APWiL Mentoring Program Pilot 2020

Mentee

Associate Professor, Aquatic Animal Health and Production, Faculty of Science

The University of Sydney

Mentor

Senior Advisor, Faculty of Social Science

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Mentee

Associate Professor, Faculty of Law

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

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Vice Provost Cindy Fan (UCLA) is my mentor within the APWiL Mentoring Program. My meetings with Prof. Fan have been both clarifying and encouraging. In conversation with her, I've identified the two academic policy areas where I most want to contribute in the coming years and developed a list of short and medium term goals in relation to each. Our discussions have also helped me better understand my individual strengths and weaknesses as well as institutional cultures and structures that influence leadership opportunities. Being mentored by Cindy has been a genuinely warm and rewarding experience.

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Mentor

Vice Provost for International Studies and Global Engagement; Professor of Geography; Professor of Asian American Studies

University of California, Los Angeles

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I was privileged to have helped to organize and moderated APRU’s first-ever Fireside Chat with Women Presidents and Vice Presidents, as part of APWiL’s Mentoring Program Pilot.  [The speakers] inspired all participants with their personal stories, their call to action to all and especially women leaders to support other women to become leaders, and their prediction that more women will rise to leadership positions in academia.

I have immensely enjoyed being a mentor working with Prof Surabhi Chopra of the Faculty of Law of Chinese University of Hong Kong, in the first year of the APWiL Mentoring Program Pilot.  I find her vision and ideas to address diversity issues in academia insightful.  To me, the Program has been a great success, thanks to the leadership of Professors Joanna Regulska and Sabrina Lim and the enthusiastic participation of mentors and mentees from a large number of APRU member universities.  The varied societal, cultural and institutional contexts of the mentors and mentees have made possible global and fruitful exchanges of experiences and best practices aiming at advancing leadership diversity in their respective institutions.­­

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Mentor

Professor, Extension Specialist, Department of Plant Sciences

University of California, Davis

Mentor

Associate Vice-President, Equity & Inclusion

The University of British Columbia

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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.

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Mentor

Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Mentor

Assistant Dean, Development and External Relations, College of Agricultural andEnvironmental Sciences

University of California, Davis

Mentee

Associate Professor, Department of 3D Nanostructure Science, Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research (ISIR)

Osaka University 

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As a mentee in the APWiL Mentoring Program, I have been encouraged to lead efforts at my own university to address gender equity. Earlier this year, we organized a summit for female researchers, students, and staff with great success. With virtual participation of my mentor, Prof. Stephen Tillman, The University of Sydney, and APWiL Co-Chair, Prof. Joanna Regulska, UC Davis, we highlighted strategies to address gender equality and diversity. The connections I have built through the APRU APWiL Mentoring Program has been invaluable to me and to my university.

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Mentee

Associate Professor, Department of Chinese Language and Literature and Director of The Yale-China Chinese Language Centre

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

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My heartfelt thanks to my mentor Professor Dunkel Schetter (Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty Development, Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry of UCLA) for her advice, support and encouragement. We met every month on zoom to discuss on topics including women leadership and career development. So glad to have joined this meaningful program, my thanks to The Association of Pacific Rim Universities.

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Mentor

Associate Professor and Deputy Dean (Research & Development), Faculty of Business and Accountancy

Universiti Malaya 

Mentee

Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

University of California, Davis

Mentee

Lecturer, Landscape Architecture. Faculty Built Environment,

UNSW Sydney

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I’ve found the APWiL program, which has included talks, resources and monthly meetings with my mentor, to be incredibly helpful over the past 12months. My mentor and I have met almost every month and have built an excellent rapport with one another. I genuinely look forward to, and enjoy, our monthly meeting. My mentor has been especially helpful in helping me navigate the promotion criteria for my university and given me confidence to apply for promotion in 2022. Furthermore, from a leadership perspective, I believe the insights into the framework for promotion for my university have also been helpful for her.

Mentor

Associate Professor, Department of Preventive Dentistry, Graduate School of Dentistry

Osaka University

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I am very honored that I have been participating in the APWiL program. Through this program, I learned about the current states of gender equalities in academia in other countries, and began to think about what I should do now on this issue.

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Mentee

Coordinator & Senior Lecturer, Gender Studies Program, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS)

Universiti Malaya

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The female mentorship program is significant as it provides an avenue to discuss and share the challenges faced specifically by women in their career progression and can contribute to developing a leadership pipeline. It provides a safe space to explore issues and learn from the inspiring experiences of the proactive actions taken by successful female leaders including those who are presidents or vice-presidents of their universities. The one-on-one mentorship is invaluable as it allows for an in-depth reflection and sharing of where I am at and what is needed to move to the next level. This is important as in my hectic live, reflection can often be an afterthought. Mentorship allows me to explore outside of the boxes of my comfort zones in a safe environment.  I find the experiences of being in the program invaluable not only in terms of career progression but also in terms of personal development. The one-on-one meeting interspersed with meeting online collectively enriches my experiences as it broadens my horizon further.

