IARPC Collaborations Mentorship Program: 2024-25 Session
Collaborations brings together individuals from a variety of disciplines, knowledge systems, career paths, and career stages around the shared goal of improving collaboration in Arctic science and research. The Collaborations Mentorship Program draws on this community to provide mentoring opportunities from a variety of career stages and paths within the polar research community. It brings together small groups of researchers and other professionals to discuss career opportunities and issues, learn from and support one another, and grow together.
The 2024-25 session of the Collaborations Mentorship Program will run from September 2024 to May 2025. It will kick off at a launch meeting on September 5 at 9am AKT; after that, mentorship groups will meet at least monthly. There will be two to three additional all-cohort webinars throughout the session focused on trainings and networking.
partners with , , and to provide additional support and training to participants
Participants will be placed in small mentoring circles (4-5 people per circle) that include individuals from a spread of career stages and types of career. Depending on the number of people interested in this session, circles may be organized by general field, or may include a variety of fields and themes.
Sign Up
The registration period for the 2024-25 session of the mentorship program is now closed. If you have questions about the program, please contact Liz Weinberg, liz@iarpccollaborations.org.
How the Program Works
Who Is Eligible?
Anyone working in the polar research space can join the Collaborations Mentorship Program. You do not have to be a scientist or to be actively researching/publishing. This program is not exclusively for early-career individuals. We encourage people from all career stages to sign up.
How Do I Sign Up?
The registration period for the 2024-25 session of the mentorship program is now closed. If you have questions about the program, please contact Liz Weinberg, liz@iarpccollaborations.org.
How Will I Get Placed in a Circle?
Once the application period closes, the Secretariat will place people in groups of 4-5.
Depending on the number of people interested in the program, circles may be organized by general field (e.g., oceanography, social sciences, etc.), or may include a variety of fields and themes.
Once circles are created, the Engagement Director will help circles schedule their first meeting. After the first meeting, the circle will be responsible for setting a monthly meeting time.
What Is the Time Commitment?
Participants should plan to devote an hour per month to meeting with their mentorship circles.
In addition, the program hosts three to four all-cohort meetings throughout the nine-month session, generally either an hour or 90 minutes in length.
Why Mentorship Circles?
Having mentoring circles rather than one-on-one pairings helps people work with mentors from a variety of disciplines and career stages. It also helps break down some of the hierarchies inherent in mentoring: for example, mid-career individuals can mentor one another, and early-career and established individuals can also learn from one another.
How Do Mentorship Circles Work?
Mentoring circles will meet monthly. Their structure and discussion style will follow the Circle Way, which supports non-hierarchical discussions.
For each discussion meeting, circles will be given a series of questions/prompts, sometimes paired with an article or other reading. Circles can also develop their own lines of inquiry based around their groups’ interest.
Code of Conduct
The Secretariat and Collaborations community is committed to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, and is particularly committed to supporting the inclusion of historically minoritized groups in Arctic science. Collaborations strives to create an inclusive, constructive space for sharing information about research, science, and knowledge co-production in the Arctic.
The Collaborations Mentorship Program follows the Collaborations code of conduct. Mentorship Program participants are expected to be inclusive, professional, and respectful at all times.
If you believe someone in the Mentorship Program has violated the Code of Conduct, please review the reporting process and file a report.
Discussion Format: The Circle Way
Mentorship circles will be guided by an adapted form of The Circle Way, a discussion format that prioritizes thoughtful speaking and listening, and supports nonhierarchical interactions. We encourage all participants to read the basic guidelines for calling a circle. While this format is designed for in-person interactions, recommends the following adaptations:
- Roles: These should rotate among group members from meeting to meeting:
- Moderator: This person guides the meeting, including setting the intention, starting the meeting, and prompting discussion when needed
- Guardian: This person safeguards the group and calls a pause if a breach of the group norms occurs or for any other reason a moment to take a breath would be helpful.
- Scribe: Groups are not expected to take comprehensive notes, but the scribe notes any items for follow-up or resources that are mentioned during discussion. The scribe may also note down who will fill which role in the next meeting.
- Setting intention: Begin the meeting with an overview of the goals of the meeting. What do we want to get out of this meeting? What questions are we considering?
- Welcome: It may be helpful to start the meeting with some kind of gesture (a moment of silence, a deep breath, etc.) to shift group members from work/social space into the mentorship circle space.
- Check-in: This step usually starts with a volunteer and proceeds around the group, giving each member a chance to share how they are doing that day, week, or month. This is one of the most important steps, as it supports interpersonal connection and helps group members show up authentically.
- Three principles:
- Leadership rotates among all circle members.
- Responsibility is shared for the quality of the discussion and the wellness of the member.
- Emphasis is on what everyone is getting out of the mentorship circle, rather than on any personal agenda.
- Three practices:
- Speak with intention, focusing on relevance to the conversation at the moment.
- Listen with attention—close out of email and other distractions.
- Tend to the well-being of the circle, paying attention to the impact of your contributions.
- Check-out: At the close of a mentorship circle meeting, allow a few minutes for each person to comment on what they learned or what will stay with them as they leave. This helps signal an end to the conversation and to tie up any loose ends.
Who to Contact If You Need Help or Have Suggestions
For questions or comments about the mentorship program, contact Liz Weinberg, Engagement Director, at liz@iarpccollaborations.org.