EQUALITY GUIdE - KU Leuven

266 Equality Guide
In the following the results.
4.2.2.3.1. Orientation and support
Two out of three mentors said it is important to have an internal steering committee
that monitors the project; they said to have been satisfied with the committee. One
mentor thought it was unimportant and took a neutral stance about satisfaction. The
third mentor was satisfied.
4.2.2.3.2. Step-by-step plan
All mentors considered it important to very important to have written information on
the project beforehand. Two of them were satisfied with the information they got, one
took a neutral stance. The three mentees also thought it was very important to get
sufficient information. They were all very satisfied with this.
All mentors took a neutral stance in confirming/formalizing the relationship by means
of a contract. One mentee shared this opinion; another mentee said it to be unimportant.
One mentee did think it was important to have a contract.
4.2.2.3.3. Target Group, selection, matching, training
All mentees thought it was important that the selection criteria were clear and they
were all satisfied.
Selection
All mentors thought it was important to be contacted personally with the question of
becoming a mentor. Two of them were satisfied with the way this was done, another
mentor took a neutral stance. The mentees also said to value the personal approach.
They were very satisfied with the e-mail they received.
Matching
Two mentees argued that it was very important to have a say in the matching of mentor
and mentee. One took a neutral stance. As for their satisfaction level: one was very
satisfied, one was satisfied and one was not satisfied. At the K.U.Leuven, the mentees
could hand in a list of preferred mentors on the basis of which the coordinator decided
the matches. It is possible that the degree to which the match followed the mentee’s
preference determined the satisfaction. However, this is just an assumption, because it
was not part of the research.
The matching question produced some spontaneous reactions. One mentee suggested
asking which qualities the mentee is looking for in her mentor (for example career policy,
developing a research group, combination work-family). On the basis of these
qualities a better match can be made. All mentees and one mentor thought the pool of
mentors was too small. Two mentees mentioned regretting the fact there were no male
mentors. Two mentors mentioned this as well.