Within the professional circle of educational research, there are many people who I want to be in a few years, but how do I approach a potential mentorship?
The best way is to enhance the linkage between academia and RnD department of leading companies of any sectors. The fruitful research by the combination of academia and industry mentors will be helpful for the future researchers to find out the indistry specilaists for their purpose.
Though it may not be suitable in your context,my strategy is to connect with PhD candidates in that field.I get to learn along side with them even though they have not defended their thesis.
Pippa, this could pose a dilemma for many an early career aspirant. You may wish to identify the specific area you wish to engage within a mentoring relationship and try and identify a number of networks that have linkages with your specific area(s) of interest. You may then wish to contact those networks and individuals within them to seek for assistance. Good luck.