In the Digital Humanities (DH), career issues arise that are not necessarily relevant in other disciplines and are therefore not covered by traditional mentoring opportunities.
Digital Humanities scholars are often situated both in a discipline and in the Digital Humanities. On the one hand, this opens up career paths outside of the traditional academic fields of work; on the other hand, this interface function poses special challenges to one’s own professional profile. Depending on the individual context, there are specific requirements for consulting services with regard to dealing with digital methods and career opportunities.
This is precisely where the DHd’s mentoring program comes in and aims to support early career scholars both in application-related issues and in the development of individual career strategies. To this end, a two-part program has been developed, consisting of individual formal mentoring on the one hand and low-threshold peer-to-peer mentoring on the other. These formats are also flanked by a supporting program integrated into the DHd Association’s annual conference.
In individual mentoring, each mentor accompanies their mentee for a period of 12 months. The content and goals of the mentoring depend on the individual needs of the mentee and are defined in a goal agreement with the mentor at the beginning of the cooperation.
For peer-to-peer mentoring, the DHd association provides a Mattermost server. This allows mentees to network with each other, share their own experiences and form working groups on various tools or methods.
Im Rahmen der Jahrestagung lernen sich Mentor:innen, Mentees und Ehemalige im Rahmen eines “Meet and Greet” kennen. Mit einem “Ask an Expert”-Format During the annual conference, mentors, mentees and alumni will get to know each other at a „Meet and Greet“. With an „Ask an Expert“ format, newer community members are made aware of the mentoring program and encouraged to actively participate by asking their questions.
The program is particularly aimed at PhD students, but is also open to advanced Master’s students and PostDocs, as well as scholars who do not have an institutional opportunity to participate in appropriate mentoring programs. It is also open to Humanities researchers using digital methods who have not yet been connected to the German-speaking (and international) DH community.
However, we may reject applications when we cannot find a proper match, as this does not usually lead to a beneficial mentoring relationship. This can sometimes happen, for example, when the connection to the DH community is too weak and the mentee’s coaching questions are too vague to make a useful match.
This mentoring program was piloted in 2023-2024. We would be very happy to receive any feedback on how to improve the program
Die Mentoringbeziehung ist um die alljährlichen DHd-Tagungen herum organisiert. Bei der Tagung können persönliche Treffen zwischen den Mentees untereinander und mit den Mentor:innen stattfinden. Sie wird mit dem Ende des Mentoringjahres offiziell beendet. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt werden auch die Zertifikate vergeben. Tagungsteilnahme sowohl von Seiten der Mentor:innen als auch der Mentees ist wünschenswert, aber natürlich keine zwingende Voraussetzung: wer nicht die Möglichkeit hat, an der das Programm flankierenden DHd-Tagung teilzunehmen, ist dadurch nicht vom Mentoringprogramm ausgeschlossen. Mentees und Mentor:innen werden darum gebeten, Feedback zum Programm an die Organisator:innen zu übermitteln. Sie bleiben Teil des Mentoring-Alumni:ae-Netzwerks. Es steht ihnen offen, die Mentoringbeziehung gegebenenfalls auf informeller Basis fortzuführen.
In the weeks following the successful application, mentors are sought for the future mentees. Once contact has been established, the mentor and mentee mutually agree on the goals of the mentoring with the help of a goal agreement document. The relationship between mentee and mentor lasts 12 months and consists of at least 4 (online) coaching meetings (recommended duration of 1h each). Further collaborations between meetings and beyond the duration of the official mentoring relationship are optional.
Both parties bear equal responsibility for a positive mentoring relationship. Mentees are responsible for notifying any need for discussion as well as keeping a rough record of the meetings and sending a brief protocol to the mentors with recommended steps to be taken and a proposal for the next meeting (including goal/mentoring question). Both parties involved make every effort to adhere to the agreed meeting dates, to cancel in good time if necessary, and to contact the project coordination in the event of questions, disagreements, or non-compliance with the agreement.
Effective mentoring consists of sharing individual experiences and tacit knowledge regarding the digital humanities and research community. Mentors can share not only their successes but also their experiences of failure and the associated solution strategies. Feedback in mentoring conversations should be constructive and future-oriented. It is based on mutual respect and support for the positive development of mentees. Information shared during conversations is confidential and will not be shared with people who were not present at the meetings.
Additionally, contact can be practiced through methods such as the following:
Deutsch: Mit dem Ausfüllen der Bewerbungsunterlagen geht die Zustimmung einher, dass wir diese Daten zur Organisation unseres DHd Mentoringprogramms verarbeiten dürfen. Für weitere Informationen dazu siehe das Dokument „Information on Data Processing and Declaration of Consent“. Alle Angaben sind freiwillig und dienen lediglich dem Organisationskomitee, um möglichst zielgerichtete Unterstützung geben zu können. Das Auslassen gewisser Angaben wird niemandem zum Nachteil angerechnet – die Angaben helfen uns lediglich dabei, besonders förderungswürdige Kandidat:innen zu erkennen. Bitte füllen Sie die Formulare aus, wie Sie sich damit wohlfühlen.
Zur Bewerbung senden Sie bitte das ausgefüllte Bewerbungsformular bis 30.4.2024 an mentoring@dig-hum.de .
Bitte nutzen Sie folgendes Zip-Archiv mit den Bewerbungsunterlagen (Infodokument „Was ist Mentoring?“, Bewerbungsformular, Ausschreibungstext sowie Data Consent Form): DHd Mentoring Bewerbungsunterlagen
Beachten Sie das Formular „Information on Data Processing and Declaration of Consent“ sowie das Infodokument “Was ist Mentoring?”.
Liebe Mitglieder des DHd-Verbandes und Interessierte, für unsere interdisziplinäre Community ist ein offener Austausch von großer Bedeutung. Während die jährliche
DHd 2025, „Under Construction. Geisteswissenschaften und Data Humanities“, Jahrestagung des Verbandes Digital Humanities im deutschsprachigen Raum, ausgerichtet von der Universität
In schnellen Schritten geht es auf die DHd2025 in Bielefeld zu. Daher möchten wir uns an dieser Stelle noch einmal