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08.23.2022 | SSP News & Releases

What are the benefits of SSP Mentorship?

The SSP Mentorship program connects professionals at all career levels and provides both mentors and mentees opportunities to develop new relationships, share experiences, and learn from others outside their organizations. It enables established professionals to serve as mentors as a way of giving back to the industry and paying forward the support and guidance they received during the development of their careers.

Mentorship is a proven approach to advancing in one’s career, particularly for those new in their field or place of employment. Mentorship goes beyond training and education by helping newcomers navigate through the sometimes confusing or complex situations they can face. Mentors and mentees can be of any age or career stage. 

Mentors benefit by giving back to the field, enjoying the satisfaction and impact of sharing their knowledge and experience, expanding their networks, and learning new things from their mentee, to name a few. Mentees benefit from new perspectives on their work, expanding their networks, gaining a sounding board for ideas and projects, and increasing their sense of self-worth. Participants in mentoring programs also report increased chances of promotion and increased job satisfaction.

Mentoring Benefits

The benefits of mentoring go way beyond the mentee’s personal development, positively affecting the mentors themselves, as well as the organizations they work for. From supporting inclusion through exposure to new perspectives to an increased sense of self-confidence and awareness, the benefits are expansive.

Mentorship can help scholarly publishing professionals identify potential career paths by expanding their knowledge of career options within the industry and providing learning experiences outside of their workplaces. It can help shape the future leaders of scholarly communications through the expansion of their professional competencies and, therefore, cultivate a diverse and high-quality pool of candidates in the workforce in the process. Mentorship is a critical component of attracting a more diverse workforce by providing opportunities for professionals new to the industry to learn about the culture of scholarly communications, make new contacts, and feel welcome in our community.

Benefits for Mentors:

  • Leadership skill development
  • Art of delivering feedback
  • Art of asking questions
  • Becoming a good listener
  • Growing a personal network
  • Supporting another person
  • Paying it forward
  • Learning from someone else

Benefits for Mentees:

  • Develop strong communication skills
  • Growing a personal network within the business
  • Learn to self-reflect
  • Improve goal-setting
  • Learn from other’s experiences
  • Learn to ask good questions
  • Being supported by someone
  • Being advocated for

How It Works

The next cohort will run from October 2022 through March 2023, and we are accepting applications for mentees and mentors now through September 1.

SSP is deeply committed to fostering a community that supports and benefits from the talents of scholarly publishers from a wide range of backgrounds. We believe that diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility must be centered in our community, and we strongly encourage people from traditionally marginalized groups to apply to be a mentor or mentee.

There is no cost to apply, but participants (both mentors and mentees) must be SSP members. More information about program details, eligibility requirements, and how to apply is available on our Mentorship page.

We want to thank our program sponsors, American Geophysical Union and ITHAKA. Organizations interested in sponsorship opportunities should contact Christina DeRose at partnerships@sspnet.org

The Mentorship Program is made possible by the Generations Fund. Generous donations from members and industry endow the Generations Fund to allow SSP the resources, in perpetuity, to continue this program. Click here to learn more or make a gift to help us reach our $500,000 goal.

Visit SSP’s Mentorship page for more information about program details, eligibility requirements, and how to apply.

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