Women's group mentoring programs: Chit chat or effective professional development?

Mentoring is widely recognised in the literature as a valuable professional development strategy. However, in today’s higher education context there is a tension between the ideals and values of mentoring and the demands of the ‘corporate’ university for quantifiable outcomes. On-going evaluation of the Women’s Group Mentoring Program at the University of Canberra suggests that this program has successfully negotiated these tensions to dispel the initial perceptions of many workplace supervisors that the program was ‘just a women’s chit chat session’. This presentation will outline the background to the program’s development, describe the program components and examine the benefits identified by participants, their workplace supervisors and program facilitators. These benefits include the formation of both formal and informal university-wide networks for participants which remain functional beyond the end of the Program, a sense of increased connectedness and commitment to the University, skill and knowledge acquisition and career progression, increased self-confidence and the dismantling of myths about academic and general staff roles and responsibilities. The presentation will then draw from this discussion factors that affect the success of such a program and conclude with the implications for others wishing to enhance the career development and leadership potential of women in other higher education contexts.