Women In Engineering mentoring program powers up

Monash Engineering’s new Women In Engineering mentoring program was officially launched on Monday 31 July with an inspiring welcome function and networking event.

More than 50 mentors - Monash alumni and experienced professionals - have been matched with penultimate year and final year student mentees in the first 12-week round of the program.

Megan Wheatley

“There’s such power when women get together, speak honestly and share their experiences,” said guest speaker Megan Wheatley, a Monash Mechanical Engineering alumna and co-founder of the Female Leaders Alumni Monash Engineering Scholarship (FLAMES).

Ms Wheatley, who has had a distinguished career in the sustainable energy sector, had always been passionate about women in engineering and about the role engineering can play in improving the world, she explained.

However, implicit and even explicit advice to young women seeking to overcome gender inequities and barriers had often been “just work harder”.

“That just didn’t seem fair,” she said.

“Mentoring means sharing not just our achievements but also the sometimes difficult and crazy career journeys we’ve been on… and the mistakes we’ve made! What better way is there to learn than to hear from someone else about the things they wish they had done differently?”

Mentors should ask themselves what they wish someone had told them at a similar stage of their own careers, said Ms Wheatley.

She also urged mentees to take full advantage of the opportunity to “ask all the questions”.

For more information about future rounds of the Women In Engineering mentoring program, contact the Faculty of Engineering Alumni Engagement Team: engineering.alumni@monash.edu