A 10-year experiential journey in developing a multi-pronged approach to tutoring, advising and mentoring.
Tuesday, April 8, 2025 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM
POSITIVE EMOTION
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Session Outline
Personal tutor schemes (PTS) are crucial for students' emotional well-being, engagement, and sense of purpose, fostering lasting connections and supporting overall success. However, achieving these outcomes solely through a PTS can be challenging. A holistic approach integrating support within the curriculum and extracurricular activities is necessary to effectively support students in all aspects of their development. This presentation will showcase a multi-pronged approach to tutoring, advising and mentoring, refined and developed through a 10-year experiential journey. Delegates will gain insights into effective strategies, practices and metrics that support student development and success.
In 2015, I secured funding to overhaul our PTS and careers delivery with students and the university’s careers team. This initiative addressed concerns about graduate outcomes and accessibility by designing a comprehensive employability programme. Delivered through level-specific extracurricular tutor workshops and activities, it facilitated a seamless student journey from transition through to graduation and beyond, enhancing engagement with career-related activities by 70%. Additionally, tutees completed self-reflective logs of their journey in conjunction with tutor meetings.
In 2021, dashboards revealed a 25% engagement gap between white and Black students in their self-reflective logs and tutoring. This led me to review what an inclusive PTS should look like and create an inclusive tutee peer support network, uniting tutees from diverse backgrounds, experiences, and identities. I embedded active learning approaches in the curriculum and introduced a 'design thinking for life' strategy focussed on empathetic peer dialogue to enhance equitable engagement and outcomes through shared opportunities, interests, and aspirations. This approach helped tutees tackle personal challenges like goal achievement and well-being. These interventions significantly boosted engagement to 93% since 2022, a stark improvement from around 65% (2017-2021) and closed the engagement gap for Black students from 25% to 0%.
To further support Black students, I partnered with EMBRACE, GSK's diversity group. In 2021, I launched a groundbreaking year-long diversity-themed programme with GSK, mentoring over 250 underrepresented students and providing tailored guidance from Black professionals in various GSK roles, exposing them to relatable role models. I, also, expanded this into School-wide 'Discover' research fairs and employability events. These initiatives have significantly improved mentorship, career pursuits, and employability for underrepresented students. Additionally, this has been supported by the introduction of student peer mentoring schemes that have boosted progression rates by 23% for participating students.
Delegates will learn about inclusive peer networks that foster empathetic dialogue and the integration of holistic tutoring and mentoring approaches.
Learning Outcomes
Delegates will learn how to integrate holistic support within the curriculum and extracurricular activities to enhance student development, employability and support underrepresented groups.
Competencies
This session addresses the following competencies of the UKAT Professional Framework for Advising and Tutoring