Launch: ENGAGE Reverse Mentoring Programme (Pilot)

27 Jun 2024

Empowering New Generations, Advancing Gender Equality (ENGAGE) through Reverse Mentoring in Higher Education Programme

We are seeking women mentors to participate in the pilot ENGAGE Reverse Mentoring Programme. The scheme is funded by the HEA Gender Equality Enhancement Fund, to advance gender equality initiatives in Irish higher education.

Who can apply to be a mentor?

We are looking for women employed by the university who meet one of the following criteria:

• Professional / Administrative Services staff, including but not limited to the following grades (or equivalent):
• Executive Assistant, Senior Executive Assistant, Library Assistants, Senior Library Assistants, Admin V (Grade 5), Technical Officers, Clinical Support Staff.
• Research Staff
• Research Assistant
• Research Support Officer
• Post-Doctoral Researcher
• Senior post-doctoral researcher
• College lecturer A/B and B/B
• Academic staff

Why engage – what are the benefits to becoming a mentor in reverse mentoring?

• Learn and exercise leadership skills.
• Enhance your role, your team and/or institution. 
• Mutual learning and knowledge sharing between mentor and mentee.

What is Reverse mentoring?

Reverse mentoring has operated in organisations where colleagues have expertise in various areas, and they are open to sharing that knowledge with their more senior colleagues. It is popular in corporate and academic settings. Well-known organisations who have implemented reverse mentoring include General Motors, Unilever, Deloitte, Procter & Gamble, and the Wharton School of Business at University of Pennsylvania.

Why Reverse mentoring?

Flipping the traditional power dynamics, the ENGAGE scheme pairs women academic, research, and professional / administrative staff as mentors to senior leaders in HEIs, as mentees, to explore and contest the gendered barriers faced by women colleagues in higher education. This innovative project is an original gender equality initiative in Irish HEIs.

How does it work?

The role of the mentor is to organise the mentoring sessions, prepare topics of conversation for each meeting, be open-minded to dialogue, discussion, mutual understanding and learning about their mentee.

This initiative will implement a reverse mentoring initiative across four Higher Education Institutions in Ireland: University College Cork (UCC), University of Galway (UG), Munster Technological University (MTU) and University of Limerick (UL).

What’s involved in becoming a mentor?

The programme runs from August 2024 to January 2025.

Prior to commencing this programme mentors and mentees will be invited to attend tailored training in person on 3^rd September on creating conversations based on sharing viewpoints and experiences. Additional online training will take place on 8^th November.

• September 3^rd from 9:30 to 12:30 – Training in person to guide you in your mentoring role.
• November 8^th from 11:00 to 12:00 – Training online.
• 4 reverse mentoring sessions with your mentee – 60-90 minutes each as determined by participants.

How to apply?

Please complete the confidential expression of interest form linked here.

Applications close on Monday 15^th July.

What happens next?

• Decisions about participant selection are based on:
• Your availability to attend all training sessions (3^rd September and 8^th November).
• Your anonymised personal statement, which includes:
• Clarity of themes or topics for discussion with your mentee.
• Value added for your team, unit and the institution more broadly.
• Availability of suitable mentee.
• We are looking for three mentors for the pilot. Depending on the results of the pilot, the number of mentors will increase in future iterations of the programme.

ENGAGE Reverse Mentoring Programme

EDI Unit, UCC

EDIUnit@ucc.ie

ENGAGE project team: Prof Ciara Heavin, Prof Nuala Finnegan, Dr Claire Murray, Dr Avril Hutch, Dr Tanya Watson in collaboration with Dr Anne Gannon, Mary Horgan, and Aileen Waterman, and MTU, University of Limerick, and University of Galway.

Important: The information provided in this EOI will be treated with confidentiality and in accordance with GDPR requirements.

Acknowledgement: This programme has been funded by the HEA Gender Equality Enhancement Fund.