Give me a hand, and I will thrive: how personalised mentorship is helping Black students progression

Ajao, Oluwaseun ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6606-6569, Awolowo, Ifedapo Francis, Abidoye, Adenike, Dosumu, Oluwatoyin and Owolade, Femi (2023) Give me a hand, and I will thrive: how personalised mentorship is helping Black students progression. In: British Academy of Management Conference (BAM 2023), 04 September 2023 - 06 September 2023, University of Sussex. (In Press)

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Abstract

This paper examines personalised mentorship's disruptive role in enabling Black students' progression in the academy and industry. It focuses on the Accomplished Study Program in Research Excellence (ASPIRE), a unique intervention and an innovative approach designed to provide mentorship and well-being to Black and Black heritage students and improve their graduate outcomes and access to doctoral study. Drawing from the evaluation data of the first cohort of the programme and the broader literature on the attainment gap and underrepresentation of Black students in higher education, the paper examines the extent to which participation in ASPIRE leads to improved work-readiness of Black students to access doctoral level study and acquire jobs in the industry through personalised mentorship.