Presentation as made to Baunman University on the 24th June 2013.

1. Dr Andrea Wheeler, William Bancroft, Professor
Simon Austin and Professor Jacqui Glass
The Centre for Engineering & Design Education, 1st Floor, Keith Green Building
School of Civil and Building Engineering
E-mentoring: Developing
powerful partnerships with
industry employers
June 24th 2013
Moscow State Technical University, Bauman University

2. • Construction vacancies have dropped 50%
since 2001 .
• 5.1% reduction in graduate employment from
2001 to 2012. (18.9% unemployed)
• Figures show that nearly 36% are employed in
a lower skilled job compared with 26.7% in
2001 (the Graduates in the Labour Market
2012 report published by the Office for
National Statistics).
Context

3. Loughborough University Engineering
Statistics
Graduate Employment Statistics for Loughborough Engineering Graduates (6 months after
graduation)
Standard Publication Category Number of Graduates Percentage of Graduates
Full-time paid work only
(including self-employed)
384 65.1%
Part-time paid work only 17 2.9%
Voluntary/Unpaid work only 4 0.7%
Work and further study 71 12.0%
Further study only 41 6.9%
Assumed to be unemployed 45 7.6%
Not available for employment 23 3.9%
Other 2 0.3%
Explicit refusal 3 0.5%

4. I really have worries about my post
PhD life because I would like to be
involved with industry, but
suddenly feel like I am a fresh
university graduate (even after
getting PhD!). There is so much
uncertainty, and if I am being
honest some lack of confidence on
my part (Loughborough University,
School of Civil and Building
Engineering, International PhD
Student 2011).

5. I spent my placement year
working in Malaysia. I am a
home student but have no
work experience in the
engineering or construction
industries in the UK.

6. THE TEAM
Associate Dean for Teaching, Professor Simon Austin;
Director of Under Graduate Studies, Professor Jacqui
Glass;
Staff Development Officer (Research Staff Mentoring),
Michele Zala,
Senior Careers Development Advisor - Susan Reed;
Design Education Coordinator and the Regional
Representative of the Institution of Civil Engineers,
Malcolm Jackson.

7. THE SUPPORT FROM INDUSTRY
Interserve Construction
CH2M Hill
A-one
AMEC
Environment Agency
Atkins Ltd
Smith and Wallwork Engineers
Pick Everard
Morgan Tucker
Costain
Balfour Beatty
Pick Everard
Arup Midland Construction
Jacobs Engineering
Stomor Limited
Network Rail
Morgan Sindall
Carillion
British Power International
AECOM
Halcrow
Costain
Interserve
PrP UK
Kier Construction Limited
Laing O’Rouke

8. Can e-mentoring provide engineering and
construction students, particularly those with an
international perspective, with an educational
opportunity which will significantly improve their
employment opportunities?
If it can, how does it do it?
THE PROBLEM

9. …boundaryless, egalitarian and qualitatively
different….
…ease and immediacy…
Same function as mentoring added benefits…
E-mentoring history ….to level the playing
field…
But a difficulty in forming mentoring
relationships virtually?
O'Neill, k. D., Li, S. & Weiler, M., 2005. Software support for online mentoring programs: a research-inspired design. Mentoring and
tutoring , 13(1), pp. 109-131.
Single, P. B. & Muller, C. B., 2001. When e-mail and mentoring unite: the implementation of a nationwide electronic mentoring
program. Creating mentoring and coaching programs , 1(1), pp. 107-122
Bierema, L. L. & Merriam, S. B., 2002. E-mentoring; Using computer mediated communication to enhance the mentoring process.
innovative higher education , 26(3), pp. 211-227.
Zey, M. G., 1984. The mentor connection, IL:Dow Jones-Irwin: Homewood.

10. Less stereotyping within mentoring
relationships…
Outsiders…more impartial advice… less
vested interest
Sproul, L. & Kiesler, S., 1993. Connections: New ways of working in networked organisations, Cambridge: MIT Press.
Single, P. B. & Single, R. M., 2005. E-mentoring for social equity: review of information to inform program development. Mentoring and
tutoring , 13(2), pp. 301-320.

11. Drivers for a changing work context
• Extreme longevity
• Computational world
• Superstructured organisations
• The rise of smart machines and
systems
• New media ecology
• Globally connected world
Willen-Augenti (2012) Society 3.0 How Technology is Reshaping
Education, Work and Society

12. Changing skills/ Future Work Skills 2020
1. "transdisciplinarity" (understanding concepts across
multiple disciplines),
2. "virtual collaboration" (proficiency in working as
part of geographically dispersed teams),
3. "cross-cultural competency" (ability to operate in
multicultural settings).
4. “Social intelligence” (workers who can build
collegial and productive online relationships will be in
high demand). “As organizations expand globally, social
intelligence will help managers build virtual workgroups
comprising the right blend of talent and personalities,”

13. “Intercultural competence”
…the ability to communicate those working in or from
different cultures – free from prejudice and motivated to
continued learning: A set of cognitive, behavioural, and
affective/motivational components that enable
individuals to adapt effectively in intercultural
environments.

