Perspectives on Research is a series of blog posts commissioned as part of the Early Career Research Fellowships in Cultural and Heritage Institutions programme, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and coordinated by the V&A.
This blog is by Caitlin Griffiths, Senior Associate at Cultural Associates Oxford, who has spent over 25 years working in the sector. After early career curatorial roles, she has mostly worked in sector advisory roles firstly for the Museums Association and then as a consultant for the last 15 years. She has specialised in strategic planning and workforce and leadership development, with a particular interest in mentoring.
Curious about mentoring?
One of the most rewarding aspects of working in the museum and heritage sector is the chance to work with colleagues who are incredibly generous in sharing their knowledge, experience and insights for the benefit of others, with the ultimate beneficiaries being the public. I’m sure we can all recall a time a colleague showed us round a collection they managed, or shared insights from their research or allowed us to sit in a workshop they were running so we could deepen our understanding of the approach they were using – all of these helping us to improve our own practice.
One thing that really embodies this spirit of generosity and sharing of knowledge is mentoring.
What is mentoring?
Mentoring is one of many ways we can develop ourselves, but it can provide a unique and person-centred approach to continuing professional development (CPD).
Whilst there are different models of mentoring, including peer mentoring, the most common is often one to one mentoring where a more experienced colleague will support someone who may be at an earlier stage of their career. In these mentoring relationships, made up of a mentor and a mentee, it tends to be driven and shaped by the needs of the mentee, but most beneficially both people can gain and grow from the relationship.
How mentoring differs from line management and coaching
Mentoring is distinct from both line management and coaching. Whilst line managers are responsible for supervising and overseeing staff performance, achieving organisational goals, and operational priorities, mentors, meanwhile, are facilitators of long-term personal and professional growth, supporting a mentee’s skill development in a more holistic, ongoing manner. Mentors are typically more focused on personal growth as well as developing skills, skills, while line managers tend to concentrate on delivering on business goals and managing team objectives. This distinction is crucial, as research over the past decade reinforces that effective mentoring relationships thrive separately from formal line management to allow for open discussion, personalised feedback, and freedom from performance appraisal pressures.
Why might I want to do it?
Mentoring can be a really positive way of developing ourselves and our professional practice, helping us to expand our horizons, and become curious about how to improve or innovate our work. At its heart it is an approach that is collaborative and relational. Good mentoring can offer a lot, such as:
- A space and time to think about and talk about your professional development
- An opportunity to work with someone outside of your organisation, which can enable more open and honest discussions to take place. Mentors don’t come with the institutional baggage and ‘organisational think’ so they could approach issues differently, offer new perspectives and ideas
- Perhaps signposting you to new resources and information or other potential sources of support that you might not have considered
- Once established, the relationship is can provide a space for gentle challenge, it can also provide a safe space – to vent, or to be more vulnerable
Mentoring can address a wide range of developmental needs. People may want to find a mentor who can support them to develop skills and knowledge in a specific area of practice or subject matter. Or maybe they are wanting to get some more general support and an outside perspective on how to progress within their chosen field, to explore their career options. More than anything, mentoring can often help people to develop personal attributes like confidence, motivation and self-reflection.
People can consider mentoring at any stage of their career, for those early in their career as well as helping to develop their skills, it can be a great way to expand their knowledge and understanding of the sector as a whole, and their professional network. Maybe for someone else, perhaps someone who has worked in one role, or in one organisation for a long time and feels a bit stuck, the external perspective that a mentor can offer is often invaluable.
Whatever stage of your career you are at, it could be a really positive experience to do some mentoring – it’s good to feel that someone is interested in us and what we are doing, to have someone who can act as a cheerleader or supporter.
Mentoring in a research context
In research-intensive roles and sectors such as museums and heritage, having a mentor can significantly enhance both career progression and job satisfaction. Multiple studies show mentoring can lead to higher levels of research productivity, greater self-efficacy, reduced feelings of isolation, and more successful navigation of diverse career pathways—particularly in interdisciplinary or evolving fields like cultural heritage. For example, recent research demonstrates that well-structured mentoring increases retention, well-being, publication output, and progression for both early-career and established researchers. Mentoring is especially impactful for those exploring non-linear careers as embedded researchers, providing vital support as they move between roles in practice, academia, and management.
How do I go about getting started?
There are lots of different ways to get involved in mentoring, it might be as part of a formal professional development programme or a mentoring scheme like the Museums Associations Mentoring for All programme. Or you could just reach out to a colleague in the sector to see if they would be interested in mentoring you.
The first thing to consider is what your motivation is in wanting to be mentored. It could be useful to think about:
- Why do I want to do this? What do I want to get out of it and how do I want to develop as a result?
- Who would I work best with? Would it be best to work with someone who has a similar professional background, outlook on life, has similar qualities and traits – or would it be beneficial to work with someone who is quite different to me, might challenge my way of thinking more?
To find a mentor (outside of a formal programme) use your networks and colleagues, draw on your own and others personal connections.
If you haven’t tried mentoring before, give it a go, it’s a really great way to not only develop yourself but to make connections and expand your pool of professional contacts.
Perspectives on Research aims to shine a light on different aspects of research in cultural and heritage organisations, with contributions invited from a range of practitioners with experience of working in or with the sector. Through this series, we aim to develop a set of resources that may be helpful to researchers working in or thinking about working in cultural and heritage organisations beyond the programme itself.
