We tend to think of mentorship as a "one-way street" where mentors share their experiences and guide the younger generation to become game-changing young professionals themselves. However, mentoring can be meaningful for the mentor too!
Meaningful mentoring
Engineers and technologists build and create. We find and design solutions to local and global challenges through scientific and technological means. In the same vein, the book “Making Mentoring Happen” authored by Kathy Lacey shares the analogy of how “mentoring is like constructing footbridges. The mentor is the engineer, designing and constructing different bridges as people and conditions change”.
A Two-Way Street
Like any other mentorships, it requires two people to put in the time, commitment, and effort to share study and career journeys, learnings, industry insights, and career development opportunities.
Our mentors are at different points in their careers, from graduates to C-suite executives who want to give back to the next generation and draw on their experience to help map out a blueprint for their mentees. This is where the Lucy Mentoring programme bridges the gap!
What does mentorship brings to the mentor?
- Mentors gain valuable insights into the next generation of industry professionals' aspirations, which in the long run contributes to gender equity in the engineering and technology workforce.
- Mentors also report an increased sense of purpose from relaying their experience and advice to mentees.
- Building leadership skills, techniques, and tools for effective mentoring.
Meaningful impact
The 2019 Federal Government's Women in STEM Decadal Plan identified a series of barriers to women's participation in STEM from school years into careers and senior leadership. In university stages, stereotypes and lack of role models are two obstacles that also extend into early career stages. Connecting students with industry professionals contributes to addressing these barriers with direct access to reachable and visible role models. This helps to break pervasive stereotypes of what engineering and technology professionals do, and who should and can be in the sector.
The Lucy Mentoring program has made a tremendous impact since launching in 2010: growth in participation has been exponential over the past few years. From 12 mentoring pairs in 2010, the program has welcomed over 100 women students in 2020 and 2021.
The impact evaluation of Lucy Mentoring 2020 shows that mentees' study/career motivations, career confidence and networks skyrocket once a mentee connects with career pathways and the possibilities in the industry. Mentees are much more likely to pursue a career in engineering or technology.
Success Story: The Story of Peter Bourbon and Radhika Keshava
In 2018 Peter Bourbon, Head of Transformation (ANZ) at Nokia, was paired with Radhika Keshava, a second-year undergraduate engineering student, due to their shared interest in Data and Cybersecurity. Peter was the gateway in introducing Radhika to the world of engineering and data. They kept in touch even after the Lucy programme ended for that year.
One of Radhika's goals was to stand out from the rest of the talent pool. Peter assisted her by rehearsing her elevator pitch and identifying her strengths. They kept practising the elevator pitch until Radhika felt confident in introducing herself to prospective employers.
Radhika is now in the last year of her engineering degree and still in contact with Peter. They shared their mentoring journey during the launch of the 2021 Lucy Mentoring program, where Radhika has joined the programme for a second time!
Constructing Footbridges: The Story of Lansiya Saymontry and Daniele Ienk
Lansiya works with Nestlé IT Transformation and took Masters student Daniele Ienk under her wing to help boost her confidence. The first challenge Lansiya gave to Daniele was to present on robotics and automation to the Women in Tech community at Nestlé.
At first glance, it looks like Lansiya was asking Daniele to dive off the footbridge completely out of her comfort zone, but Lansiya made sure that the bridge was sturdy and with 'handrails' to help guide Daniele through this deep dive to boost her confidence. Daniele immediately accepted the challenge and took on the task, and the talk and event were a big success!
Lansiya also combined her mentoring journey with Daniele with the 2-day 'Tech Superheroes for Sustainability’ STEM Design Challenge, a collaboration between Nestle, UTS Women in Engineering and IT, and the Tech Girls Movement Foundation. This event brought Nestle employees, their families, and daughters together to engage with STEM – and leading the organisation of and participating in this collaborative event reignited Lanyisa's passion for working with kids.
Daniele presenting during the Lucy Mentoring Program launch, March 2021
The mentorship between the two women continued after the program. Daniele was more confident, inspired to work in the sector, improved her communication skills and had more exposure to different tech roles in the industry, and she was recently hired for the Nestlé graduate program in the Technical & Production area.
Lansiya felt like she was giving back to the community, improved her leadership skills, and gained more insight into connecting with the next generation of tech professionals.
Back to the bridge analogy: by poetic coincidence, Daniele and Lansiya had a new opportunity to meet in person earlier this year. They captured this moment in front of one of the most iconic bridges of them all, the Sydney Harbour Bridge. In essence, symbolising a longstanding mentorship connection between them.
A longstanding Bridge
Although taking the first steps into the industry can be daunting the Lucy Mentoring program - in addition to the career connections and confidence, it also guarantees you one more thing: a bridge that you constructed with your mentor is longstanding and will help you design your own study and career journey, all you have to do is cross it!