MENTEE INFORMATION
The AWIS-PHL Mentoring Circle Program cycle begins each fall and runs through the spring. This is a popular program where scientists meet monthly (in person or virtually) with mentors to discuss issues in both career and life. It is also a great opportunity to network with area scientists and meet members of AWIS-PHL.
We organize our Circles based primarily on location and weekday availability. We strongly encourage Circle members to meet at least once or twice in person during the program year, in order to best foster trust and build relationships between Circle members. Zoom or similar is also an option.
Interested in being a mentee? Sign up for the 2023-2024 Mentoring Circles HERE
About the Program
In working towards our mission of mentoring women in science to help them achieve their full potential, we established our Mentoring Circles Program at AWIS-PHL.
This is a great program designed to help mentees set goals (both professional and personal) and build competence and confidence to attain those goals.
Here’s some feedback from previous mentees:
“I learned a lot about myself and how to overcome problems that I didn’t even know I had.”
“I liked the “safe space” with lots of guidance/advice from both peers and from more seasoned professionals.”
“I loved being with women who’ve had such different (yet totally similar) experiences to me.”
Interested in being a Mentor? Contact mentoring@awisphl.org for more info.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions at mentoring@awisphl.org. We look forward to an exciting program again this year!
Mentoring Circles Defined
A mentoring circle is a group of individuals that meet together on a regular basis for an agreed upon length of time. The group’s primary purpose is to help mentees accomplish two tasks:
- Set important development goals
- Build competence and character to reach those goals
The group exchanges experiences, challenges, and opportunities for the purpose of enhancing self-confidence, communication skills, leadership practices, and commitment to one’s career.
- Each mentoring circle consists of 1-3 mentors and several mentees, carefully matched using information gathered from mentee and mentor applications. Our mentors are an experienced group of women working in either academia or industry.
- The time commitment is 1-2 hours per month over a 9 month period (Oct -June).
- There is a kick off session each October.
- All mentors are offered a training workshops prior to the start of the current cycle.
- There is fee to participate as a mentee in the program (currently $15, which may be converted to an AWIS/AWIS-PHL membership at the end of the cycle).
- Mentor recruitment occurs in June-August of each year. Mentees are recruited in September of each year. The number of mentee slots available will depend on the number of mentors we were able to recruit.
The AWIS PHL Mentoring Circle Program is loosely based experience described in the book Every Other Thursday. The book describes the experience of a group of scientists who created an circle to discuss and help guide one another through their competitive careers at time when it was difficult to obtain tenure if you were a women or an underrepresented minority. Each circle meets once a month to share professional challenges and discuss potential solutions to these challenges. The mentors and mentees of each circle determine the format and topics discussed by the circle. Past topics include, but are not limited to, professional/personal life balance, gender biases, career transition, job search, and time management. Each group will meet for two hours once a month from approximately October through June. Since AWIS-PHL is not affiliated with any institution, the Mentoring Circle Program offers participants the opportunity to expand their professional network and develop relationships at a much deeper level than most networking opportunities.
*We understand that this may be a time of financial hardship for some, and we do not want this to be a limiting factor. If you wish to participate in the program, but would be restricted by the application fee, please contact the mentoring programs co-Chairs, Ankita Patil and Megan Wright, at mentoring@awisphl.org.