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Mentor

Professor, Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine

Universiti Malaya

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Hi, I am Professor Dr. Yvonne Lim from Universiti Malaya (UM). I would like to share with you the wonderful opportunity I had being part of the 2020-2021 APWiL Mentoring program. It has been an enriching experience being paired with Associate Professor Dr. Jessica Perea from University of California (UC), Davis. The synergy between us was great and I always looked forward to our subsequent meetings. The program has benefited me both from a personal and career development perspective. Jessica and I are already thinking about the way forward. We are exploring and planning collaborative activities and drafting an agreement of cooperation between UM and UC, Davis. We have also extended the partnership to other like-minded colleagues and currently we are planning to launch a joint seminar in August 2021. In short, it has been a very fruitful and productive journey. I hope more colleagues will join and benefit from this program. I strongly recommend that you seize this opportunity. You will not regret it! 

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Mentee

Associate Professor, Genetics & Molecular Biology, Faculty of Science

Universiti Malaya 

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I was fortunate enough to experience the APWiL Mentoring Program as I have learnt how to build healthy relationships, families, and communities and strategies to achieve efficiency and success at my organization. My mentor (Prof Mariko) has advised me on how to navigate through this tumultuous time and still climb the ladder.

She gave me moral support and built my confidence in becoming an indispensable leader in my organization, an inspiring lecturer/supervisor, a good researcher, and a loving/responsible mother at the same time. Thank you APWiL for the lifetime opportunity.

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Mentee

Associate Professor, Institute for Advanced Co-Creation Studies

Osaka University 

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APWiL Mentoring Program gave me wonderful opportunities to learn activities for women's breakthrough and specific measures to achieve my purpose. When I lost my confidence, my mentor listened my worries then gave me advice and encouragement. Thanks to it I reviewed the management of my research team and succeeded in strongly improving the activity of the team.

This program inspired me a lot, and I decided to join a symposium "NIKKEI Womenomics-Are you ready? The future opened by SDGs". It was a program to encourage students to considering SDGs from each view point. I played a role of mentor, and Osaka University team "asiam" received an award. Our team succeeded to encourage and support a high school student team, and the team also received an award. APWIL Mentoring Program was a big motivation for me to attend this event.  Thank you very much for all support and opportunities.

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Mentee

Associate Professor, Associate Head of Department

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Mentor

Course Director BAppSC (SpPath) and Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Medicine and Health

The University of Sydney

Mentee

Professor, English Department

Keio University

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Just before joining this program, I was appointed as Dean of International Center, the position in which I need to demonstrate my leadership ability. In fact, I felt a vague anxiety about the position that I had to hold because I thought I was not the kind of person who took a leading place. Meeting with my mentor in the APWiL Mentoring Program, Dr. Fanny M. Cheung, was, therefore, an eye-opening experience for me. Her guidance in sharing her own experiences as one of the first female leaders in her institution, which eloquently conveys important viewpoints to me. Our meetings allowed me to develop strategies for my institution to consider female professional concerns, life-work balance, and most importantly, having sincerity and integrity in the working place.

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Mentor

Professor, Institute for Protein Research

Osaka University

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Through this mentoring program, Nazia and I have become good friends. She is a highly motivated person, and my mentee, but she encourages me a lot. I hope she will become a full professor near future and meet each other after the COVID situation improves.

Mentor

Professor, Graduate School of Media Design and Vice Director, Research Institute for Digital Media and Content

Keio University

Mentee

Assistant Professor, Native American Studies,

University of California, Davis 

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I applied to participate in the APWiL program because I want to explore more possibilities for leadership roles in my career post-tenure.  I was extremely fortunate to be paired with an experienced and dynamic mentor, Dr. Yvonne Lim Ai Lian (Health Sciences), Director of International Relations and Professor of Parasitology. Her thoughtful and supportive mentorship and guidance helped me to better appreciate the densities of university leadership styles and how these styles do (or do not) align with Indigenous leadership styles.  I am very pleased to report that I have significantly expanded my network of women leaders. In addition to meetings with my mentor, I was fortunate to connect with other women leaders and many potential future colleagues. I hope that in the coming months and (ideally) a return to campus in fall 2021, I will be able to both show up for and create spaces to continue advancing my goals in the program.

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Mentee

Senior Lecturer and Course Director, Discipline of Rehabilitation Counselling, Faculty of Medicine and Health

The University of Sydney 

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I’ve gained so much from my meetings with Sara-Jane. She’s helped me with my leadership skills, guided me through difficult conversations, and helped me develop initiatives at work that have made a difference.

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Mentor

Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, Associate Vice Chancellor of Faculty Development
University of California, Los Angeles

Mentor

Associate Professor,  Department of Chemistry

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Mentee

Associate Professor of Family Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine

University of California, Los Angeles 

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The APWiL Mentoring Program has been invaluable for me. The program created a safe space to discuss struggles and successes that are pertinent to women, and provided a wonderful opportunity to learn from successful female leaders. I learned a great deal during small group breakout rooms, and received concrete tips for leadership development that I am working on implementing.

The one-on-one mentorship experience has allowed me to reflect deeply on what it means to be a leader and how to improve my leadership skills. As part of this experience, I read several inspiring leadership books and implemented strategies from these books in my leadership roles. This trusted network of women will undoubtedly be an extremely valuable resource as my career progresses, and I feel very fortunate to have participated in the program.

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Mentor

Professor of Geometric Topology, Faculty of Science

The University of Sydney

Mentee

Assistant Professor, Department of Ocean Science

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology