 Program Overview
I have had
a wonderful time with my mentor this year and her advice helped me a lot with my explorations and decisions about the future!
-Participant
Cybermentor is an online mentoring program aimed at girls 11-18 to
influence them at a formative stage in their development. The program
matches girls with women students at Alberta universities who are
studying science and engineering, or with professional women scientists
and engineers.
Online communication is an effective, efficient means of communication.
It has been found to be as effective as telephone or face to face
conversations - it's the transfer of knowledge that's important, not how it's done!
The primary goal of the Cybermentor program is to expand girls'
knowledge of careers, opportunities and benefits that exist for women
in science and engineering fields. Second, is to provide a motivation
for girls to continue in their math and science studies through
interaction with women role models who are studying and practicing in
these fields. Third, girls will have the opportunity to communicate
with mentors from diverse fields, thereby expanding the options for
potential career paths.
Mentoring has been proven to have positive effects on the personal
achievements of a mentee. Mentors provide their matches with the
resources needed to make educated decisions regarding career choices
and increase their understanding of specific disciplines. Studies show
that mentored students report higher levels of self-confidence, higher
academic achievements and gain a sense of community. This is
particularly important in the fields of engineering and science since
the under-representation of women in these fields results in low-levels
of naturally occurring mentoring relationships.
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