The North American British Music Studies Association

The North American British Music Studies Association

Mentorship Program

NABMSA Mentorship Program: Introduction and Guidelines

 

Introduction to the program

The NABMSA Mentorship Program connects graduate students (at both Masters and
PhD levels) and early career academics with established musicologists working in
the field of British music.

It aims to:

 

Timeframe and support expectations

The Mentorship Program runs from January to July every academic year. A call for
the Program will be made in the preceding fall. Mentors and mentees will then be
paired, and contact details circulated to each pair in January.
Mentoring pairs will typically work together via email exchange during the
January–July period. Where appropriate, this could be supplemented with one or two
mentoring sessions held online. The level of email support and the need for
meetings will vary, depending on each individual case. Mentees are asked to
remember that mentors are extremely busy people, often engaged in demanding
research, teaching and scholarship of their own.

 

The role of the mentor

The main role of the mentor is to provide academic support, advice and guidance in
relation to all areas of professional and career development. The mentoring sessions
will be informal and supportive.
As a mentor, you will not take the place of or compete in any way with your mentee’s
dissertation supervisor; or, if you are mentoring an early career scholar, their own
institution’s academic mentor. You are there to offer a helpful, complementary
perspective.
You will work with your mentee on a variety of academic-related matters. This may
include, for instance:

As a mentor, you will more than likely find the conversations with your mentee great
opportunities for self-reflection. You may also consider sharing your own research-in-
progress with your mentee as a means of eliciting valuable peer-review feedback.
Of course, you must take the role of mentor seriously. Failure to commit to it fully
may result in the termination of the mentor-mentee relationship.

 

The role of the mentee

The Program will offer you an opportunity to gain valuable information, advice and
insights into a career as an academic. You will discuss your research and
professional development materials with your mentor and get feedback on your work
from them. The sessions will help you to build networks, and develop confidence in
your career choices with the support of a professional already working in the field.
The guidance of a mentor can help you achieve better levels of
professional success, and can offer an essential means of support and inspiration at
various points in your individual career progression.

The mentee is expected to represent themselves professionally and respect their
mentor’s time and energy. Repeated offenses, such as failure to communicate or
appear for meetings, are grounds for the dissolution of the mentor-mentee
relationship.

 

The role of the Membership Committee

The Membership Committee is responsible for the administration of the Program.
The main responsibilities include pairing mentors with mentees and providing check-
ins with both mentors and mentees in March and May, principally to ensure that
everything is progressing well and that both parties are observing the expectations
outlined above. An end-of-mentorship survey will be circulated in July. Mentees and
mentors are welcome to contact the Committee at any time if they have a question or
concern.

 

How to apply

If you are interested in being either a mentor or a mentee, then please send an email
to nabmsa.membership@gmail.com no later than Wednesday 8, January 2025
clearly stating your area of research and any other information you think might be
relevant or useful for the pairing process.