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Overview
Industry Case Study
Industry Simulations
Industry Practitioner
Delivered Content
Industy Mentoring
Industry Study Tour
Industry Placement
Industry Competition
Industry Project
References
Industry Mentoring
Matching students with a professional role model to enhance skills (instrumental) and attributes (developmental),
investigating career options (transition and pathways), increasing understanding of the benefits of coursework
(knowing and doing), and exposure to different thinking and learning methods.
Background
Mentoring is a relationship which gives people the opportunity to share their professional and personal skills,
knowledge and experiences with others. The outcome of an effective mentoring relationship is growth and
development for both the mentor and the mentee. While mentoring can be informal it is more typically a
'deliberate pairing of a more skilled or experienced person with a lesser skilled or experienced one, with an
agreed-upon goal of having the experienced person grow and develop specific competencies (Murray and Owen
1991: xiv).
Mentoring can operate on several levels, with the mentor offering expertise, modelling practice, sharing personal
insights and building trust, guidance and support. The mentee may take on the role of listener, observer, 'do-er',
reflector, and in some cases, partner. Mentoring draws on various learning theories: experiential learning (Kolb
1984), reflective practice (Schon 1983), and problem-based learning (Slavin 1990). Smith (2009) suggests that in
more recent times mentors have come to be known as coaches because of the many roles played. He suggests a
trajectory of mentoring practices depending on the nature of the relationship and goals to be achieved. These
include moving from reflection to goal setting to action. An effective coach will guide the learner (mentee)
through each level and repeat the steps with more complex tasks as the relationship and skills develop.
The literature overwhelmingly points to the benefits of incorporating mentoring programs into the workplace for
both the mentor and the mentee. Mentoring practices, it is argued, provide useful and powerful strategies for
understanding and advancing organisational culture, providing access to informal and formal networks of
communication and offering professional stimulation and growth for all involved (Kochan and Pascarelli 2003;
Rolfe-Flett 2002; Caldwell and Carter 1993).
Thus the rationale for using mentoring strategies and programs in business education is equally as strong. Much
can be learned from disciplines such as education and health where a compulsory component of a graduate's
degree is a series of successful workplace experiences with an experienced mentor in a master-novice
relationship. However it seems there are greater challenges for business disciplines in establishing such programs.
This is especially the case when considering industry mentoring between large cohorts of undergraduate business
students and the number of industry partners needed for such numbers.
Mentoring practices can be seen in Work Integrated Learning (WIL) practices (Precision Constultancy 2007) such as
internships, practice-based projects and workplace or industry-based learning. Whatever the name, Kay et al.
(2001) suggest that:
industry-based learning requires collaboration between the student, employer and university
educator. Although the employer and university educator would not dictate the content of the
learning contract, they have a considerable effect upon the resources at the student's disposal
for the satisfaction of learning goals. (Kay et al. 2001: 31)
Kay et al. go on to argue that mentor/s:
must support their students, in order to provide a 'safe' learning environment, yet at the same
time not be so supportive as to reduce the challenge their students face. They must challenge
their students to explore new ways of knowing and doing, yet at the same time provide the
student with the security of knowing that support is there when needed. They must also provide
a framework, or more accurately a vision, that the student can work towards. (50)
The BIHECC report (Precision Consultancy 2007) suggests 'the research and pedagogy surrounding WIL revolves
around what is primarily a tripartite system made up of the student, an academic coordinator and a supervisor in
the workplace...what is lacking is a wider systemic view' (39). Establishing a wider systemic view within each
university is indeed a challenge for business educators.