Mentorship and supervision in Ugandan higher education institutions universities: challenges and prospects

Abstract

The paper examined the current status of Mentorship and Supervision in Ugandan higher education institutions and universities and considered the ideal model of Mentorship and Supervision for a typical higher education institution and university. The paper then depicted the importance of Mentorship as one way of fostering effective and efficient service delivery at higher education institutions and universities. The ideal higher education institution or university should facilitate personal and professional development enabling individuals and groups to achieve their full potential. Mentoring is a dynamic way of facilitating such development. The higher education institution or university formally requires all its faculties to make arrangements for the mentoring of its newly appointed staff and newly admitted students. Mentoring at a higher education institution or university entails long time passing on of support, guidance and advice. The underlying factor in mentoring in the work place is that the more experienced colleague uses their greater knowledge and understanding of the work or workplace to support the development of a more junior or inexperienced member of staff. The Mentoring and Supervision discussed in this paper has been considered through the three strands of the mandate of the higher education institution which are: teaching, research and community service. Data concerning Mentorship and Supervision was obtained from a meta- analysis of documents such as reports, journals, articles and books concerning Mentorship in the Ugandan higher education institutions and universities. The overall mean score for the influence was 2.5 which indicates a low influence of mentorship and supervision on the career. The paper underscored the status of Mentorship and Supervision at the Ugandan higher education institutions and universities as low. Lastly, pointed out the challenges faced in mentoring staff and students and charted the way forward in the mentoring process at Ugandan higher education institutions and universities. Therefore, the study recommends that supervisors-supervisees relationships be improved to achieve higher graduate study completion rates.