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48. “If you know, you know”: Creating lightbulb moments through reverse mentoring

  • Rachael O’Connor (author)
Chapter of: Stories of Hope: Reimagining Education(pp. 579–592)

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Metadata
Title48. “If you know, you know”
SubtitleCreating lightbulb moments through reverse mentoring
ContributorRachael O’Connor (author)
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11647/obp.0462.48
Landing pagehttps://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0462/chapters/10.11647/obp.0462.48
Licensehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
CopyrightRachael O’Connor;
PublisherOpen Book Publishers
Published on2025-07-02
Long abstractThis chapter examines how reverse mentoring can cultivate mutual hope among students and staff in Higher Education (HE) through humanising, authentic conversations that spark transformative “lightbulb moments” and inspire activist mentalities for institutional and cultural change. Drawing on existing HE hope literature and previous research on reverse mentoring, the chapter positions reverse mentoring as a vital beacon of hope in an increasingly disillusioned sector, highlighting it as both a site of agency and a new pathway for generating hope. While acknowledging criticisms—such as the perceived limitations of individualised conversations—the chapter argues that these interactions can catalyse broader cultural change by reshaping wider relationships beyond the mentoring dyad. It concludes with a call to action for more intentional efforts to foster lightbulb moments, expose HE communities to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) topics through lived experiences, and embed EDI goals firmly into everyone’s work.
Page rangepp. 579–592
Print length14 pages
LanguageEnglish (Original)
Contributors

Rachael O’Connor

(author)
Associate Professor in Legal Education, University Academic Lead for Personal Tutoring, and a Leeds Institute for Teaching Excellence Fellow at University of Leeds

Rachael O’Connor (she/her) is an Associate Professor in Legal Education, University Academic Lead for Personal Tutoring, and a Leeds Institute for Teaching Excellence Fellow at the University of Leeds. She comes from a working-class background and belongs to the first generation in her family to go to university. This contributes towards Rachael’s passion for improving experiences and opportunities (now and in the future) for under-represented students and amplifying voices of under-representation. The focus of Rachael’s research is developing authentic relationships through reverse mentoring both within Higher Education and beyond. She has won prizes internally and externally for this and has published papers on reverse mentoring. Rachael is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Michael Beverley Innovation Fellow. As a solicitor (non-practising), Rachael is also a trustee of legal mental health charity LawCare.

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