Providing practical and methodological guidance on how to design, develop, and evaluate academic mentoring, this book offers a compelling, practice-oriented perspective, supported by international evidence, on academic mentoring as a tool for innovation in higher education. It offers a timely, research-informed examination of mentoring as both a developmental practice and a strategic tool for institutional innovation and provides a comprehensive overview across the academic career span. It shows how high-quality mentoring supports doctoral candidates, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career faculty while strengthening the broader culture of higher education. In addition, it explores a wide range of mentoring models including one-to-one, group, peer, cross-disciplinary, and digital approaches and critically addresses challenges related to power dynamics, diversity, and structural barriers. Drawing on empirical studies, case examples, and international perspectives, the volume demonstrates how mentoring contributes to knowledge transfer, interdisciplinary collaboration, and organizational learning. Bridging theory and practice, this book offers academics, university leaders, and policymakers actionable strategies for designing mentoring systems that not only support individual career development but also enhance the innovative capacity of higher education institutions.
