Eligibility Requirements

• Mentors must be from a participating institution and have at least 10 years of academic and administrative leadership experience.  

• Mentors of any gender are welcome to participate.

• Mentors must be senior scholars or leaders including professors, emeritus, endowed, distinguished, university, clinical, research.

• Mentors must be committed to supporting the growth of aspiring women leaders at APRU institutions. 

• Mentors must have the ability to allocate time to their mentee on a regular basis.

• Mentors should be able to identify specific skillsets or areas that they can offer to help a mentee. Note that it is not guaranteed that the mentee and mentor are in the same academic field. While this is a factor that is considered in the matching process, many mentees are interested in developing skills as a leader that transcend academic fields so mentors will find that they will still will have a wealth of knowledge to share as a leader if they are not matched with someone in their field. 

• Mentors should be committed to attending the virtual workshops and seminars.

 

Thoughts from Past Mentors

• “The APWiL Mentoring Program has truly enriched my professional and personal life! Although I am a mentor, the roles have been constantly reversed with my mentee, as I am learning so much from her lived experiences. It is so comforting to find kindred spirits through this network.”

• “It was a good match from the very beginning, we have learned together and had some really in-depth conversations about what it means to take on leadership roles at a university, the kinds of sacrifices that are necessary and some ideas on how to balance the demands.”

 

Expectations of an Effective Mentor

• All mentors work on a voluntary basis and share the same philosophy and values: to support women striving to achieve leadership capacity in their higher education institutions.

• Mentors will: provide guidance to their mentee in pursuit of their goals, which may be in their respective fields of expertise and in relation to leadership; offer access to their networks; share their experiences; support mentees in their professional leadership development.

• Mentors communicate openly providing support as well as constructive feedback to mentees in order to help them achieve their goals.