Leadership Foundation

Dr Peter McCaffrey

Pro Vice-Chancellor, London South Bank University

Wider Management Mentoring Programme for Women and Ethnic Minority Managers in particular- in partnership with the Public and Private Sector

London South Bank University is one of the most socially inclusive Universities in the UK. Our senior management team however, like many other Universities, is not nearly so representative. The Wider Management Mentoring Programme is one of a number of positive actions we are taking to address this under-representation.

The mentoring project aims inter alia to raise the profile of women and black and minority ethnic managers; to enable them to reflect on their leadership and management skills in a “safe environment”; to increase their personal and professional effectiveness and to prepare for higher levels of responsibility.

We have attracted and trained sixteen prospective mentees to date and are currently pairing them with external mentors we have recruited from public and private sector organisations as well as other Universities.

The programme not only shows the University “living its values” but is also a pilot to offer mentoring to all university staff: please see www.lsbu.ac.uk/wmentoring/

The Wider Mentoring Programme for Diversity is an excellent example of how we are seeking to put our University values – based on Inclusivity and Mutual Respect as well as those of Quality, Professionalism and Transparency – into practice at London South Bank. We are delighted that the Programme has recruited sixteen prospective mentees. We look forward to assessing the full impact of the programme next year.
Professor Deian Hopkin, Vice-Chancellor, London South Bank University