Seeing behind the curtain: Reverse Mentoring within the Higher Education landscape

Abstract

The following article presents the findings of a Reverse Mentoring evaluation project conducted at a modern university in northwest England, which has a high proportion of students from non-traditional educational backgrounds. Using a reverse mentoring framework, the traditional mentor–mentee relationship was flipped with students serving as senior partners and their tutors as junior partners. The purpose of this study was to investigate how staff–student relations could be strengthened by gaining a better understanding of one another’s perspectives. The concept of institutional habitus provided a theoretical framework within which to examine disparities in mentor–mentee cultural understanding. Using a mixed approach to data collection, composite narratives were constructed. They revealed subtle cultural mismatches between the positions of mentor and mentee. The study speculates that by gaining a better understanding and appreciation of students’ habitus, more inclusive teaching practises can be developed to ensure the inclusion of all students.