Abstract | This highlight article describes a small pilot study of a ‘reverse mentoring’ scheme in a UK university, involving five undergraduate Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) psychology students who mentored five senior leaders. Inverted commas are used to critique the term, and the associations with backward – rather than forward – direction of travel, which was explored further in our evaluation of the scheme. The article will show how students were enabled and supported in their mentor role by using the concept of being ‘equal thinking partners’ in the mentor-mentee relationship. This allowed vulnerability, trust, shared humanity, and self-compassion to enter into the mentoring space. The article presents early findings of the evaluation as work in progress, and critical reflection on the processes of ‘reverse mentoring’. It concludes with recommendations on how the concept of students as equal thinking partners can be developed further in pedagogical partnerships. |
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