NSW Minister for Women Verity Firth launched an
exciting new mentoring program for female
students at the University of New South Wales on
Wednesday 5th September. The Lucy
Mentoring Program targets female students
studying business, finance, economics,
accounting and law, pairing them with mentors in
senior management, and offering them the
opportunity to spend 35 hours in their mentor's
workplace. The program aims to help these
students to achieve senior leadership positions
in both the private and public sectors.
“While women have made enormous gains in the
paid workforce in recent years, they continue to
be heavily under represented at the senior
management level and on boards,” said Ms Firth.
Deputy Chancellor Gabrielle Upton
spoke on behalf of UNSW and other
university representatives included the Deputy
Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Pro-Vice Chancellor
(Students) & Registrar, Chief Executive of
the UNSW
Foundation, Dean of the Faculty of Law and
Associate Dean Undergraduate Programs
and Education for the Australian School
of Business.
The program has been co-ordinated by Taye Morris, Manager
of UNSW Careers and
Employment with 25 students
assigned to 36 mentors. Some of
the students have even been lucky enough to be
matched with two women who will
participate as co-mentors. At the
launch there was an atmosphere of excitement and
enthusiasm as the students met their
mentors for the first time.
"This is just a really rare chance, you
don't get this every day" said Ji
Ting Mary Zhu a Commerce / Law student
who has been assigned two senior mentors
at Deloitte.
The mentors (some of
whom are UNSW alumni) are from various high profile organisations
such as Deloitte, Middletons, Allens Arthur
Robinson and Switzer Group, as well as a number
of women who run their own successful
businesses.
