Women in Transport is delighted to announce that applications are now open for Advance - our mentoring programme designed to support the professional development of Women in Transport members.
Mentoring is a powerful tool to support career development at a time when representation of women in the transport has decreased. This will be the second year of the programme, following our successful pilot in 2018.
We were overwhelmed by the response across the transport sector to our first year. We had 85 applications for mentees and 60 for mentors. After many hours of poring over applications, they were whittled down to 20 matched pairs.
Wherever possible, we matched mentees and mentors outside of their own organisations. Feedback from both mentees and mentors has been very positive, with both parties clearly benefiting from the mentoring relationship.
“I have had a really positive experience on the WIT mentoring scheme. The initial training and support was excellent and I’m still in touch with a number of fellow mentees, which is another unforeseen benefit of getting involved. My mentor has been absolutely brilliant too. We have met monthly and covered a wide range of topics from career planning to confidence building and more practical things like how to challenge people more effectively. Through my mentor’s guidance and support, I have successfully been promoted and will be moving into an entirely new area of transport. No doubt I wouldn’t have achieved this without the clarity and support that my mentor has given me over the last six months. And the best part is that we’ve both got so much out of it that we’ve agreed to continue meeting!” - Harriet Glen, Reliability Improvement Manager, TfL
“I have hugely enjoyed and feel very privileged to have been part of the initial mentoring programme run by Women in Transport. I have met and got to know a truly exceptional young woman who I am sure will continue to excel in her career. It has been a real pleasure broadening my knowledge of the industry and understanding more about how roles differ in the private and public sector. I am delighted to have been part of it and very much hope to continue providing a mentor role.” David Hart, Director, Momentum Transport
We would like to thank ENGIE and TXM Recruit for sponsoring the pilot programme and helping us advance women working across the transport sector.
We are delighted that TXM Recruit has again lent its support to the second year of Advance as a sponsor:
“TXM Recruit is proud to support the Women in Transport Mentoring programme and the opportunity it gives to people who don’t have the experience or professional networks to enhance their knowledge or skill sets, allowing them to grow within a professional, open relationship.” Gary Lincoln, Director, TXM Group
Gary was a mentor on the pilot programme and has been a passionate advocate for Women in Transport over the past year. It is testament to the positive impact of mentoring that our three other co-sponsors were also mentors on the pilot programme.
“Xanta is honoured to support this programme - the rail industry needs more women in higher-profile roles, and the WIT mentoring scheme is a dynamic way of achieving this.” - Matthew Regan, Director, Xanta
“Cubic believes strongly in the value of diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and the role that mentoring plays in increasing confidence and ability. We are delighted to sponsor the Women in Transport mentoring scheme as a very positive and effective approach to enabling women from right across our industry to achieve their true potential.” - Leanne Gravett, Human Resources Director, Cubic Transportation Systems
“We are pleased to support Women in Transport’s Mentoring programme - great solutions require different lenses.” - Sharon Daly, Managing Director, Steer
Our thanks to TXM Recruit, Xanta Rail, Cubic and Steer for their sponsorship of the second year of Advance. Their invaluable support enables us to continue to actively support the professional development of women in transport.
Applications are open for mentor and mentees until Monday 15 October 2018.