Evolution of a Cross-year Mentoring Scheme
Keywords:
mentoring, social networks, lessons learnedAbstract
In a university department where less than seven percent of the students and staff are women, a sense of isolation can have a detrimental effect on the progression and retention of those female students.& To address issues of isolation, progression, and retention the University of Lincoln's Department of Computing and Informatics (DCI) began a cross-year mentoring scheme in 2005 and has tracked the progress and the changes that this scheme has brought about over the past two years.& Key issues addressed include better support for women students to ensure they successfully complete their studies and progress to successful careers in Computing; raising awareness of the predominantly male staff in the department regarding the impacts on female student retention; raising awareness university-wide about the support provided to female students and transferring the knowledge gained across the university to other departments.& The cross-year mentoring scheme for DCI women students has resulted in a dramatic increase in female student retention.& A 2004 census of students showed that only 25% of female students progressed into their 3rd academic year.& However, in 2006 100% of female students advanced into their 3rd year class.& The mentoring scheme initially focused on students from the year above mentoring students in the year below, and now continues by promoting post-graduate students as mentors.&
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