1. NEW PERSPECTIVES ON OLD CHESTNUTS Mentoring & Networking Jackie Connon & Carol Walker (Mentoring) Anne Stevenson, Mary Brown & Moira Bailey (Networking) 19 April 2007

2. What we hope you will gain from this evening: Recognise the personal & organisational benefits of mentoring & networking Understand the gender issues associated with mentoring & networking Implement effective mentoring and networking initiatives within your organisation

3. Just over 30 years ago, in 1975, the Sex Discrimination Act was passed and the Equal Pay Act came into force… So what has changed?

4. Who runs Scotland? (EOC, 2007) Women's average representation in Scotland/UK (2007): MSPs-39% Public Appointments -35% Civil Service Top Management (UK)-26% University Vice Chancellors-23% Secondary Head Teachers- 21% Senior Police Officers-12% Directors in FTSE Companies (UK)-11% Senior Ranks in Armed Forces (UK)-1% 3

5. Government Intervention – The Equality Act 2006 Gender Equality Duty – 6 April 2007 All public authorities in England, Wales and Scotland must demonstrate that they are promoting equality for women and men and that they are eliminating sexual discrimination and harassment.

6. Key Barriers preventing women’s advancement Commitment to family Stereotyping & preconceptions of women’s roles & abilities Lack of senior, visibly successful female role models Inhospitable organisational cultures Exclusion from informal networks of communication Opportunity Now (2000)

8. Breaking the Barriers (two key recommendations) Support professional women’s networks within and outside your organisation Implement a formal mentoring programme and consider both internal and external mentors Opportunity Now (2000)

9. Concept of Mentoring Relationship between an experienced individual and less experienced individual which can help to develop and achieve career and personal goals Can be within a formal or an informal setting Often confusion between the concept of mentoring and that of ‘coaching’ and ‘counselling’

10. Greek Mythology: Mentor and Telemachus ‘Odysseus on his departure to the Trojan war requested that Mentor (his faithful friend) act as a tutor to his son Telemachus; and as such the concept of mentoring was born,

13. Formal Mentoring ‘off-line help from one person to another in making significant transitions in knowledge, work or thinking’ (David Clutterbuck, 2004, Everyone Needs a Mentor, p. 13)

14. Examples of Mentoring Support for Women Confidence Building Leadership Development Self-awareness Career Development Networking Work Life Balance

15. So how can Formal Mentoring support Gender Equality? Opportunities to access influence networks. Builds confidence in own abilities Improves the understanding and communication between gender groups Helps to progress female employees to provide future role models

16. Setting up a Formal Mentoring Scheme Senior Management commitment & support Internal and/or cross organisational scheme? Women only or open to all? Recruiting participants Assigned versus choice matching? Training, ongoing support & evaluation Publicising the scheme and its success