NIHR Mentoring Programme 2022 Evaluation Report

Foreword

The purpose of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is to develop a highly skilled academic research workforce capable of advancing the best research, which improves health and benefits society and the economy in England and beyond. We have a central role in England's health and care research landscape. We work alongside other organisations that have an overarching aim to strengthen health research in the United Kingdom (UK).

The NIHR Academy was established in October 2018 following a strategic review of training across the NIHR to review the past and look proactively at future training needs. It set out a vision underpinned by a series of recommendations which led to the re-shaping of the training programmes offered. The NIHR Academy recognises and rewards:

• collaborative, multi-professional approaches to research
• the embracing of innovation and new opportunities and technologies
• active involvement and engagement of patients, carers and the public
• respect for the diversity of methodological and theoretical practices
• personal and professional development and support of colleagues

The NIHR Academy comprises ‘Members’ and ‘Associates’. Members include those on an NIHR academic path and those who play a recognised role supporting academic development. They form a key part of the national health research system that is the NIHR. Associate Members are those who are part of the NIHR research training ecosystem. They are either on a research trajectory or plan or an NIHR role in supporting research training.

NIHR Academy Members range from Masters Studentships through to Professorships and Senior Investigators. Membership includes individuals based in both domestic and global health research settings. Some also work closely with industry, developing a cadre of research leaders with combined academic, National Health Service (NHS) and industry insight and experiences.

Members are able to access a portfolio of NIHR Academy development and support activities. They are able to access NIHR research training and career development programmes to help ensure that their research meets the current and future needs of patients and the public, as well as developing and sustaining training routes for research skills to support the development of future leaders across all professions and disciplines.

In addition to the awards themselves the NIHR also provides a range of leadership and mentoring programmes to complement its training programmes, regular networking opportunities, bespoke workshops and events and personal advice and guidance on funding opportunities.

The NIHR provides postdoctoral Academy Members with career development support through its mentoring programme. The programme supports postdoctoral researchers from a broad range of professional and disciplinary contexts across our diverse health and social care communities to mentor others and to seek a mentor. The refreshed programme was launched in February 2021.

In this document, we set out the NIHR mentoring programme approach and key outcomes at the end of its second year. We share the mentoring programme purpose, aims, objectives, participant profile, methodology, outcomes and future plans.

Prof. Anne-Maree Keenan OBE, NIHR Associate Dean

Introduction

The mentoring programme has been developed and guided by a Steering Group whose membership is representative of Academy Members. The refreshed programme builds on the previous NIHR Mentoring Programme that was delivered by the Academy of Medical Sciences, expanding the programme to support all Academy Members, regardless of professional background. The refreshed programme was launched in February 2021. Each year, NIHR provides the opportunity for 75 matched mentoring pairs, prioritising those from backgrounds or disciplines that may not have previously had access to mentoring.

The programme aims to support the academic and career development of NIHR postdoctoral communities by:

• extending the NIHR mentoring programme to postdoctoral award holders from disciplines and professional backgrounds which may not have a strong mentoring tradition or may not have had access to programmes such as this in the past
• promoting interdisciplinarity working; mentees are able to seek a mentor from a cognate or complementary discipline or professional background, where appropriate
• supporting mentoring relationships between individuals from different organisations and institutions
• promoting equality, inclusion, and diversity through engagement with, and learning from, under-represented groups

Active Steering Group

• Prof. Anne-Maree Keenan (NIHR Associate Dean)
• Prof. Jon Barratt (Head of the Postgraduate Speciality School of Clinical Academic Training, Health Education East Midlands)
• Dr Steve Bloor (CEO, Videregen, Industry Representative)
• Dave Chuter (NIHR PPI Representative, NCRI Consumer Executive Group)
• Dr Mike Clark (Research Programme Manager, NIHR School for Social Care Research, London School of Economics)
• Krishna De (NIHR Assistant Director, Communications, Involvement and Development)
• Dr Georgina Fletcher (Assistant Director, NIHR School for Primary Care Research)
• Dr Julie Haddock-Millar (Associate Professor of HRM and EMCC Global Work Group Lead, International Standards in Mentoring and Coaching Programmes)
• Sarah Howarth (NIHR Senior Development and Support Manager - Secretariat)
• Prof. Jeremy Levy (Director of Clinical Academic Training, Imperial College London)
• Hayley Mableson (NIHR Programme Manager, Infrastructure and Capacity Building Structures)
• Kay Nunns (DHSC, Research Policy Manager)
• Dr Marius Roman (Academic Clinical Lecturer in Cardiac Surgery)
• Dr Sara Ronzi (NIHR SPHR Post-doctoral launching Fellow)
• Ameenat Lola Solebo (NIHR Clinical Scientist)
• Dr Mariette Stadler (NIHR Clinical Scientist)
• Andeep Sull (Training Manager, NIHR School for Public Health Research)
• Dr Katherine Tucker (Oxford and Thames Valley ARC, University of Oxford)
• Alana Wilde (NIHR Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager)

The above are active steering group members during 2022/2023.

How we define mentoring

We define mentoring as a non-directive developmental relationship; mentors support mentees to learn and grow. The relationship is often two-way: the mentor also develops. Mentors often draw on shared knowledge, skills, competencies and behaviours; they call on the skills of questioning, listening, clarifying and reframing. Mentors tend to have the organisational and contextual experience relevant to the mentee’s organisational and career-related system, and typically mentoring relationships tend to be longer-term than coaching.

We base our definition on the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) approach to mentoring. EMCC Global recognises that the practice of mentoring is dynamic and evolving in a rapidly changing global context. In 2021, the EMCC Mentoring Group, was tasked by the Global Executive Board (GEB) to review the existing definition and make recommendations for an updated understanding. The Review Group adopted a triangulation approach, which included a literature search, focus groups and survey of members. The findings reflect and incorporate the perspectives of the wider mentoring community, including views from inside and outside the EMCC’s global community.

