Mentoring our members
Emerging from discussions in 2014 on how the Royal Society of Chemistry could best support diversity – particularly in industry – a corporate partner told us that a mentoring service would be incredibly valuable, particularly in supporting progression for women in technical roles.
In addition, we had repeated and increasing feedback from diversity events that this type of support would be highly valuable to the community, including our members working in academia. Formal mentoring schemes are often cited as a way to support women in their academic career and, more generally, to support anyone in their career development.
We ran a small pilot of eight mentor/mentee pairings, and, following the success of this, we rolled out the scheme to all members and is has been growing over the last four years. We have had over 50 mentees complete their relationships, and currently have over 80 active pairings across the UK and even a few overseas. The scheme was the winner of the 2016 MemCom Award for ‘New product development – Member Benefit’.
To become a mentor you must be a Member or Fellow, and you will be required to attend a day of training, where we will provide you with all the skills you need to be a confident mentor, with plenty of opportunity to practice those skills. We run training sessions across the UK, but can also offer training by webinar where appropriate.
For anyone wanting to be mentored you need to be an Associate Member, Member or Fellow. To register for a mentor, contact our careers team and you will then be sent a short video and some information to read, which will be followed up with a telephone chat with one of our career specialists to discuss your needs and expectations in more depth.
Both mentors and mentees complete a questionnaire, which we use to match individuals. If a mentee has a particular preference for the type of mentor they would like, for example the gender of their mentor or type of industry they work in, then we try our best to accommodate this, but can’t always guarantee to do so. However, we find that the background of the mentor is not always important for the pairing to be successful. What is most useful for the mentee is to have the time and space to meet with someone independent from other parts of their life. The mentor’s role is to help facilitate the mentee’s own thinking, and they are not there to provide all the answers.
There are a variety of reasons why someone might access the scheme and be looking for a mentor. For example a mentee might have a specific aim, such as progressing their career in academia, or setting up their own business. It could be that someone might need general guidance and support about their next career move, and be looking for someone to help them navigate their thoughts. Mentors can also be there to help in building up confidence and provide encouragement. Most of our mentees tend to be in the earlier stages of their career, but the scheme is available to anyone at any career stage.
The great thing about the scheme is that mentees are not the only ones to benefit. Whilst our mentors are very willing and enthusiastic volunteers, with many quoting a desire to ‘give back’, we’ve found that there are significant benefits to being a mentor.
It’s a great service and the mentor match you have made for me is perfect for my professional needs at this point in time.
X is an excellent mentor and I would recommend her to any other mentee in the future. She has great passion and expertise in personal development.
It’s a great idea, and I have surprised myself about how challenging it can be and also rewarding when a suggestion I have made has had a positive impact.
Mentors do not need to have had years of experience in order to provide support to someone else. We are always looking for mentors, from both academic and industry backgrounds, and a variety of experience is welcomed. For someone who is looking to gain people management skills, becoming a mentor provides a great opportunity to do so.
Find out more about the scheme on our website or email our careers team using the details on the left of this page.
Careers support
- Tel:
- +44 (0) 1223 432342
- Email:
- Send us an email
Press office
- Tel:
- +44 (0) 20 7440 3351
- Email:
- Send us an email