May marked the halfway point of the first Avantor Foundation Student to Stemette (STS) programme of 2022. Over the past two months, 8 pairs of mentors and mentees have met fortnightly for one-to-one sessions.
The programme was open to young women and non-binary people, primarily targeting Irish Stemettes. Mentoring aims to increase their confidence and employability skills in key areas of Science Education and Healthcare.
How is the programme going so far?
Mentees rated their experience 8.3 out of 10 and rated their mentorship pairings 8.5 out of 10.
Mentors felt that they had already gained active listening and communication skills through the programme, as well as inspiration and a sense of fulfilment.
“Over the past few weeks we have gotten to know one another, spoke about building my confidence while presenting and created my own presentation to overcome my fear.” – STS Programme Mentee
Are mentees achieving their goals?
At the start of the programme, mentees work with their mentors to set out a list of goals they want to achieve through the mentorship. These goals ranged from improving soft skills to building professional documentation.
At the midway point, mentees have achieved 52% of their goals!
The programme has also offered unexpected benefits, including:
- expanding mentee horizons
- building a relationship with their mentor
- gaining insight into future careers
- improving mentorship skills
Thank you to the Avantor Foundation for partnering on this programme and to all the mentors and mentees taking part.
Click here to learn more about our Irish programmes.