EMCC Global definition of mentoring:

Programme methodology

We adopted the EMCC Global International Standards for Mentoring and Coaching Programmes (ISMCP) as an overarching framework for the design, implementation and evaluation of the mentoring programme. The ISMCP is an independent accreditation awarded to organisations designing, delivering and evaluating mentoring and/or coaching programmes either ‘in-house’ or externally. It is an integral and essential step on the path to establishing the professional credibility and status of good mentoring programme management, ensuring programmes are:

• thoughtfully designed
• systematically managed
• significantly contributing to the development of participants, strategic drivers of the organisation and wider stakeholder objectives

The purpose of the ISMCP is to provide a consistent and globally accepted benchmark of good practice in mentoring and coaching programme management. The application of the programme framework enables NIHR to:

• legitimise our mentoring programme against a recognised standard
• strengthen and improve the mentoring programme through rigorous ongoing review
• continue to build the evidence for developmental outcomes through mentoring, positively influencing key stakeholders
• identify opportunities to promote mentoring development activity internally and externally

We are guided by the EMCC Global six core standards for mentoring programmes:

Clarity of purpose

We ensure the strategic drivers and objectives of the programme are clearly defined; intended outcomes and benefits are understood by all the stakeholder groups. We encourage and support participants to develop their own purpose for participating in the programme within the overarching context of the programme.

Training and briefing

We enable participants to understand the concept of mentoring and programme methodology. We provide opportunities for all participants to develop their knowledge, skills and behaviours throughout the programme.

Selection and matching

We help stakeholders to understand the selection and matching criteria and process. Participants have the opportunity to select their matching preferences and consider their developmental needs.

Measurement and review

We have a culture of continuous improvement, enhancing our processes and participant experience. We track progress against our aims and objectives to ensure that the programme meets the needs of the participants and our key stakeholders.

High standard of ethics

We operate to the highest standards of integrity and transparency in our programme design, implementation and evaluation. We encourage participants to underpin their practice with the EMCC Global Code of Ethics.

Administration and support

We are committed to supporting the personal and professional development of our participants, ensuring the programme is managed professionally in accordance with the EMCC Global International Standards of Mentoring and Coaching Programmes.

Programme timeline

• Cohort 1
  • Orientation: Apr 2022
  • Match confirmed: Apr 2022
  • CPD: May 2022
  • Check in point: Jun 2022
  • Interim evaluation: Oct 2022
  • Interim evaluation report: Nov 2022
  • 12-month summative evaluation: May 2023
  • Final report: Jul 2023

• Cohort 2
  • Orientation: Jun 2022
  • Match confirmed: Jun 2022
  • CPD: Sep 2022
  • Check in point: Aug 2022
  • Interim evaluation: Jan 2023
  • Interim evaluation report: Mar 2023
  • 12-month summative evaluation: Jun 2023
  • Final report: Aug 2023

• Cohort 3
  • Orientation: Oct 2022
  • Match confirmed: Nov 2022
  • CPD: Jan 2023
  • Check in point: Jan 2023
  • Interim evaluation: Mar 2023
  • Interim evaluation report: Jun 2023
  • 12-month summative evaluation: Nov 2023
  • Final report: Jan 2024

Recruitment process

• the mentoring programme uses expressions of interest for both mentees and mentors to apply to the programme

• expressions of interest open six weeks before the cohort launch dates and this information cascades to prospective applicants via the NIHR Infrastructure

• all potential mentees and mentors are invited to submit an expression of interest within the application window.

• this application can be for the upcoming cohort or a later cohort depending on their preferences

Mentees are NIHR Academy Members who hold an NIHR postdoctoral award and/ or hold a postdoctoral position and are based in NIHR Infrastructure or in an NIHR School.

Mentors are NIHR Academy Members or Associate Members who are NIHR research leaders. They may be an NIHR research professor or senior investigator, or an NIHR-based postdoctoral researcher with significant postdoctoral experiences (typically, at last five years). Alternatively, they may be an NIHR Academy Member or Associate Member, contributing to the NIHR’s work at a senior leadership level, for example, an awarding panel member, or a senior leader in NIHR including its centres, infrastructure and schools. 

Matching criteria and approach

The matching process is broken down into three stages, at stage one we review the matching criteria points that were selected in the expression of interest form. The matching criteria consists of 12 points that all applicants are asked to indicate which are most important to them:

1. balancing professional and academic work
2. career progression
3. career transition
4. research funding
5. developing a global/ international research profile
6. networking/ building relationships
7. work/ life balance
8. diversity and inclusion
9. leadership development
10. research practice
11. managing research teams
12. collaboration with industry and life sciences

We then move onto reviewing the free type responses for any additional preferences and supporting information, for example if a mentee would like to be matched with a mentor in a specific field or with specific experiences.

Finally, we conduct a review at stage three of mentee and mentor preferences to ensure they match up and do not have any conflicts of interest before the match is confirmed.

Training and continuing professional development

Attendance at orientation training is compulsory for all mentees and mentors. It is delivered via an online interactive workshop, facilitated by the Programme Manager and external Mentoring Consultant. The orientation covers the following key topics:

• the programme team and their roles
• an overview of the aim and objectives of the programme
• the role of the mentor and mentee
• ethics and confidentiality
• mentoring platform
• professional development offer
• programme evaluation approach, phases and methods
• support documentation

Following the mentoring programme orientation, mentees and mentors are invited to attend a broad range of continuing professional development (CPD) optional interaction workshops. The purpose of the CPD workshops is to provide ongoing support at key transition points in the mentoring relationship, focusing on knowledge, skills and behaviours. The overall objective of the CPD workshops is to enable participants to achieve satisfactory and successful mentoring relationships. The core CPD topics include:

• beginning the mentoring relationship
• developing an effective mentoring relationship
• the roles of the mentor and mentee
• EMCC Global Mentoring core competencies
• purpose, direction and goals
• phases of the mentoring relationship
• maintaining momentum in the relationship
• reviewing and closing the mentoring relationship

The programme team have developed additional workshops, based on interim feedback from mentees and mentors to support specific topic areas such as work-life balance, resilience, developing reflective practice and transitioning from mentee to mentor. The team has also clustered together multiple topics to deliver longer 2.5 hour sessions. These include:

• beginning and effectively maintaining the mentoring relationship
• transitioning in your mentoring relationship
• mentoring for resilience and work life balance

Bearing in mind the mentoring programme was launched during the pandemic, in the programme’s first year, all workshops were delivered online. As we transitioned to a hybrid working model, feedback from programme participants also saw an increased desire for in-person events to be incorporated into the programme. The programme team delivered 2 in-person CPD events. The first event was delivered 29 November 2022 in London, the second event was delivered 28 February 2023 in Leeds. Both sessions were positively received by both mentees and mentors. After piloting the 2 in-person events, the programme team went on to deliver another 2 events across 2023, one on 26 September 2023 in Manchester and another on 16 November 2023 in London. The CPD in-person events cover the core mentoring topics including beginning and developing an effective mentoring relationship; the roles and responsibilities of the mentor and mentee; EMCC Global Mentoring core competencies; phases of the mentoring relationship including reviewing and closing. In addition, topics of work-life balance and resilience were also included in the 2022 in-person events.

Mentees and mentors are able to attend ‘drop-in’ sessions to meet the team in line with EMCC Global ISMCP requirements, mentors are also provided with ongoing reflective practice support with peer mentoring workshops, facilitated by a suitability qualified and experienced external mentoring consultant. Mentees are also able to attend a dedicated reflective practice forum with their peers to discuss any aspect of their mentoring programme experience and/or broader professional development related topics.

Programme evaluation

The mentoring programme has a robust evaluation framework in place which supports the continuous improvement of the programme, the collation of evidence of achievement against the programme’s aim and objectives.

Regular updates are shared with key stakeholders and identification of lessons learned informs the ongoing development of the mentoring programme, potential future programmes and wider audiences.

The evaluation consists of two phases, the phase one interim evaluation and phase two summative evaluation.

Phase one - this takes place at four to five months and comprises a light touch temperature check survey for all participants, providing a feedback opportunity and to address any challenges which may arise.

Cohort 1: The interim evaluation opened on 10 October 2022 and closed 18 November 2022. Cohort 1 interim evaluation received 15 responses, 8 mentors and 7 mentees, overall a response rate of 38%.

Cohort 2: The interim evaluation opened on 9 January 2023 and closed 14 March 2023. Cohort 2 interim evaluation received 19 responses, 7 mentors and 12 mentees, overall a response rate of 43%.

Cohort 3: The interim evaluation opened on 13 March 2023 and closed 8 May 2023. Cohort 3 interim evaluation received 42 responses, 21 mentors and 21 mentees, overall a response rate of 58%.

Overall response rate: Overall response rate for interim evaluation received 76 responses, 36 mentors and 40 mentees, overall a response rate of 46%.

Phase two - At the end of the programme, participants are invited to complete an in-depth survey, focusing on their mentoring relationship experience and outcomes.

Cohort 1: The end of programme evaluation opened 5 May 2023 and closed 30 June 2023. Cohort 1 end of programme survey received 20 responses, 13 mentors and 7 mentees. Overall response rate was 50%.

Cohort 2: The end of programme evaluation opened 2 June 2023 and closed 21 July 2023. Cohort 2 end of programme survey received 9 responses, 6 mentors and 3 mentees. Overall response rate was 20%.

Cohort 3: The end of programme evaluation opened 10 November 2023 and closed 5 January 2024. Cohort 3 end of programme survey received 34 responses, 17 mentors and 17 mentees. Overall response rate was 47%.

Overall response rate: Overall response rate for the end of programme evaluation received 63 responses, 36 mentors and 27 mentees, overall a response rate of 39%.

Matched pair interviews

Once the formal 12 month programme came to a close, mentees and mentors were invited to take part in matched pair interviews. The interviews were conducted by an External Mentoring Consultant. The purpose of this interview is to understand mentors and mentees experience of the mentoring programme, including reflections on the purpose of the mentoring, benefits of mentoring and the support provided by the NIHR Mentoring Programme team. Each case study summarised the transcript content, including mentor and mentee profile, relationship focus, reflections on the mentoring relationship and perceived value. All participants were given the opportunity to review and amend their matched pair case study. We share summary exemplars in our 2022 Mentoring Programme case study report.

Cohort 1

Cohort 1 interviews were conducted between 16 May 2023 and 25 July 2023 by an External Mentoring Consultant. The approved transcriber produced 122 pages of transcription across 5 matched pair interviews, ranging between 9 pages and 17 pages per interview. We prepared initial matched pair case studies. Each case study summarised the transcript content, including mentor and mentee profile, relationship focus, reflections on the mentoring relationship and perceived value. All participants were given the opportunity to review and amend their matched pair case study.

Cohort 2

Cohort 2 interviews were conducted between 12 September 2023 and 20 November 2023 by an External Mentoring Consultant. The approved transcriber produced 144 pages of transcription across 8 matched pair interviews, ranging between 6 pages and 11 pages per interview. We followed the same process subsequent to the interviews as outlined for cohort 1.

Cohort 3

Cohort 3 interviews were conducted between 5 January 2024 and 1 March 2024 by an External Mentoring Consultant. The approved transcriber produced 194 pages of transcription across 10 matched pair interviews, ranging between 7 pages and 17 pages per interview. We followed the same process subsequent to the interviews as outlined for cohort 1.

In addition to the two phases outlined, we collect feedback at various touch points, including check-ins with participants at regular intervals and informal feedback via the continuing professional development sessions.