14. METHOD
Two pilots, each 5 months.
12 relationships in each pilot (self- selecting).
Launch event (meeting for the first time),
interim questionnaires, interviews and final
“cafe-event”/workshops.
Qualitative evaluation of both mentor and
mentee experiences

15. The E-MENTORING Pilot 1: “Improving Student
Employability Through E-Mentoring”.
(February 2012 – June 2012)
• Recruited mentors and mentees. Mentors were
young, 2- 7 years post qualification. Mentees
from the School of Civil and Building
Engineering (without placement experience).
• Invited to a launch meeting to meet
mentors/mentees and have some training (all
online).
• Left to get on with it. Some emails. Some
invitations to feedback via online
questionnaires.
• June – August interim interviews.
• September, review of programme and revision
ahead of pilot 2.

16. The E-MENTORING Pilot 2: “Improving Student
Employability Through E-Mentoring”.
(October 2012 – March 2013)
• Recruited mentors and mentees (included some PhD
students).
• Invited to a launch meeting to meet mentors/mentee.
Refined and less formal meeting.
• Left to get on with it. Some emails. Some invitations to
feedback via online questionnaires.
• Interim questionnaires.
• Cafe event
• Videos

17. Success (mentee and mentor benefits)
Limiting factors (including mentee
motivation)
Matching (poor matching)
Communications, type and frequency
Relationship progress (poor relationship
development)
Analysis

18. INSIGHTS: Does e-mentoring improve skills for
the graduate employment market ?
Yes but it is also much more than this…
giving confidence,
networking,
discovering work skills they don’t know they have

19. The main discussions were about
identifying the skills the mentee has got
and bringing it out and presenting it
nicely whether that is on the CV or
whether that is at interview. For
example, some projects or coursework
he has done that he is not aware that
could be used to show the development
of, or skills he has got, actually I brought
that out from him. *…+ So it is mainly
about identifying his skills but also about
providing advice about how he could get
employed through fairs, through
journals and through relationships with
people really. So giving advice,
sometimes encouraging and giving him
confidence, I think that’s really
important especially in this economic
climate, as I am sure he is a good
candidate. He will be employed.
MENTOR
confidence
skills he did not know
he had
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfWDGmmu2Kw

20. Mainly it was about the CV, tweaking it
to specify for certain companies or
certain audiences. And Chartership,
looking at how to get yourself chartered,
just developing the professional side of
your personality with professional skills
so that they can all add onto your CV.
Even if you’re just starting your
Chartership or your personal
development plan, put that in you CV.
Stuff that I wouldn’t have even thought
about, even though I haven’t completed
it, show I’ve started it, shows your
willingness to engage and willingness to
progress your knowledge. *…+ Where to
look for jobs don’t look where everyone
else I looking, there’s a good reason why
everyone is looking there but you’ve got
more competition, things like cold
calling, letters, looking at who’s doing
well in the news, industry specific
magazines and things, so they will have a
good chance of recruiting, and approach
them but with a tailored CV to make sure
you *seem like+ you’re going to them in
the first place.
MENTEE
Stuff I had not even
thought about
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yJSa4ip7rM

21. MENTORActually we didn’t have a very good start with
my mentee because he couldn’t attend the
first meeting so we didn’t have the first face-
to-face conversation with him. But I just
dropped and email and then everything
started. It went quite well actually I got quite
nice responses from him and so we are still in
contact and you know sharing ideas, just
telling what’s going on in his life and his
application he’s done lately. So yes it is quite
good. *…+ He is looking for a graduate
engineer role in a large sized company and he
wants to know how he can find a job of
course but he does have enough experience
in interviews, so generally we are talking
about job interviews and using the job search
tools and how he can find a job on the
internet. Well we started with LinkedIn
because I’m sort of active on LinkedIn so I just
shared all my networks so he can just see
recruiters HR people headhunted etc., he is
quite good with that one. *…+ I advised him to
create a profile on LinkedIn and he did. We
started with that but we will try the other
websites where he can look for a job and also
I am planning to send him to graduate
engineers in my company so he can share
ideas with them because I know there are
some specific websites just for graduates.
networks and
networking skills
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V97XkN1O35c

22. MENTEE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvo-7IY0l08
It has been a wonderful experience
having someone who you can call a
mentor has been the greatest
experience as we’ve been discussing
earlier, there are so many avenues in
terms of what’s available to help you out
in terms of getting a job or becoming
more employable but these avenues are
very one dimensional. For example I
could use a magazine and it would tell
me what I need to do with my CV and
what you need to say in an interview but
this is very one dimensional *…+ whereas
having a mentor they can give you
various perspectives on what these
interviews or job opportunities have and
they can give you more than one route
to follow. That is one of the greatest
things mentoring can provide.
Discussions are around what I as a
mentee have been facing discussion and
have looked deeper than what the
mentors have said and it is about making
yourself an all rounded person beyond
the CV. The CV is the first point of
contact but when you’re called in for an
interview the CV becomes a side issue,
they want to see what you are as an
individual.
Not one dimension
avenues in terms of
employability, various
perspectives…
Discussions look
deeper, start with
what I as mentee have
been facing…

23. Internationalisation - Narratives and
experience (Mentee Pilot 1) A different work
culture
…things that really stand out for me are that at this level after Masters when
we go back home we’re going to be more of manager’s than technical people.
People management, which is a very difficult thing, working with big groups,
I’ve learnt a couple of things about that. The thing I’ve learnt is about
strategies, this was completely new to me, you know. Every business,
everything in life, there’s a strategy. You need to know where you want to go
and have some sort of plan to get there. Before we just used to wake up and
do things and get there (International Masters Student).

