1. Tensions, vulnerabilities, and trust in staff-student relationships – integrating academic practice
Dr Kay Guccione
Mentoring & Coaching Consultant

2. ++ my role in RARA Educational mentoring design for PhD students
researcher & academic development
++ my role in RARA
Educational
mentoring
design for PhD students
Work with stuck students and stuck supervisors
Mapping the tensions in staff-student relationships

3. ++ synergy
How do we integrate development for academic staff that serves them as both tutors, and
supervisors?
Academic staff
are time-poor

4. people need conversation skills ++ on tutoring BME/ lower SEC groups
transitions are hard
talking helps
people need conversation skills
++ on tutoring BME/ lower SEC groups
BME students display a lack of awareness of, and sense of entitlement to, additional support, and struggle to learn the rules of the HE game (Stuart et al, 2011)
2. Staff are ’agents of change’ and are central to addressing gaps in progression, attainment and to fostering feelings of belonging (HEFCE, 2015)
3. Successful PT is supported by HEIs providing support for shaping pedagogical relations profoundly shaped by inequalities of gender, race and class (Burke et al., 2013).
4. To impact BME students, staff must be empowered to develop relationships, built on sharing of power/responsibility
(Stevenson, 2012).
Quality relationships are central to alleviating the attainment gap (Cousin & Coureton, 2012).

5. ++ tutor says…
“I think the single most important thing is that you develop a relationship where they feel able to come and see you if they have any problems. So, although, classically, you're not the expert counsellor, you are a first port of call and you should develop a good enough rapport with them for them to feel comfortable.

6. ++ tutor says…
“I think the single most important thing is that you develop a relationship where they feel able to come and see you if they have any problems. So, although, classically, you're not the expert counsellor, you are a first port of call and you should develop a good enough rapport with them for them to feel comfortable.
HOW?

7. ++ tutee worries/insecurities
“So I know I was very proactive in trying to get in contact with my personal tutor but it just always seemed like he was an academic, he was too smart to help an undergraduate student.”
"You can't really go to them, because they, for example for me if I was going to go after first year, he's seen my face only once, he doesn’t know barely how I look. He's got, you know he doesn’t know anything about me."

8. worries/insecurities
++ doctoral student
worries/insecurities
“I’m terrified of being asked how it’s going – I have no idea how it works, I’m lost and it’s scary, so I avoid contact.”
Unspoken rules
Role boundaries blurry
Unclear end goals
Self & study management

9. ++ doctoral supervisor worries/insecurities
“I’ve tried hands on, I’ve tried hands off, I just don’t know what they need, and they’ve stopped responding to s.”
Chase/quarry effect
I do what works for me
Silence is golden
I don’t know either!

10. people need conversation skills
transitions are hard
talking helps
people need conversation skills
++ insecurities = vulnerabilities
Trust as a
workplace
phenomenon can be defined as 'willingness to accept uncertainly and make oneself vulnerable in the face of insecurity'
(Hope-Hailey et al., 2012)

11. ++ where does trust come from?
Through which behaviours is trust built between staff and students, how is it eroded, how is it broken?

12. ++ trust building and breaking
Does this ring true for you, and your (undergraduate) students?
++ trust building and breaking
An ‘ongoing process over time’ – over each conversation
It’s slow to build and quick to destroy
It can be built or eroded in and between formal tutoring meetings
You have to demonstrate you’re trustworthy, not just say you are
Giving trust garners trust – expert in your own life and study
Giving trust garners trust – ‘ask don’t tell’ [checking/snooping/social media]
Feedback practices matter greatly
Valuing each other as a person
Fairness, openness, reliability, follow through
Disclosure, sharing, empathy, being in it together ± success
Confidentiality and role boundaries vs ‘calling witness’ or gossiping

13. ++ what development could support busy academics in both roles?
Coaching:
Learner-centered
Boundary setting
Alignment/alliance
Listening
Empathy
Student is the expert in their own life
Building problem solving skills
Trust Awareness:
Who do they trust?
What are the types of trust?
Who tends to trust whom?
How do we show we are trustworthy?
Is trust assumed?

14. ++ but how do you actually
build trust?
How did you come to
trust them?
Are their caveats to the trust?
How do you know they trust you?
think of a colleague you trust…
completion
literature
heavy on student demographics: M/F, FT/PT, nationality, discipline, age, work experience etc
external impact
factors
(Latona &
Browne, 2001)

15. makes the reasons for their actions/decisions/opinions clear
Dietz & Den Hartog (2006).
PREDICTABILITY e.g.
makes the reasons for their actions/decisions/opinions clear
gives consistent messages about their progress, role, and boundaries
INTEGRITY e.g.
doesn’t cross boundaries, stays true to role
demonstrates honesty by admitting their mistakes
gives credit where it’s due
BENEVOLENCE e.g.
engages in an open way and takes steps to ensure inclusion
demonstrates empathy, kindness, gratitude, collegiality
COMPETENCE e.g.
is well qualified in their research field
demonstrates the skills needed to succeed in academia

16. ++ tutee worries/insecurities
“So I know I was very proactive in trying to get in contact with my personal tutor but it just always seemed like he was an academic, he was too smart to help an undergraduate student.”
"You can't really go to them, because they, for example for me if I was going to go after first year, he's seen my face only once, he doesn’t know barely how I look. He's got, you know he doesn’t know anything about me."

17. Raising Awareness
Raising Aspiration
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