Summer Training “Unlocking knowledge, experience, and good practice in inclusive mentoring”

Bilbao, July 8-11, 2024

Let’s Hear Your Voices: Unlocking knowledge, experience, and good practice in inclusive
mentoring for early career women in academia and research and innovation – a multi-stakeholder Summer Training

In response to the growing popularity of career mentoring programs for women in academia and research and innovation, the VOICES Summer Training event 2024 aims to bring together a diverse community to share insights, experiences, and best practices in Inclusive Mentoring.

Dr. Marta Warat, Dr. María López Belloso and Dr. Ola Thomson (WG1) will host this year’s event at the University of Deusto, in the avant-garde Spanish city of Bilbao, known as “The City of the Guggenheim”.

The 2024 Voices Summer Training seeks to address the disparity among mentoring programmes, schemes and frameworks by creating a platform for knowledge, good practice and experience sharing, providing an opportunity to “think together” about what a quality and authentic mentorship should look like, as well as informal networking opportunities. It aims to do so by involving and connecting a multitude of key stakeholders close to mentoring programmes, such as mentors, mentees, and mentoring programme designers tasked with design, implementation and evaluation. Main objectives are:

1. Inspire and Share Knowledge:

• Showcase case studies and exemplary approaches in mentoring.
• Provide insights into what quality and authentic mentorship should entail.

2. Empower Early Career Mentees:

• Amplify voices of early career mentees, allowing them to share experiences and suggest improvements.
• Sensitize mentoring programs to intersectionality and inclusion.

3. Address Challenges and Propose Solutions:

• Co-create good practice recommendations for mentoring programs.
• Share recommendations with policymakers and practitioners.

4. Facilitate Networking and Mentorship Opportunities:

• Enable informal networking opportunities.
• Conduct career-building sessions for early career researchers.

Target Audience: Stakeholders involved in designing, implementing, and evaluating mentoring programs, including equality officers, career development professionals, mentors, mentees, and representatives from research funders, institutions, and NGOs.