Equitable mentoring matters: Supporting global majority executive leaders

GILLIAN KEIGHTLEY, QIAN LIU, CALUM DAVEY AND KAMAL BODHANKER, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TEACHING, UK Introduction  This article focuses on the difference that mentoring makes in the career journeys of global majority multi-academy trust (MAT) leaders. However, it is important to note that mentoring can be an effective tool for supporting all professionals. Mentors are experienced and trusted advisors who share their knowledge and wisdom, and are different from professional coaches. The positive role of mentoring for leadership development is supported by adult learning theories that emphasise learning social roles through observation and modelling (Bertrand et al., 2018). Indeed, Bertrand et al. (2018) drew on the social learning theory of Albert Bandura (1977), who asserted that behaviour is learned through observation. This explains how people learn through observation, modelling and imitating the behaviours of others, which can be part of the mentoring process. A growing body of