Previously, most of the opportunities were given to men in higher education while women were underrepresented, especially in terms of higher education leadership positions. While the barriers for women wishing to progress are manifold, encouraging research participation is essential, especially in the 21st century where everyone has equal rights. As part of the transformation agenda of the Higher Education of the mentees, opportunities to address the challenge of underrepresentation are provided. One such opportunity is the mentorship program where young academic researchers are mentored by senior experienced staff members in an endeavor to retain and support these academics. These young academic researchers need to develop and advance in their careers and increase their research output before they can serve in senior positions. The mentees for the program are randomly selected by the Research Directorate office. The mentor/mentee contract is for a duration of one year whereby there are regular check-in sessions and mentor guidance on research possible projects. With the aim of describing their experiences of being a mentee, two mentees’ have decided to collaborate, using an auto-ethnography approach. This approach allowed the researchers to reflect on and narrate their experiences of serving as part of the academic mentorship program. Both mentees expressed a positive experience during the mentorship program. Based on their experiences recommendations to offer a similar program in all academic institutions are recommended. A further recommendation for the coordinators of such programs is to increase the time duration to allow more time for relationship building between the mentor and mentee.

Authors:
Vuyokazi Mntuyedwa, Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), South Africa
Kathleen Naidoo, Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), South Africa

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Vuyokazi Mntuyedwa is an Academic literacy lecturer at CPUT. She holds a Ph.D. at UWC and a master’s degree from Stellenbosch University, she was a visiting scholar at the Cal State University of Fullerton in America during her Ph.D. studies.

Connect on Linkedin
https://za.linkedin.com/in/dr-vuyo-mntuyedwa-ph-d-157477b8

Connect on ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Vuyokazi-Mntuyedwa-733724

Additional website of interest
https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Vuyokazi-Mntuyedwa-733724

See this presentation on the full schedule – Thursday Schedule

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