Empowering the Faculty through Faculty Mentoring Needs Assessment of Junior Faculty at the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana

Abstract

This study investigated the mentoring assessment needs of faculties of the University of Education, Winneba, UEW; a public university in Ghana. The study was exploratory, and used survey, focus groups and semi-structured interviews in collecting data from 102 participants. The survey consisted of a 13-item 5-point agree-disagree Likert-type rating scale, which evaluated 12 behavioural characteristics of the mentor. Independent samples t-tests were conducted to compare the mentoring needs assessment scores for (i) males and females and (ii) for tenured and untenured faculties of the university. There was a significant difference in the scores for tenured and untenured faculties but not for male and female faculties. New faculty expressed a preference for selecting their own mentor. We recommended that mentoring of new faculty should be provided in UEW in an informal but more structured manner. We also recommended that faculty mentoring must be seen at all levels to be an important issue. Mentoring of new faculty is not only beneficial to the new faculty but also to their mentors and the university as a whole.

Keywords: Junior faculty, senior faculty, mentoring, needs assessment, feminist mentoring.