The STEMAspire Program was originally created at EMC to support and enable 3rd-year female graduate students to complete their degree and continue onto a successful career in the technology industry. We have since launched the same program in Glasgow Dell.
Given the huge responsibility involved Dell Glasgow wanted to ensure we were providing the best program possible for these students, ensuring as a business we connected with them in a positive way. From the offset, we extended the mentor support program to 1st- and 2nd-year students allowing any student struggling or questioning their degree choice to receive support early encouraging them to remain on this academia pathway.
In the spirit of inclusion, Dell invited male mentors to join the program, it was important to us our female mentee’s knew men were sponsors of their success, given the work we do around MARC.
In designing the program the most important aspect was setting expectations for the mentors and the mentees, specifically of the commitments each person was agreeing to. Mentors applying undertook a screening process, successful mentors joined a training program, and agreements were signed committing to a minimum of one hour per month face to face 121 with their mentee in addition to participating in the quarterly group events over 12 months. Students also signed agreements and the mentor training notes were shared all to ensure a consistent experience for each mentor and mentee.
A social media campaign is also accompanying the mentor program aimed to extend the network for industry and the students. Brand ambassadors will share in the experience through the 12-month mentor program inviting feedback and interaction throughout the initiative.
Since launching on the 1st November 2017 we have received phenomenal feedback from our mentees and mentors, as well as externally feedback most notably from Equate Scotland who are keen to share and encourage best practise amongst other industry leaders.
STEMAspire Testimonials:
“I found all the tests to match with the mentor were useful as we matched well. Getting invaluable interview tips and CV skills. It has helped us identify Dell job opportunities and has helped to apply to jobs in this sector.” — Leigh McCracken, HND Computer Networking, 2nd year, CGC
“Mentoring programmes should be embedded into academic courses. Every student should participate in a Mentoring Programme. I definitely encourage this program to continue and help others in my situation.” — Madihah Bhatti, Information Technology, 4th Year, UWS
“The STEMAspire programme stands out because it represents a long-term sustained investment in workforce diversity & inclusivity, delivering meaningful early career support, absolutely gold standard” — Douglas Morrison, STEM and Innovation Lead City of Glasgow College
If interested please contact us to find out more information, our next STEMAspire program is aiming to be launched in June 2018. For updates follow @DellUKI (Twitter).
