ABSTRACT
This book is written for those practitioners in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (the STEM fields) who have been pitched into the role of mentor without any prior training. Its objective is to help alleviate anxiety, frustration and stress caused by not knowing exactly what is expected. In offering an introduction to mentoring it gives practical guidance on the basic skills, principles and processes in a quick and easy read. Mentoring is much more than simple one-to-one informal instruction, or what used to be called ‘coaching’. Modern mentoring techniques are modelled on those of non-directive, executive and professional coaching as well as expert academic tutoring. In spite of the obvious benefits of mentoring, an estimated 40% of all mentoring schemes fail. Mentoring is simple but not necessarily easy. No great effort is required to study the literature, but adherence to certain principles and exercising specific skills is absolutely necessary for mentoring to be effective. The first chapter briefly summarises the contents of the subsequent five chapters – (2) what is a mentor?, (3) essential skills, (4) principles and processes, (5) mentoring in practice and (6) training and mentoring schemes.
