda by thinking about what they want to achieve from the mentoring relationship, and ensuring they are well prepared for meetings

To get the most out of being either a mentor of a mentee, both partners should be prepared to:

• Be open to learning and developing 
• Challenge current views, behaviours, assumptions, and ways of working
• Take responsibility for one’s own career development
• Be realistic about what can be achieved
• Enter a mentoring Partnership for a duration of six (6) months
• Meet at least 4 times during the duration of the Partnership
• Accept your right to hold different opinions to those of your mentoring partner
• Accept your mentoring partner also has this right
• Understand how to take responsibility for addressing any difficulties with the mentoring relationship and how to terminate the relationship gracefully
• Engage in ‘action planning’ and reflection
• Evaluate the usefulness of meetings and provide feedback to your mentoring partner
• Gaining insight into professional culture 
• Developing mentoring/coaching skills