Testimonials from mentors and mentees

Ruth McCaffrey (mentor)

‘Mentoring is a great way of sharing your experience and expertise with other members of the department. You can support a more junior colleague as they progress in their role. It is a wonderful way to give something back. You don’t need any experience of mentoring others to be an RDM Mentor. All you need is the desire to share what you have learnt with others, enabling them to make informed decisions and feel supported as they progress in their roles.

‘The individuals I have mentored have all been looking for different things and needed someone to talk to and bounce ideas off. It has been a privilege to mentor them it is very  empowering to feel that your experience can benefit others and make a difference to them.’

Liz Ormondroyd (mentor)

‘The mentoring scheme is very valuable; sometimes it’s useful to be able to reflect and discuss things with someone outside the immediate team. My advice to mentors and mentees – focus on what you want to achieve, and be collaborative and co-operative with people at all levels.’

Rojda Ipek (mentee)

‘The most significant learning from my mentoring relationship was gaining a deeper understanding of the research environment at my host institution. My mentor’s thoughtful insights enabled me to adapt more confidently and engage more effectively within this new academic setting.

‘Professionally, the mentorship enhanced my confidence and efficiency, allowing me to integrate more effectively into the research environment. Personally, it provided a sense of support and belonging. As an international researcher, having a mentor who offered both guidance and encouragement helped to settle into the new academic environment.’

Stuart Faulkner (mentee)

‘Through mentoring, I learnt that my approach to work life balance wasn’t optimal and it could change and that there were ways in which I could approach things differently – both through day-to-day practises and additional Oxford training opportunities. I learnt that I was missing an independent sounding board for my ideas, concerns and aspirations and that these could be explored more openly with my mentor. This was a valuable gain to the relationship.

‘So many of the questions I had about myself and my career, I learnt were quite normal and although answers weren’t necessarily immediately forthcoming - which is not the basis of the mentoring relationship – the mentoring relationship helped me to accept that and to explore possible options and actions moving forward. I was able to create, review and reflect upon actions in a safe environment.’

‘The RDM Mentoring Scheme is of bilateral benefit to both parties in learning about oneself and how to listen, support and accept others in a relationship that is non-judgemental and not work-related. It provides a supportive framework for participants to progress in many ways.’

Anne Goriely (mentee)

‘The scheme was mentioned to me by a colleague who thought I could benefit from it. At the time I was in a situation from which I could not see a way forward – having been in the same position as a post-doc and fairly productive researcher in the lab for 14 years.

‘Through mentoring I learned a lot about the university, departmental structures, other people’s interest and point of view, but also about myself. The main shift that happened after several months of mentoring was that I progressively understood that my situation could change, although this was not going to happen overnight. This may sound pretty obvious but one of the problems of feeling stuck for a long time, is that I thought the only way forward was through drastic changes – ie, leave the lab and start somewhere else, or simply switch career – not through small steps. However, little by little, we jointly developed a strategy where some small changes - such as becoming part of a committee, putting myself forward to give talks and seminars, volunteering to organise meetings, talking to academic colleagues and letting them know I am available and willing to perform supervision and administrative roles - laid the ground for some more transformative changes.

‘Progressively, through these small challenges, I think my colleagues started seeing me through different eyes both within the department and the wider research community, and as a result my own perception of myself and the roles I was able to play, started shifting too. Through monthly meetings with my mentor, I was able to acknowledge these changes and improvements and reflect on their significance, small as they may have been at the time. This was important to gain confidence in myself and the impact that these choices and challenges can have on the situation.

‘The scheme, or more precisely my specific mentoring relationship, has been very important and has allowed me within a few years to start a journey that I had not anticipated would ever be possible and eventually to become an independent PI.’