Services - Mentoring Programs

The Flinders University Mentoring Scheme for Early Career Women Researchers is widely acknowledged as the most successful and well-validated mentoring scheme in Australian academia. A comprehensive report and peer-reviewed publication are available and provide substantial details about the success of the program.

The Flinders University scheme has been shown to succeed at two levels: firstly, it has provided high-level support to a large number of women as they have built their research careers; and secondly, it has formed the basis of a unique seven year longitudinal study of the effectiveness of such mentoring schemes. Women who participated in the scheme have been shown to have outperformed non-mentored women on all academic measures such as grant income, publications and promotions.The scheme is the first of its kind to show that not only do the participants benefit, but that institutions can confidently fund such initiatives, knowing they will receive a significant return on investment.

In 2008 the Mentoring Scheme for Early Career Women Researchers became available for use by other universities under licence from ThinkWell and Flinders Partners. The licence entitles universities to:

  • four days consultancy from the scheme’s architect, Maria Gardiner
  • complete set of four mentoring workshops, including PowerPoint slides and training manuals
  • administrator’s handbook detailing all aspects of the scheme
  • comprehensive mentee/mentor handbook with all necessary information for participants
  • comprehensive suite of evaluative tools and norms to ensure that outcomes are achieved

For further information contact Maria Gardiner at maria@ithinkwell.com.au.