1.9 Use high-quality, equitable, and inclusive mentorship programs to promote technical jobs and the company as employer of choice among women and men
Content
Description of Best Practices
Create high quality mentorship[1] programs for female students of different age groups (e.g., for high school students to attract them to technical studies or for university students in the technical fields to promote the company as an attractive place to work)
Provide clear structure and dedicate sufficient resources including:
- Clear targets and quality standards for each mentorship program
- One person in charge of coordinating the program, promoting it at universities and schools, and acting as point of contact for students, faculty, and mentors
- Mentors who are trained to be aware of and eliminate gender and diversity bias in supervision and who create a positive environment for women and men with clear instructions on guiding mentees
- Constant evaluation integrating feedback and suggestions from students, faculties, schools, and company personnel
Ensure outreach and communication to administration and faculty uses inclusive and gender-equitable language and materials
Prioritize standardized selection and matching of mentors and mentees, integrating as many women from the company as possible, and providing a strong framework for mentors and mentees for orientation (e.g., mentoring topics and boundaries, expected frequency, and format of meetings)
Challenges of Implementation
Bad quality mentorship programs may have an adverse effect with unintended negative consequences
Selection and matching of the right mentor are critical for success
What Success Looks Like
Mentees show higher interest in working at the company and in the sector
Mentoring relationships are sustainable, which can be seen in numbers and frequency of contacts between mentors and mentees
Women from targeted educational institutions apply for mentoring opportunities in higher numbers
Increased number of women accepted for mentoring
Increased number of female job applicants from mentoring pool
Training for mentoring supervisors is expanded to include gender equality, diversity, and non-discriminatory practices
Mentoring candidates, women, and educational institutions report high satisfaction with the quality of mentoring and target achievement
Resources and Tools
Guide: How to Start a High-Impact Mentoring Program (Chronus)
Guide (incl. Evaluation Planning Worksheets & Sample Survey Questions): Evaluating a Mentoring Program (NCWIT)
Case Study: In North Macedonia, The Future Is Female: How A Power Utility is Opening Doors for Girls and Women (USAID)
[1] MENTORSHIP. Mentoring relationships are focused on the provision of emotional support and advice to help the protégé́ achieve greater subjective career outcomes e.g., improved job satisfaction. (Source: Workplace Gender Equality Agency Australian Government, Mentoring or Sponsorship?)