Mentoring through kindness and compassion: Mentoring the ‘whole’ academic

Author: Amanda Miller

Importance

As an academic with over 25 years of experience, the principle of kindness is integral to my professional and personal life. This principle, which I have unknowingly practised, and the recognition of ‘kindness’ as a key support mechanism, has emerged from my own engagement with mentors during my academic career – where time, advice and support have been given so freely and openly. Also through my own professional development engaging in transformational leadership courses, 360 reviews of my leadership style and seeking external professional recognition, I have received feedback acknowledging my authentic leadership and how I lead with kindness. I consider Ross’s (2021) definition of kindness in the context of leadership, as one that underpins my commitment to mentoring: I ensure action, I focus on others and I generate a positive effect and outcome. Pivotal moments in my career were connected to three inspirational leaders and mentors, who led with ‘kindness’ – they were always generous with their time to counsel me through challenging decisions and were ‘kind’ leaders showing compassion and empathy. They served as my role models, and in my mentoring and support of colleagues, I strive to emulate their kindness by listening to and guiding staff and students through difficult times. The pandemic further highlighted this aspect of my character, as it became apparent that my ability to provide connection and reassurance was almost a ‘superpower.’ Indeed, whilst we work within an education sector negatively impacted by marketisation (Churcher & Talbot, 2020), we can still find joy in our work as Whitsed et al. (2024, p.11) ruminations on joy contend how “individuals still find joy in their academic work across four salient joy dynamics: joy/student, joy/teaching, joy/research, joy/colleague”. I find joy in mentoring and coaching colleagues and students by being generous with time and delivering guidance with kindness.

Scenario

This case study focuses upon the mentoring of practice-based academics (‘pracademics’) through an emphasis on developing and enhancing their ‘whole academic identity’. As an education leader with over 20 years’ experience at the same institution, I possess a high level of institutional intelligence and academic capital. Within my department, I have a formal role in supporting colleagues new to the institution through line management of successful probation periods. But by giving more time and through the lens of ‘kindness’, I have both a formal responsibility and informal role in mentoring colleagues adapting to the Higher Education sector. During a sustained period, we had a change in the recruitment profile of lecturing staff in my department, as we moved from a bias towards research active staff to those who came with extensive industry experience. Academics who transition to academia following successful professional careers often find it challenging to find their place and their academic identify. The definition of pracademics is taken from Dickinson et al. (2022) as referring to both former and current practitioners who have become academics in Higher Education. As a department offering courses that focus upon Marketing, Advertising and Tourism, there has always been a need to employ practitioners to enrich the student experience and to connect students with relevant experiential learning and authentic assessments. Our diverse, rich staff base includes those on the traditional research pathway with higher level qualifications, and those who come to the academy after a successful industry career. The qualities and insights that colleagues bring to their teaching practice after successful professional careers, and their connecting of industry needs with academic knowledge, skills and behaviours enhances the student experience. But the university environment in the UK is riddled with acronyms and processes which may not be logical and can be derisive and alienating and lead to instances of imposter syndrome. As a senior leader on the education pathway in my Faculty, I recognise the need to devote time and attention to these colleagues, who represent a significant portion of our staff. By mentoring them with kindness, I aim to support their transition into academia, help them navigate career pathways, and enable them to achieve promotions and success as academics on the education pathway.

Through mentoring, I adopt an approach that supports their identity and academic values as a practice academic and the approach is informed by Fields, Kenny and Mueller’s (2019) characteristics of education leadership. I apply the principles by giving time which: supports them to achieve professional recognition (mentoring and empowering); recognises their strengths in bringing real world experience into their teaching and assessment design (teaching excellence); helps them to navigate the institutional challenges and language (mentoring and empowering). As a mentor I need to exhibit affective qualities to best connect with and support my colleagues to grow in confidence within the academic community (action orientation). Mentoring is the giving of time when needed, and I ensure these colleagues are aware I am available – the workload of university colleagues has become administratively burdensome and can be overwhelming, but time given for a chat over a hot drink is valuable. In being generous with others, my pedagogy is that of care and compassion. The need was to support the pracademics confidence and identity as an academic, recognising teaching is important but through my actions I have mentored colleagues as a ‘whole’ so they can use their experiential, work integrated teaching practices to inform the development of case studies for teaching and learning. Through enacting opportunities for colleagues through a department community of practice to share their innovative approaches to teaching I engendered a culture of openness and sharing. This was extended beyond the department, by mentoring and successfully co-writing abstracts with these colleagues to facilitate their work being showcased at national and international SoTL conferences (research and scholarship). This reinforcement of esteem and profile has helped to solidify their identity as holistic academics – those who integrate various aspects of the academic profession, including teaching, research, mentoring, and community engagement, balancing scholarly activities with real-world applications and personal growth while upholding core academic values. Furthermore, emphasising academic values such as integrity, autonomy, and a commitment to lifelong learning has been crucial in guiding them to not only identify as academics but to also uphold the core principles that define the academic profession (Antoniadou & Quinlan, 2021).