Logic tree

Inputs

• Business Strategy - Strategic priorities for NIHR
• DHSC - Approval and funding
• Design, Development, Evaluation and Implementation resource and support:
  • NIHR Staff resource (Internal) Development and Support Team- planning and delivery of activities
  • Staff resource (Internal) Communications team Programme Promotion
  • Staff resource (External) Consultancy, delivery of CPD and support for evaluation strategy
  • Steering Group - Direction and advisory support
  • Online tools Administration and programme delivery
  • Mentors - Cohort of NIHR senior researchers or leaders available to deliver mentoring
  • Mentees - Cohort of NIHR Academy Members seeking mentoring

Activities

By NIHR

• 18 month cycle for 12 month programme:
  

  • Update the application process - who is the priority audiences and review of the expression of interest form and supporting documentation

  • Promotion activity development and implementation of the communications plan

  • Reviewing mentee/mentor applications and checking eligibility

  • Matching review of preferences and mentee/mentor match

  • Orientation session - delivery of mandatory introductory workshop

  • Profile creation of mentees/mentors for administration purposes

  • Delivery and maintenance of CPD resources development resources for mentors and mentees

  • Monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) activity evaluation activities including interim, and of programme and CPD

By mentor/mentee

• Application process - participants complete expression of interest form

• Mentee and Mentor initial meeting - setting priorities, focus and decisions on frequency and length of meetings (6hrs across 12 months)

• Mentoring sessions - delivery of mentoring activity

• CPD and peer support resources and activities-mentors and mentees engage with the optional suite of workshops and resources

• Programme Evaluation (MEL activities) - participants invited to participate in programme evaluation activities

Outputs

By NIHR

• Full annual cohort achieved - 75 matched pairs per year, across 3 cohorts
• Diverse cohort on programme, e.g. under-represented grouns and disciplines, professional background, organisations/institutione
• Reporting to DHSC- Evaluations, Steering groups, etc.

By mentor/mentee

• Completion of mentorship cycle/meetings
• Completion of CPD activities (not mandatory)

Outcomes (0-5 years) short/medium term

Building capacity

• Higher proportion of successfully completed NIHR postdoctoral awards
• Higher levels of award holder satisfaction
• Improved career progression outcomes attaining further fellowships and funding to undertake academic/clinical research
• Improved progression/retention rates on awards for underrepresented areas and groups
• Increased collaboration and expansion of research networks
• Increasing researcher and/or clinical reputations

Advancing knowledge and skills

• Mentee - Personal and professional development through mentoring embedded in day to day role:
  • Knowledge, e.g. identification of opportunities Skills, e g. opplying for funding Behaviours, e.g. monaging time on award
• Mentor - Improved mentoring skills: Knowledge gained from experience applied to day to day role
• Mentor/Mentee - Informal Promotion of scheme to other NIHR award holders

Assumptions/Eligibility

To join the programme as a mentee you should be an NIHR Academy Member and hold an NIHR award at postdoctoral level and/or hold a postdoctoral position and be based in NHR Infrastructure (eg. BRC) or in an NIHR School.

To join the programme as a mentor, you will be an NIHR research leader, or established as a leader in an NR research priority area or NIHR stakeholder group. You may be an NHR Academy Member or Associate Member, for example a NIHR research professor or senior investigator, or a NIHR postdoctoral researcher with significant postdoctoral experience (typically, at least 5 years). You may be contributing to NIHR's work at a senior leadership level, for example, as an awarding panel member, or a senior leader in the NHR including its Centres, Infrastructure and Schools. As we expand and diversify our research, we are also keen to welcome mentors from disciplines, professions and demographics that ane currently under represented in the NHR such as social care

Evaluation key dates and activities

Cohort 1

• Interim survey opened: 10/10/2022
• Interim survey closed: 18/11/2022
• Interim evaluation report: Dec 2022
• Summative survey opened: 05/05/2023
• Summative survey closed: 30/06/2023
• Matched pair interviews started: 15/05/2023
• Matched pair interviews completed: 25/07/2023
• Final Reports: Sep 2023

Cohort 2

• Interim survey opened: 09/01/2023
• Interim survey closed: 14/03/2023
• Interim evaluation report: Mar 2023
• Summative survey opened: 02/06/2023
• Summative survey closed: 21/07/2023
• Matched pair interviews started: 12/09/2023
• Matched pair interviews completed: 20/11/2023
• Final Reports: Jan 2024

Cohort 3

• Interim survey opened: 13/03/2023
• Interim survey closed: 08/05/2023
• Interim evaluation report: May 2023
• Summative survey opened: 10/11/2023
• Summative survey closed: 05/01/2024
• Matched pair interviews started: 05/01/2024
• Matched pair interviews completed: 01/03/2024
• Final Reports: Mar 2024

Key outcomes and impact

This section provides the key outcomes and impact across Cohorts 1, 2 and 3 2022, the second year of the mentoring programme.
We originally aimed to recruit and match 75 mentoring pairs. Due to the demand for spaces on the programme, we increased the number of matches to 80 in the second year of the programme.

Number of eligible expressions of interest for all cohorts:

• 106 mentees, oversubscribed by 41%
• 77 mentors, oversubscribed 3%

Number of eligible expressions of interest per cohort:

• mentees: Cohort 1 - 25; Cohort 2 - 41; Cohort 3 - 38
• mentors: Cohort 1- 22, Cohort 2 - 33, Cohort 3 -22
• number applicants moved cohorts: 17

Total matched pairs for all cohorts:

• 80

Total number of rematches:

• 3

Number of matched pairs per cohort:

• cohort 1 matched pairs: 18 mentors were matched with 22 mentees
• cohort 2 matched pairs: 22 mentors were matched with 22 mentees
• cohort 3 matched pairs: 36 mentors were matched with 36 mentees

Participant professional background

Our mentees and mentors come from a variety of professional backgrounds. The summary is provided below.

Satisfaction with mentee – mentor match

A significant proportion of our mentees and mentors felt their mentoring match was positive. This was evidenced both in the summative survey and matched pair interviews. Overall, 92% of mentors and 78% of mentees were either very satisfied, satisfied or somewhat satisfied with their mentoring match:

• cohort 1: 83% of mentors and 72% of mentees were either very satisfied, satisfied or somewhat satisfied with their mentoring match
• cohort 2: 100% of mentors and 67% of mentees were either very satisfied, satisfied or somewhat satisfied with their mentoring match
• cohort 3: 94% of mentors and 94% of mentees were either very satisfied, satisfied or somewhat satisfied with their mentoring match

In the matched pair interviews, both mentors and mentees were very complimentary about their match; indeed, the matching aspect of the mentoring relationship was viewed as a clear strength and benefit of the mentoring programme. Specific comments included:

