As life goes on and situations change, we all need guides to help us navigate our paths.
When Mary Anderson-Glenna (usn.no) moved from Ireland to Norway in 2005, she worked in the institute of public health in Oslo, but four years later, she found herself unemployed in the region of Vestfold with no network and scores of job rejections. She found herself in need of a mentor and was fortunate enough to participate in the Global Future program of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO), where she met her first one.
“He was instrumental in helping me understand the Norwegian system and culture, and he opened my eyes to new opportunities. His guidance was invaluable, introducing me to key individuals in my region and helping me build a network that would support my future endeavors,” Mary says.
Today Mary is a Senior Advisor for EU Research and Innovation programmes and a coordinator for USNs External Funding Team at the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN). She is also the EDUC-WIDE USN Project Manager.
My turn
When the opportunity arose to become a mentor in the EDUC II project, she felt it was her turn to share and guide.
“As soon as I heard about the EDUC Staff Mentoring Programme I was really eager to participate. Having benefited so much in my career path and development from my own mentors, I was eager to give something back,” she says.
EDUC Staff Mentoring Programme pairs two employees – a mentor and a mentee – who work within the same field at two different EDUC universities.
Registration for 2025 is now closed. Registration for 2026 will open in the new year.
The aim of the EDUC Staff Mentoring Programme is to promote professional development and career growth while fostering an inclusive European culture and expanding one's network.
Another motivation of hers was the wish to contribute to the success of EDUC:
“I think it is important to actively involve oneself in EDUC where there is a suitable theme where one knows that one can contribute without too much extra effort. EDUC is like a large jigsaw puzzle with pieces distributed throughout our organisations. This was one piece I could add to the puzzle,” she says.
Having been a mentee twice provided Mary with a good grounding in mentor skills.
"To be honest I think mentor skills is something that changes less than the work world around us. A mentors role is to support the mentee to explore and achieve their goals and objectives, to help the mentee reflect on their current and future desired situation," Mary says.
A remarkable coincidence
Over an 8-month period, Mary had the privilege of mentoring Adrien Nicol, from the University of Rennes in France, who recently had moved from internationalisation of education over to research funding.
Funny enough, Adrein and Mary actually met once before at a conference at the University of Limerick in Ireland, without knowing they would ever meet again.
“I didn’t realise that we had met before until we had our first digital meeting and to be honest, it meant we had an excellent connection from the start,” she recalls.
Mary’s own experience allowed her to help her mentee reflect on his journey and destination and guide him along his path.
Role models
They used various tools to make the path clearer, including a framework for research managers and administrators. From the outset, they planned the themes for all their monthly meetings and set aside time in their calendars. Their first meeting focused on Adrien’s ambitions and needs. In line with his goals, Mary arranged meetings with two role models: a project officer working for the European Commission and USN's research director, Thomas Slagsvold.
“These interactions provided Adrien with valuable insights and inspiration, helping him to see the possibilities ahead as well as supporting him in development in his current role,“ Mary says.
She adds that being a EDUC Mentor has not only allowed her to share her knowledge and experiences but also to continue learning and growing alongside her mentee.
“Additionally, during such interactions one always learns something new even if the main focus is on supporting the mentee, that could be cultural understanding or different challenges and perspectives," she says.
Make it work
How does the digital format impact your role as a mentor?
“Digital meetings are fine and the last time I was a mentee it was also digital but you can’t beat meeting in person and I really hope that Adrien and I get the chance to top our digital format with a physical meeting, maybe through Erasmus staff exchange. I’d love to visit Rennes and Adrien’s office would be my first stop!” Mary says.
Name some of the challenges of being a apart of the EDUC Mentor programme?
"As with everything else these days, time is always an issue and being able to set off enough time to make it work. We made a good plan at the start and based our meetings on a framework which identifies areas of expertise that should be strengthened for research managers and administrators. That helped us keep focus and use our time in a good way."
How do you adapt your mentoring style to fit your mentee?
"It was really easy to work with Adrien. We are both happy, positive and open people. Willing to learn and exchange best practices as well as things that don’t work quite so well."
Mary’s top advice to those considering becoming a n EDUC Mentor:
- When you know you have come so far in your career that you have a lot to offer others is to say “yes!”. It comes to a point when it’s our turn to pass on and share some knowledge and insights.
- Make good plans from the start. Set up regular meetings and agree on the themes from the start based on the mentees needs and ambitions.
- Pick a day and time that suits both and that reduces the chances of coming stressed in to the meeting.
- Take a few minutes to talk about general things “chit-chat” before stating the meetings probably. That gives each one time to take a breath and refocusing on each other. It’s all about seeing each other and being there together. That’s the start that is needed for the digital mentor-mentee relationship to succeed.