Graduate Student and Alumni Mentorship Program Goals
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Develop relationships between engineering professionals and women-identifying engineering students
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Create a sense of community for women-identifying engineering students
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Provide support to female engineering students and facilitate professional growth
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Contribute to the development of important soft skills
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Bridge the gap between university and industry by sharing experiences
The focus of the Women in Engineering’s Mentorship Program is to create a network between Waterloo female engineering students and Waterloo Engineering Alumni. This network and relationship will assist in fostering resources and support for graduate students to get prepared for their professional adventure in the industry.
Graduate Student and Alumni Mentorship Program Outcomes
Establishing a relationship – we hope to establish a lasting relationship between the Mentor and Mentee during this program. Hopefully, the mentor/mentee relationship extends past the time of the program, offering a lasting network of female engineers to call on. This program will also hopefully grow the relationship between Waterloo and their Alumni, and the participants would either return as mentors again and/or graduated mentees would return as mentors and recontribute to the program.
Professional Growth – in conjunction with the Co-Ops office’s pre-established professional development strategies. We hope to engage participants in conversation and activities that spur professional growth to aid in establishing a successful and healthy future career. We hope to cover best work practices, healthy work-life balance, continuing education while working, and tackling issues that can occur in the workplace
Bridge gap between University and Industry - there seems to be a jump from being a student into a full-time professional and a distance between University and Industry. We want to bridge this gap in a way that’s different than a co-op experience. We want to help tie alumni and employers to our school and keep current students as mentors as they go into their careers.
Fostering a community – We hope that this program will create a network of engineers to create a community connection to offer support to Waterloo’s Women Engineering as students continue to transition from student to professional.
Mentees, remember that your mentor is here to offer support and guidance, not give you a job!