Mentorships at Red Hat
Red Hat mentorships pair university student researchers with one or more Red Hat engineers in an open research project. These collaborative relationships help students:
- Navigate open source projects and communities
- Make connections between theoretical and practical learning
- Contribute meaningfully to real-world problem solving
Mentors provide technical expertise, but they also help students develop career skills, from setting an achievable scope and timeline to working as part of a team and incorporating feedback. First and foremost, the mentoring relationship is focused on helping students successfully reach goals they set for themselves. And through that relationship, both student and mentor extend their professional networks, expand their knowledge base, and participate in building the next generation of open source technologies.
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Learn more about mentorship in practice
How do we mentor the next generation of IT leaders?
Research Director Hugh Brock and other Red Hatters consider what makes a good mentoring relationship—for both mentors and mentees.
“The core duty of mentors is to create that safe environment for mentees to ask questions that they wouldn’t necessarily ask their managers. [It’s] an opportunity to … get support from someone who [isn’t] analyzing you, grading you, or directly responsible for your performance.”
—Oindrilla Chatterjee, Red Hat Data Scientist, mentor, and mentee
“When one teaches, two learn”: making the most of technical research mentorship
Red Hat mentors from the Czech Republic, Israel, and the US discuss the challenges, rewards, and strategies of serving as a mentor.
“I’ve been surprised at students’ creativity and resourcefulness. Sometimes they come up with solutions I hadn’t considered that ended up being much better than my approach would have been.”
—Viktor Malik, Red Hat Software Engineer and mentor
Encouraging mentees to thrive: how to be a good mentor
A Red Hat engineer explains how to provide effective feedback and communicate with empathy.
“An internship program can absolutely be an opportunity to strengthen company culture that empowers diverse voices. Mentors can emphasize a company’s commitment to diversity on an individual level.”
—John Baublitz, Red Hat Senior Software Engineer, mentee, and mentor
Why serve as a mentor?
Red Hat engineers mentor students for a lot of reasons: for learning about new research, for creating new connections, and for the satisfaction of helping someone else succeed.
“I like staying in touch with new ideas, and that often means straying off the beaten path. Mentorship allows me to see what’s happening in different disciplines.”
—Marek Grác, Senior Software Engineer