• “We had the commonality around genetics, around the tension between a clinician and an academic as well bit around the tension about being women, having children, and so I thought we were well matched.” (Mentee, Cohort 3, Interview)
• “We naturally just matched in terms of our personalities and the ability to communicate with each other.” (Mentor, Cohort 2, Interview)

External and interdisciplinary mentoring relationships

A key benefit of the mentoring programme is the mutual opportunity for mentees and mentors to engage in an interdisciplinary relationship, providing an alternative perspective and lens. Here we see the combined benefit of a mentoring relationship outside of mentee and mentor’s institution and specialist area:

• “It’s quite useful to have somebody out of your area of expertise, who can just give a perspective, both from another institution but also from another speciality.” (Mentee, Cohort 2, Interview)
• “Think about all this advice which I would not otherwise have … and especially being able to ask questions that I wouldn’t necessarily ask someone in my immediate team.” (Mentee, Cohort 3, Interview)

Overall, the summative survey confirmed that 64% of mentors and 55% of mentees described their mentoring relationship as interdisciplinary.

• cohort 1: 73% of mentors and 57% of mentees described their mentoring relationship as interdisciplinary
• cohort 2: 67% of mentors and 67% of mentees described their mentoring relationship as interdisciplinary
• cohort 3: 53% of mentors and 41% of mentees described their mentoring relationship as interdisciplinary

Mentors and mentees were given the opportunity to comment on the interdisciplinary nature of their mentoring relationship and aspects relating to wider diversity. Overall, mentors and mentees appreciated the interdisciplinary aspect of their relationship and the diversity offered by the programme and relationships, illustrated by the following comments:

•  “Lots of great discussions on similarities and differences, expectations and challenges. We also did speak quite a bit about being female in a male world, the challenges of family life with work etc.” (Mentor, Cohort 1, Summative Survey)
• “Diversity of subjects, professions and protected characteristics.” (Mentor, Cohort 2, Summative Survey)
• “Different specialty. Laboratory cardiology vs clinical neurology.” (Mentor, Cohort 3, Summative Survey)

Another benefit of the mentoring programme was the opportunity to engage with a mentor outside of the mentees’ institution and local environment. Mentees felt safe in the knowledge that they were in a relationship of trust, removed from the politics and influences of the institution and local environment, with potential to provide a different perspective. This was illustrated by a number of mentees in their match pair interviews:

• my mentor had “No bias and provided a perspective that isn’t based on what’s locally available.” (Mentee, Cohort 2, Interview)
• “Useful having someone else that isn’t on my immediate team providing a different viewpoint.” (Mentee, Cohort 2, Interview)
• “Good opportunity to have a bit of support and a bit of guidance outside of my immediate research group and outside of my immediate sphere of influence.” (Mentee, Cohort 3, Interview)

Mentors also recognised the value of mentoring outside of the organisational environment, illustrated by the following matched pair interviews:

• “I would like to think I gave an alternative view of the world that she was inhabiting because there are lots of perspectives around academic life.’ (Mentor, Cohort 2, Interview)
• “Having someone who was outside of her immediate collaboration circles was exactly well judged and she was able to talk to me in ways that I don’t think would’ve been possible if I’d been an immediate collaborator.” (Mentor, Cohort 3, Interview)
• “Privilege to hear about all the great work that they’re doing and how motivated they are ... and then it’s just personally satisfying to think that you can try to help a good colleague through the next challenging part of their career development.” (Mentor, Cohort 3, Interview)

Building trust

In our summative survey, 88% of mentors and 80% of mentees felt they were easily able to build trust with their mentee or mentor:

• cohort 1: 91% of mentors and 72% of mentees felt they were easily able to build trust with their mentee
• cohort 2: 100% of mentors and 67% of mentees felt they were easily able to build trust with their mentee
• cohort 3: 74% of mentors and 100% of mentees felt they were easily able to build trust with their mentee

Trust is an important aspect of any mentoring relationship; trust is built over time as the rapport develops in the relationship, creating mutual respect and understanding. Trust enables mentees and mentors to be open with each other and offer sufficient challenge, with support. Our mentees and mentors were able to identify trust, rapport and authenticity in their mentoring relationships:

• ”I felt encouraged to be myself in the programme and we discussed how I could continue authentically as a researcher in the mentoring meetings.” (Mentee, Cohort 2, Summative Survey)
• ”I felt very respected by the mentor and very comfortable to be myself - she was extremely supportive.” (Mentee, Cohort 2, Summative Survey)
• ”A very useful experience - it helped to focus my mind on things. My mentor often asked difficult questions, which could be uncomfortable at times, but did make me think critically about decisions I have and will make about my career.” (Mentee, Cohort 2, Summative Survey)

Drivers for joining the programme

The mentees viewed the NIHR Mentoring Programme as an opportunity to learn from someone more experienced and in a more senior position, an opportunity to experience formal mentoring outside of their organisational context. For some, this also included the opportunity to gain an interdisciplinary perspective. The mentoring relationship also provided the opportunity for mentees to explore their career, progression and transition, develop greater confidence and achieve greater work-life balance:

• “I don’t have a direct peer network to sound out advice … and it’s quite useful to have somebody out of your area of expertise, who can just give a perspective, both from another institution but also from another speciality.’ (Mentee, Cohort 2, Interview)
• “Gaining confidence in applying for other roles both within and outside of academia…. to be accountable for my own career progression.” (Mentee, Cohort 2, Interview)
• “Good opportunity to have a bit of support and a bit of guidance outside of my immediate research group and outside of my immediate sphere of influence.” (Mentee, Cohort 3, Interview)

For mentors, having the opportunity to give back and support others, was a key driver for joining the NIHR Mentoring programme:

• “NIHR has always supported my career … I have had lots of NIHR awards and fellowships … I like their ethos and I wanted to help those from the non-historic careers in medicine and social care … it is really about opening the door to allied health professions, social workers, local authority staff, public health, that I was particularly keen on.” (Mentor, Cohort 2, Interview)
• “Have the opportunity to give something back, support other people in a way that I have been supported in the past.” (Mentor, Cohort 2, Interview)
• “I think mentoring is something … that I feel quite strongly about and the need to support early career researchers is important and even your mid-career.” (Mentor, Cohort 1, Interview)