There have been significant internal and external impacts for the colleagues I mentor, myself, and the broader academy. For my mentees, they have been supported to successfully transition to the higher education sector, and evidence of that is their successes in achieving educational leadership roles, professional recognition through Advance HE, promotional success and engagement in learning and teaching conferences (as co-author and mentor). New colleagues have developed profiles that allow them to have confidence to take on external facing academic and professional association roles as well as SoTL profiles. I have mentored colleagues as part of my approach to compassionate leadership and this has formed part of the narrative articulated in my own promotional applications and professional recognition award. This has led to my own broadening of knowledge and insights and inspired me to establish a department community of practice for teaching and learning for colleagues to create a culture of sharing and connecting. This experience then led to my successful application to be a strategic community of practice leader at the institutional level. Externally, I have supported colleagues in amplifying their practice through engagement in conferences, blogs, and publications.

Reflection

Each time I have a conversation with a colleague for whom university lecturing is a second career I learn something new. I learn ways in which I can change my own practice, ways in which the ‘institution’ is seen as an inhibitor – a narrative I can challenge and work with. I consider mentoring to be a long-term relationship and this case study shows the importance to career development and confidence to facilitate the successful transition of professionally experienced colleagues new to the academy. I may adopt the role of ‘mentor’ through formal and informal mechanisms, as sometimes I am a line manager, or I am an experienced colleague giving my time. The way in which I mentor is continually evolving and personalised as it is responding to the colleagues I connect with, as I ensure action, focus on them, and we collaborate to generate positive effect and outcome. I have found receptivity in my mentoring as we have open conversations, and sometimes my advice is accepted and sometimes not. Mentoring is a relationship where mentor and mentee come together to learn and thrive from that relationship and with practice academics, I have been very fortunate in having positive experiences where we are equals in the relationship and can inform our own practice from each other.

Advice

We are all busy, and the bureaucracy of educational institutions will not disappear, but joy can be found in our work. By giving time to others and having a positive kind attitude, this allows the sharing of knowledge and insights and a hope that my practice is a motivating factor for others to mirror my successes as an academic

Look to the whole of the pracademic – don’t pigeonhole colleagues as they will be ‘just a teacher’ as they have been successful in their first career so they can adapt and they can bring different qualities to enhance teaching and learning.

Develop a culture which applauds the rich diverse backgrounds of staff where there is no perceived hierarchy aligned with academic qualifications and years spent at an institution.

Finding joy in work and giving time kindly, helps to counter feelings of frustration, isolation and ‘imposter syndrome’. It allows talented staff recruited to the academy to flourish and achieve successful careers.

References

Antoniadou, M., & Quinlan, K.M. (2022). Holding true or caving in? Academics’ values, emotions, and behaviors in response to higher education reforms. Higher Education Policy, 35(2), 522-541. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-021-00225-1

Churcher, M., & Talbot, D. (2020). The corporatisation of education: Bureaucracy, boredom, and transformative possibilities. New Formations, 100, 28–42. https://doi.org/10.3898/NewF:100-101.03.2020

Dickinson, J., Fowler, A., & Griffiths, T-L. (2022). Pracademics? Exploring transitions and professional identities in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 47(2), 290–304. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1744123

Fields, J., Kenny, N.A., & Mueller, R.A. (2019). Conceptualizing educational leadership in an academic development program. International Journal for Academic Development, 24(3), 218-231. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2019.1570211

Ross, K. (2021). The kind leader: A practical guide to eliminating fear, creating trust, and leading with kindness. Productivity Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003141433.

Whitsed, C., Girardi, A., Williams, J.P., & Fitzgerald, s. (2024). Where has the joy gone? A qualitative exploration of academic university work during crisis and change. Higher Education Research & Development, 43(7), 1632-1646. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2024.2339836