ABSTRACT

Mentoring has been pointed out as one of the strategies for early career academics (ECAs) preparation and support for smooth transition into academia. Although ECAs mentoring has been widely studied, and the findings have indeed been informative and illuminating, the issues facing ECAs have yet to be adequately addressed, particularly in Tanzania. Drawing from open-ended questionnaires, focus group discussions, and interviews, we examined the issues surrounding the mentoring of ECAs in selected Tanzanian universities. Academic exploitation, isolation, and lack of support from senior academics were among the key issues facing ECAs. The findings further revealed that regular mentorship training, peer support, and institutional policy framework as strategies in place to subdue the mentoring challenges. We argue for universities to have policy framework on professional development through ECAs mentoring to fill out the gap on pedagogical, research and public engagement deficits for ensuring capable next generation of academics.

摘要

指导已被指出是早期职业学者（ECA）准备和支持顺利过渡到学术界的策略之一。尽管对非洲经委会的指导进行了广泛的研究，而且其结论的确提供了很多信息和启发，但非洲经委会面临的问题尚未得到适当解决，特别是在坦桑尼亚。通过不限成员名额的问卷调查，焦点小组讨论和访谈，我们研究了在选定的坦桑尼亚大学中有关ECA指导的问题。ECA面临的主要问题是学术开发，孤立和缺乏高级学者的支持。调查结果进一步表明，定期的导师培训，同伴支持和体制政策框架是应对导师挑战的适当策略。