Giving back and sharing has also proved to be a significant benefit of the mentoring programme:

• “It has been a very good experience as a mentor ... in a sustained mentoring relationship with a fellow clinical academic outside my own institution … I hope I’ve been able to give something back to a colleague who will, hopefully, go on and mentor others.” (Mentor, Cohort 1, Interview)
• “Privilege to hear about all the great work that they’re doing and how motivated they are ... and then it’s just personally satisfying to think that you can try to help a good colleague through the next challenging part of their career development.” (Mentor, Cohort 3, Interview)

Engagement with mentoring programme CPD offer

The NIHR Mentoring programme offers mentees and mentors the opportunity to engage in a programme orientation and a variety of online CPD webinars, workshops and in-person events. Overall, the view of the CPD offer and initial programme orientation was very positive. The summative survey confirmed 67% of mentors and 79% of mentees felt the CPD and orientation sessions were very helpful, helpful and somewhat helpful during their mentoring relationship.

Number of CPD sessions facilitated and attended

• 87 CPD workshop topic sessions were delivered between May 2022 and November 2023
• 4 in person CPD events were delivered between May 2022 and November 2023; 2 events in London, 1 in Leeds and 1 in Manchester
• over 50% of participants attended online CPD sessions; overall 81 programme participants attended online CPD sessions between May 2022 and November 2023, some attended multiple sessions
• over 20% of participants attended in-person CPD events; overall 36 programme participants took part in the 4 in-person CPD events delivered between May 2022 and November 2023

The most popular CPD workshop topic sessions were:

• work-life balance and resilience
• maintaining momentum in the mentoring relationship
• purpose, direction and goals
• phases of the mentoring relationship
• beginning the mentoring relationship

Mentoring relationship focus

Through the programme evaluation mentees and mentors described the overall focus of their mentoring relationship was career planning and progression, including leadership development and building capacity for fellowship applications, research funding and outputs, networking and building relationships, navigating the internal and external environment, managing work-life balance and setting boundaries.

 The most frequent themes discussed in the mentoring relationship as described by mentees and mentors included:

• career development and transition, including research funding
• work-life balance and boundaries
• internal and external network development

Within each mentoring relationship, the themes discussed were sometimes broad ranging, illustrated by the following mentee and mentor summative survey comments:

• “A big focus has been how to use my (limited) time most effectively and what I need to prioritise to get where I want to go. We have discussed the importance of evaluating different opportunities to decide if they are beneficial or if I am doing them to please people (something I recognise is a challenge for me). We have also discussed specific grant applications that I was preparing, which has been helpful to get an external perspective. We have also discussed strategic career issues, such as whether to switch clinical roles to better align with my academic aspirations.” (Mentee, Cohort 1, Summative Survey)

• “Work life balance; juggling priorities; making difficult and potentially unpopular decisions and handling senior colleagues; imposter syndrome; strategic thinking; accepting and planning future leadership roles shaping your career.” (Mentor, Cohort 2, Summative Survey)

• “Time management; how to manage balance between clinical and academic pressures/workloads; keep eye on the prize (being judged for academic outputs not clinical ones) Funding streams; self-advocacy; where the power lies in academia; patient voice, CPD and training opportunities; promotion fellowship applications.” (Mentor, Cohort 2, Summative Survey)

Number achieving mentoring relationship objectives

Mentees and mentors are encouraged to identify the overall purpose of the mentoring relationship, jointly considering and reflecting on what drove the mentee and mentor to apply to the mentoring programme. In some cases, mentees and mentors may set a goal for their mentoring time together and within the goal, some mentees may have specific objectives. The goal and objectives may evolve and change and time progresses. Our summative survey showed that overall, 89% of mentors and 78% of mentees felt that they met all, most or some of their mentoring relationship objectives:

• cohort 1: 78% of mentors and 72% of mentees felt the programme met all,most or some of their objectives
• cohort 2: 100% of mentors and 67% of mentees felt the programme met all, most or some of their objectives
• cohort 3: 89% of mentors and 78% of mentees felt the programme met all, most or some of their objectives

Mentoring roles

Mentors adopted a variety of roles in the mentoring relationship, often adopting a non-directive approach, enabling their mentees to arrive at their own solution. For some mentees, the mentor was the only individual they were able to confide in at that point in time. Mentors acted as a sounding board, reflector, thought partner, advisor and trusted friend which mentees found extremely valuable:

• “Was probably the first time I’ve ever had someone who I was able to open up to.” (Mentee, Cohort 3, Interview)
• “I realised this is what I need in a mentoring relationship, which was that listening, someone’s very calm … he would never give me an answer to a question I had, he would suggest things and make me get to the answer myself which was just fantastic.” (Mentee, Cohort 3, Interview)
• “Has been very good at that facilitatory aspect where she’s not sitting there telling me what to do or what she thinks … she was also very good at making suggestions that I hadn’t thought about myself … that has been helpful.” (Mentee, Cohort 3, Interview)

Mentoring relationship focus, themes and perceived value

In the next section we identify the mentoring relationship focus, key themes discussed in the mentoring relationship and the perceived value of the mentoring relationships and programme.

Perceived value of the mentoring and programme

Our mentoring programme has had a significant impact on the mentees, both personally and professionally. The programme has also proved to provide a positive experience for mentors.

Personal

At a personal level, the mentoring experience has increased mentees’ self-confidence, awareness of self-care, managing work-life balance practices including boundaries and specifically, the confidence to say ‘no’. Mentors experienced a real sense of personal satisfaction from giving back and supporting mentees from diverse backgrounds, external to their organisation and from different professional backgrounds.

Professional

As early career professionals, the mentoring conversation with experienced senior practitioners have enabled mentees to explore career options and seek guidance on the next stage of their career. Some mentees expressed that they felt hugely supported in their career transition, achieving greater clarity and developing their networking skills, building collaborative relationships, applying for, and securing research grants and navigating the work environment. Mentors were able to utilise their skills to adopt a situational and mentee-led approach to their mentoring practice, creating a safe, trusting space to enable the mentoring relationship to grow and develop successfully.

