Mentoring
Mentoring provides an opportunity for women to interact and learn from other colleagues in a one-on-one relationship. DEWIS Mentoring is designed to support the career progression and development of female academic staff. We match mentors and mentees based on a variety of characteristics including areas of experience, and personal and career interests. The mentor listens, gives personal guidance and shares his / her knowledge, skills and network with a mentee.
Mentoring relationships can provide women with opportunities to reflect on and grow their leadership capabilities, build professional skills and more effectively navigate TU Delft.
Mentoring does not only benefit the mentee: I found being a mentor very enriching. It gave me the opportunity to look back in my career to find out how I navigated situations and share this with another person. In addition, I gained new perspectives and insights from the mentees and had the chance to develop new skills.
Rob Mudde
Participants benefit from advice and insight and can create unique and enduring professional relationships with colleagues. We encourage anyone interested in growing professionally and personally to become mentor and/or mentee.
Send us an email at mentoring-dewis@tudelft.nl
Why become a mentee?
• Developing new skills and knowledge
• Identifying areas for professional growth and developing strategies to accomplish these
• Improved understanding of how academia operates
• Greater access to new networks and contacts
• Increased confidence in abilities
• Greater effectiveness in current role
• Enhanced career opportunities
• Improved leadership skills
• Enhanced enthusiasm for work and improved job satisfaction
Why become a mentor?
• Develop leadership and coaching skills
• Enhanced self-esteem through recognition of professional abilities
• Increased organisational knowledge, especially from the viewpoint of the mentee
• Developing and demonstrating management skills
• Gaining a sense of satisfaction in assisting a colleague to develop professionally
• Enhancing interpersonal skills
How does it work
The mentee …
- has a request for help and is looking for a more experienced person for advice and guidance
- is willing to adopt a (pro) active attitude
- has and takes the time for self-reflection
- is willing to ask for and accept help, guidance, support and advice from another person
The mentor …
- is a confidential sounding board
- provides feedback & suggestions for the mid- to long-term choices and goals you've set
- has faced the same challenges as the mentee and advises and guides a mentee on this basis guide the mentee in his / her group process and
- is open to learn and grow Is willing to build a meaningful relationship with the mentee
- possesses the following qualities: helpful, knowledge, involved, reliable, approachable, honest, compassionate, neutral, self-reflection
- focuses on guidance, not on solving
- gives the mentee access to his / her network
- improves visibility of the mentee
The success of mentoring is …
- openness and trust
- on a voluntary basis
- mutual responsibility
- a good match between mentor and mentee, make a few appointments before continuing, you will have a longer relationship (at least 1 year)
- predetermined measurable and executable goals
- clear agreements about how often, when and how to meet
- communicate: listen actively, ask questions and summarize
- monitor developments based on objectives and evaluate regularly
- give and receive continuous process feedback
Would you like to start with mentoring?
- determine what your learning objective is for which you want to have mentoring
- search within your own network and / or ask DEWIS for help to find a mentor
- it is important that the mentor has faced the same challenges as you
- get in touch and ask if he / she wants to be your mentor
- make an introductory appointment
- if it clicks, you make follow-up appointments. The frequency of this depends on the agreements made by the mentor and mentee