24. “If I’m honest he didn’t really raise many questions to me. *...+ It was more me trying
to force the issue sometimes. He’s a very polite guy, he’s a very nice guy, I wonder
whether he’s almost too polite to ask me certain things thinking he was taking up my
time. [...] I mean some of the things – he kind of indicated stuff as he was sending an
email through he’d say coming towards the end of his PhD kind of thing and from
that I kind of latched on to you know what are you thinking of doing? This is what I
did, you know use the library to look at companies and stuff and we kind of got a bit
of a rapport going near the end and I think it had some success hopefully. He was
thinking that he would have to go back to Nigeria and possibly into academia and I
kind of said actually there are different routes through.
He’s almost too polite to ask me certain
things…

25. A different sort of employability
Less limiting definition of employability: an opportunity to being
the live the lives they value

26. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJzHY9LN7F8
We’re been talking about
how I can help him improve
his CV and a lot about
interviews. At the start there
was a lot about this but as
the conversations moved on
it was more about what
should I say at interview,
what’s the industry like,
what sort of job roles should
I pin point, life experience in
general. You know I’ve been
working afew years now and
I’ve got experience to tell
him …you should really avoid
this sort of thing but if you
enjoy this sort of thing go for
it and do your best.
MENTOR
CVs and interviews
but about life
experiences in general
Insight into the
industry
Tailored advice, what
he should avoid and
what to go for

27. I was in placement in another
country so I still didn't have UK
experience. I was in Malaysia
with a UK contractor but it was
still a lot different to what it
would have been with a UK
contractor. He offered to help me
in a variety of different ways
including course work with the
University but we chose to focus
on employability and applying
for jobs, helping me with my CV
and he was open most of the
time so I could speak to him
whenever I wanted to . It was
good for me as I always had
someone to speak to about
subjects quite formal but he gave
me the opportunity to speak
quite informally so it was very
comfortable for me.
MENTEE
He was open to me so
I could speak to him
whenever I wanted to.
He gave me the
opportunity to speak
quite informally.
He helped me make
decisions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpBL6IO54RY

29. WorkInsight (website)
http://www.workinsight.info
Improving Student Employability Through
E-Mentoring (HEA title)
E-mentoring for Employability

30. Dr Andrea Wheeler
Teaching and Learning Co-ordinator (Projects),
The Centre for Engineering & Design Education
a.s.wheeler@lboro.ac.uk

32. Dr Andrea Wheeler, Dr Paul Rowley, Martin Hamilton
An Innovative Knowledge Platform for Business and Community Engagement
A co-developed service model for online continuing professional development
in the energy sector
A CROSS-INSTITUTIONAL LEARNING
FRAMEWORK FOR ENERGY CPD:
MEGS-KT

33. CONTEXT
Midlands Graduate Energy School

34. The Problem
How to develop a relevant, up-to-date
desirable platform for “CFD”
opportunities, opening up University
resources and allowing SMEs to share
their knowledge.

35. Questionnaires and Interviews SMEs
• 10 paper filled questionnaire
• 18 online surveys
• 16 transcribed interviews
• 1 work shadow day (excellent data but too time
consuming)
• 3 planned “co-design” workshops

36. Building the MEGS-KT community of practice – the Jisc, the
fellows (the catalytic individuals) and SMEs team
Fellows Lecture Series
17/10/2012 Robin Nicholson, Edward Cullinan Architects
24/10/2012 Russell Smith, Parity Projects
14/11/2012 Terry McGivern, The Institute for Sustainability and the Flash
Programme
05/12/2012 John Davis, Domestic Green Deal Assessor
16/01/2012 Carl Benfield, Prescient Power
30/01/2012 Keyur Vadodaria, Researcher, CALEBRE project
20/02/2012 Rich Cartwright, RDC Energy , Jonathan Gilbert, The Rapid
technology Transfer Group, and Tracy Thomas
To ensure the sustainability of the project CEDE has agreed to fund the continued
development of the community and engagement with the demonstrator / website
through monthly evening lectures.

41. Catalytic Individuals and Our Social
Media Fellow Tracy Thomas

42. LinkedIn Community (50+ additional
members in the East Midlands)

43. Twitter Group 920 Followers

44. Barriers and limitations to this sort of
primary research
• Hard to engage SMEs
• SMEs don’t know what their knowledge needs
are (they don’t know what they don’t know)
• Professional bodies/networks limiting access
to SMEs by “outsiders” (difficult to send out
questionnaire via professional bodies)
• Concerns about sharing commercial
information from SMEs – “I prefer not to say”

45. The Community Views
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx602KnO
iFM

46. http://www.greenenergyheroes.org