The oasis

Mentees described how the mentoring space provides an oasis with protected time to take a step back from day-to-day responsibilities and tasks, with time to think, reflect and laugh together:

• “Knowing that there’s an hour every few weeks that is protected that I can actually just step back and think.” (Mentee, Cohort 1, Interview)
• “Safe space to talk about things that were really bothering me and to help me find a way through.” (Mentee, Cohort 1, Interview)
• “It was a bit of an oasis for me as well as her, and a way of connecting with people in different conditions with different cultures and backgrounds … and we could laugh about things and enjoy chatting.” (Mentee, Cohort 1, Interview)

Career development, transition, networks and work-life balance

For a number of mentees, career exploration, transition and change were the key focus topics within the mentoring relationship. In this space, mentors were able to provide a space to enable mentees to reflect on their career stage and look towards the future. For others, simply having a mentor to support them has eased their year:

• “Having someone to listen to your thoughts and your ideas about your career, your plans to get there and whether that all sounds feasible I think is a really helpful experience.” (Mentee, Cohort 2, Interview)
• “I just helped her to work through what she really wanted, what were the priorities for her, and therefore what might be an action plan that she could follow through.” (Mentor, Cohort 3, Interview)
• “Mentoring really focused on the stuff that I want to go for which has given me a kind of strategy and direction which has been good.” (Mentee, Cohort 3, Interview)
• “I’ve definitely had an easier year mentally because I’ve had someone else to talk to.” (Mentee, Cohort 1, Interview)
• “Advice on how to navigate transition and promotion.” (Mentee, Cohort 3, Interview)

Work-life balance

A key topic for mentees was work-life balance, for some this included the need to negotiate boundaries and have the confidence to say no. With the support of their mentors, mentees were able to take steps to protect their well-being, put in place boundaries and have the confidence to say no, recognising that saying no does not hinder progression. The pressures of academia and potential risks are illustrated by a number of the mentees and mentors:

• “Academia is very competitive so you always feel like you need to do more just to survive and then you get into that mode of basically saying, ‘yes’, to everything and that can be quite overwhelming … I think there was a risk of burn-out potentially carrying on like that.” (Mentee, Cohort 1, Interview)
• “I think one of the things that we addressed was that I do too much’. (Mentee, Cohort 1, Interview); Mentor, Cohort 1: we set aside the ‘to-do list, think strategically about what he wanted to achieve and what would make him feel better about his career and his work/life balance …‘what he wanted to change and how he might do it’.”

Career strategy, direction and clarity

For some mentees, clarity around their career strategy and direction has been of real benefit, also understanding the longer-term impact of their career, balancing of work and other areas of life was a key discussion point. Both the mentoring and professional development offering provided much needed support. For some mentees, the mentoring has come along at just the right time. Receiving reassurance from their mentors, mentees were able to confidently move forward:

• “My mentor and the CPD programme have helped me find other ways of connecting with other NIHR researchers, including through the Future Focused Leadership Programme.” (Mentee, Cohort 1, Summative Survey)
• “Mentoring really focuses on the stuff that I want to go for which has given me a kind of strategy and direction which has been good.”
• “What I’m doing is the right way, and also that following this career pathway isn’t going to jeopardise my home life and personal life which is very important to me.” (Mentee, Cohort 3, Interview)
• “Been a really valuable relationship at this point in my career. I’ve learnt a lot about the value of mentoring. So, I can’t be positive enough about it really.’ (Mentee, Cohort 1, Interview)
• “Become much more confident professionally and personally as a result of the mentoring experience.” (Mentee, Cohort 2, Interview)

Research careers and funding

Mentees found mentors to be very knowledgeable, particularly in relation to funding grants. In addition, mentors were able to provide insights, not specifically related to research but broader topics, illustrated by the following matched pair interview examples:

• “He is very supportive and happy to chat about things which aren’t strictly research related, but more the logistics and challenges of going through a research career which I found very helpful.” (Mentee, Cohort 2, Interview)
• my mentor “was very approachable, obviously with lots of knowledge about NIHR funding panels, so was able to give lots of tips and insight into that process which was very helpful.” (Mentee, Cohort 2, Interview)

Change and transition

A number of mentees were able to identify key changes in their circumstances that occurred during the mentoring relationship and often, the profound impact of mentoring. In the matched pair interviews, mentees and mentors attributed these changes to the mentoring experience. In summative survey, mentees also noted some key changes:

• “I was able to think about how to transition from an early-career researcher to a mid-career researcher, which was helpful in understanding the intricacies of moving up in seniority. I was promoted during my year of mentoring, which acted as a springboard to discuss the next steps in my new role.” (Mentee, Cohort 2, Summative Survey)
• “I had a clear structure on how my academic career should progress and I started to work on that. I am better with my work-life balance and happy with the progression of my career so far.” (Mentee, Cohort 2, Summative Survey)
  my mentee “seemed to gain more confidence and she increased and used her network more effectively.” (Mentor, Cohort 1, Interview)
• “It was nice speaking to somebody who had similar stages in their research career ... we talked about different ways to get some research grants and I have now got one day a week research funding.’ (Mentee, Cohort 2, Interview)
• “To pursue what I believe in and actually I’ve ended up with a small grant to do a study that I really wanted to do so that’s been a really nice outcome.” (Mentee, Cohort 3, Interview)
• “At the beginning it was very much about moving to this Associate Professor role and some of the challenges that I might face and then applying for my first grant and developing the team and getting involved in strategic grants within the institution. Since then, once I got the grant, the next phase was the next fellowship.” (Mentee, Cohort 2, Interview)
• “I am just really, really grateful that this scheme exists, and I am really, really grateful to (my mentor) for giving up the time because it has made a huge difference to my life … I think I would have given up being an academic without it.” (Mentee, Cohort 2, Interview)

Satisfaction with the mentoring programme 

Overall, the summative survey shows that 200% of mentors and 86% of mentees felt that the programme met all, most or some of their expectations:

