Early career dance academia: an investigation into the DanceHE Early Career Mentor Scheme

As a burgeoning academic field in the UK, dance is seeing an increase of emerging scholars entering the sector from different contexts. This article examines qualitative data from four early career dance academics from different UK institutions, all of whom took part in the DanceHE Early Career Mentor Scheme. DanceHE is the representative body for academics and practitioners in Higher Education departments teaching and researching Dance in the United Kingdom. For 14 months, each participant was matched with an experienced mentor from another institution, who could offer advice about a range of work-related issues. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with the four participants at the beginning and end of the mentorship, questioning them about their career and how the mentor scheme informed it. Taken together, the results provide an insight into the work that early career dance academics undertake, highlighting challenges affecting scholars in different institutions including roles and responsibilities, teaching, research, and time management. Furthermore, the article examines how the DanceHE Early Career Mentor Scheme supported the participants’ work and how cross-institutional mentorship can be developed in the future.