When Research England and the UK’s Office for Students announced its roughly £8 million funding programme to improve racially minoritised students’ access into postgraduate research, most of the 13 selected initiatives mentioned some form of mentoring to support this goal. As the funding programme nears completion, in 2026, the parallel evaluation led by King’s College London will likely provide key insights into the role that mentoring plays within this.
But can mentoring work effectively to bridge the gap from undergraduate or postgraduate-taught level to postgraduate research or doctoral study? Evidence which suggests that, yes, it can has emerged from our Progress to PhD peer-mentoring scheme. The scheme, which is now in its second year, matches under-represented undergraduate and postgraduate taught students who have aspirations towards postgraduate research with a PhD student mentor.
However, peer-mentoring schemes such as this are not typically widespread.
So, here I offer four lessons learned from our experience for practitioners interested in doing the same. While the impact of mentoring in positively influencing student outcomes is complex, these recommendations underscore the need for intentional recruitment and matching of mentors and mentees; comprehensive training and ongoing support materials; recognition of mentee and mentor time; and appropriate evaluation methods to assess the efficacy of a peer-mentoring scheme.
1. Thoughtful recruitment and matching
Our internal research showed that undergraduate and postgraduate taught students (that is, the mentees of the scheme) primarily wanted a mentor with a similar academic background to make the relationship feel relevant. So, we recruited PhD student mentors across the university first, so their profiles could attract mentees.
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Where mentoring is largely mentee-centric, facilitators should obtain as much information about students’ mentor preferences. We asked mentees for any information that could support matching them to a PhD student mentor, such as whether they were adamant about having a mentor in their specific discipline or would be happy with a mentor simply in their faculty. Students could also use this section to voluntarily describe their identity characteristics so their mentors would be aware of barriers they might be facing.
Our post-mentoring evaluation survey corroborated the importance of taking this intentional approach; in 2024, all mentees and mentors were satisfied with their mentoring match.
2. Comprehensive training and ongoing support materials
The success of mentoring hinges on how well mentors and mentees are prepared. So, pre-mentoring training, in addition to ongoing support opportunities, is integral to fostering effective relationships and creating a safe space for both parties. On our scheme, all mentors and mentees attend separate yet complementary training sessions that explain the scheme’s aim, its purpose, models and techniques related to mentoring, role expectations and resources available. Given that mentors would be working with under-represented students, we underscored the barriers faced when accessing doctoral study, and their own impact in supporting us to tackle inequalities.
To aid the development of successful mentoring relationships, all students receive a mentoring handbook, conversation guide and meeting reflection log template. We provided optional mid-mentoring drop-in sessions to informally check in with students. This separate session ensures both parties’ well-being is protected, and offers a space to discuss shared concerns and advice.
3. Recognising the skills of mentors and mentees
Recognition of a mentor’s and mentee’s time, expertise and experience can build investment and belonging within peer-mentoring schemes. Regular verbal and written communications can reiterate gratitude for all students taking part in the scheme, and physical celebrations are also significant tools for recognition. For example, we hosted a networking launch event to allow mentees and mentors to meet one another over refreshments, and an end-of-mentoring celebration event, where senior university staff awarded the Mentee/Mentor of the Year.
To further build awareness and recognise the professional skills gained over their six-month mentoring relationship, all students also received a digital badge to showcase their achievements on their online profiles.
4. Appropriate and meaningful evaluation
Evaluating interventions and assessing their effectiveness has become more important. So make clear at the beginning of the programme what you wish to achieve from your peer-mentoring scheme, including your indicators of success and evaluation approach.
Our indicators of success were that mentees had improved information, advice and knowledge about doctoral study (we did not include applying for and obtaining a PhD position). For mentors, we wanted them to have enhanced their professional development. We implemented pre- and post-evaluation surveys to ascertain this and will be capturing longitudinal data from our mentees and their career destinations.
Most mentees reported low to moderate knowledge about PhDs/doctoral study before their mentoring relationship. Afterwards, all mentees described being either “knowledgeable” or “very knowledgeable” about PhD or doctoral study. Three-quarters of mentees also believed involvement in the scheme enabled them to apply for a PhD programme. This suggests some correlational evidence that peer mentoring can support under-represented students into postgraduate research.
While we cannot claim a causal relationship, our mentoring scheme is designed to complement the wide array of activities the University of Southampton has been collaboratively delivering to support our students (particularly those who are under-represented) into the elite field of postgraduate research. So, while there is no silver bullet to achieving this aim, effective and intentional mentoring using the above recommendations (and as part of a multi-pronged approach) can work to cater to the diverse needs of all students.
Maisha Islam is research culture lead for equality, diversity and inclusion at the Doctoral College at the University of Southampton.
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