• cohort 1: 100% of mentors and 89% of all mentees felt the programme met all, most or some of their expectations
• cohort 2: 100% of mentors and 100% of all mentees felt the programme met all, most or some of their expectations
• cohort 3: 100% of mentors and 94% of all mentees felt the programme met all,most or some of their expectations

Continuing in the mentoring relationship beyond the programme

Our mentoring programme duration is one year; at the beginning of the programme at the orientation, mentees and mentors are advised to close the mentoring relationship at the end of the programme. This enables mentors to retain capacity to volunteer again to support mentees from a future cohort. This also enables mentees to seek support from a different mentor, if appropriate, and helps to avoid relationship dependency. Also, some mentees may decide to become a mentor and volunteer for this programme or others. However, many of the mentoring relationships continue beyond the one year. This is due to a variety of reasons, illustrated below:

• “I think it’s been everything I would have hoped for and more to be honest … the fact that we are able to continue the relationship and I’ve managed to integrate him into some of my future plans has been brilliant.” (Mentor, Cohort 1, Interview)

In our summative survey, 80% of mentors and 52% of mentees stated that they will be continuing in their mentoring relationship:

• cohort 1: 69% of mentors and 57% of mentees will be continuing in their mentoring relationship
• cohort 2: 100% of mentors and 33% of mentees will be continuing in their mentoring relationship (Not reflective of overall cohort due to low end of programme survey response rate)
• cohort 3: 71% of mentors and 65% of mentees will be continuing in their mentoring relationship

Continuing to engage in the mentoring programme

The results of our summative survey show that 93% of mentors intend to support another mentee in a future mentoring programme cohort:

• cohort 1: 92% of mentors intend to support another mentee in a future programme cohort
• cohort 2: 100% of mentors intend to support another mentee in a future programme cohort
• cohort 3: 88% of mentors intend to support another mentee in a future programme cohort

Transitioning from mentee to mentor

Our summative survey results show that 69% of mentees intend to apply to be a mentor in a future programme cohort:

• cohort 1: 71% of mentees intend to apply to be a mentor in a future programme cohort
• cohort 2: 67% of mentees intend to apply to be a mentor in a future programme cohort
• cohort 3: 69% of mentees intend to apply to be a mentor in a future programme cohort

Overall

Our mentoring programme has supported mentees’ personal and professional development, including confidence building, career insight and navigation, network cultivation, work-life balance and boundaries. The formalisation of the mentoring relationships and the accompanying training and continuous professional development offering were viewed as effective learning and reflective spaces by several mentors. The survey and matched pair interview evaluation data highlights that the mentoring programme and the mentoring relationships are having a significant impact on both the mentee and mentor learning and growth. As most of the mentor-mentee matches are across interdisciplinary health research areas, mentors also widened their knowledge and gained further insights into new areas of work and received the opportunity to develop their knowledge and skills in mentoring. The mentor-mentee summary matched pair interviews can be viewed in the Case Study Report.

Lessons learned and future intentions

With any mentoring programme, particularly in the early phases, there are numerous lessons learned. Our learning and programme adaptations fall into four categories: 1) programme application and matching process; 2) orientation, CPD workshops, guides and support materials; 3) mentoring platform; 4) evaluation process. The key changes are highlighted below.

There were a number of changes made to the programme expression of interest process which allowed the programme team to more accurately conduct mentor/mentee matching. The free type responses were expanded to encourage applicants to provide more in depth details of their mentoring needs and experience. An additional matching criteria was added to include collaboration with industry and life science as an option, increasing the matching criteria from 11 to 12.

Following participant feedback, the orientation session became more interactive and allowed time for participants to introduce themselves and discuss why they had joined the programme. The programme handbook was also updated to include additional resources to support the mentoring relationship, including questions to ask during your first meeting and an example of a formal mentoring contract.

Participants expressed that they were interested in attending in-person CPD events. Two in- person events were trialled and received positive feedback. We have continued to deliver in person sessions which are delivered alongside the existing online CPD offer.

Following feedback received the previous year, the decision was made to use the Pushfar mentoring platform as an internal administrative tool only, and this was implemented from cohort 2, 2022. This action prompted the team to update the interim and summative survey accordingly. Questions relating to the Pushfar platform were replaced with a question around the management of the programme by the programme team.

We will continue to make improvements to the mentoring programme and ensure it supports the strategic goals of the organisation. The team will focus on expanding the programme offer to an early career group across the financial year 2024/2025.

Close

At the beginning of the report, we set out four programme objectives. We are delighted to share that we have:

• extended the NIHR mentoring programme to postdoctoral award holders from disciplines and professional backgrounds which may not have a strong mentoring tradition or may not have had access to programmes such as this in the past
• promoted interdisciplinarity working; mentees are able to seek a mentor from a cognate or complementary discipline or professional background, where appropriate
• supported mentoring relationships between individuals from different organisations and institutions
• promoted equality, inclusion, and diversity through engagement with, and learning from, under-represented groups

The mentoring programme continues to be a huge success. In its second year, the programme received 183 expressions of interest from mentors and mentees and we created 80 matched pairs across three cohorts. The evaluation demonstrates that the mentoring programme and relationships fostered a nurturing and supportive environment at a crucial time in participants’ careers. Many relationships offer the space to address career progression and challenges as well as self-care and work life balance. Research shows us that the most enriching mentoring relationships are those where there is reciprocity and mutual learning. Our programme illustrates the power of mentoring to cultivate mutually beneficial mentoring relationships where the positive impact reverberates beyond the mentoring relationships and programme. In 2023 we created a further three cohorts and, in 2024 we will expand our offer to Academy Members who are in their final year PhD and up to 2 years postdoctoral. This cohort will run alongside our existing programme, and see us deliver a maximum of 150 matches per year. The programme prioritises colleagues from disciplines and professional backgrounds which have previously not had access to mentoring programmes or historically a strong mentoring tradition. This is something that we will continually embed into future delivery of the programme to ensure we are reaching the broad range of NIHR Academy Members.

So many mentoring programmes are reliant on goodwill and volunteerism, our programme is supported by the voluntary contribution of mentors and many active Steering Group members who willingly give their time in service of others – thank you.