L’Oréal Australia and New Zealand continues to go beyond beauty to use its impact and influence to truly make the world, country and different communities better. Now, the beauty group is teaming up with the University of South Australia (UniSA) to evaluate the significance of mentoring and quantify its importance, particularly from a business and science perspective.
UniSA’s in-house mentoring evaluation tool – titled the UniSA Mentoring Impact Evaluation tool – addresses this quantifying challenge as the only longitudinal evaluation tool for PhD mentoring in Australia. Now L’Oréal Australia and New Zealand will adopt the tool to enhance and monitor their mentoring program as part of L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science (FWIS).
“Initially we developed the Mentoring Impact Evaluation tool to measure the effectiveness of mentoring programs on PhD employability,” said Chief developer, UniSA’s Associate Head Graduate Research Development, Claire Jackson. “Following its inaugural use to evaluate the government-supported Industry Mentoring Network in STEM (IMNIS) scheme, we were very pleased to see it adopted by all three South Australian universities, as well as universities in New South Wales.”
“The beauty of our mentoring tool is that it has the capacity to measure mentees’ skills and knowledge development across the entire mentoring journey. We collect and monitor progress pre, mid, and post the experience, so we’re really delivering a 360-degree view,” she continued. “Importantly, the universal design of the tool means that it can be adopted for any longitudinal industry experience, and given the need to boost women in STEM, we’re so pleased that L’Oréal is adopting our product for their For Women in Science mentoring program.”
FWIS advocates and elevates the platform for women in science, highlighting its importance and ensuring greater participation, while awarding exceptional female scientists at different stages of their careers with fellowships to help further their research. Part of this is a mentoring scheme where the current FWIS Fellows mentor ambitious PhD students, making it the ideal partner for UniSA’s tool.
“Female role models and champions of change are ideal mentors to share advice and guidance to budding female scientists,” said L’Oréal Australia’s Communications Director, Christine Burke. “Our mentoring scheme provides a fantastic opportunity to develop integral knowledge and skills, and to instil passion and a sense of empowerment into our future women leaders.”
“But to gain the full advantage of a mentoring program, the benefits must flow both ways. That’s why the UniSA Mentoring Impact Evaluation tool will be so valuable,” she continued. “Being able to quantify the impact of mentoring and how it can deliver ongoing and significant benefits for the mentee and mentor, but also the business, is essential step to formalising this much-valued practice for women in STEM.”
For more information visit www.loreal.com.au
Catch up with INSTYLE and Styleicons!
- Subscribe to our bi-monthly magazine
- Check out www.styleicons.com.au
- Subscribe to our twice-weekly newsletter
- View our digital magazine
- Follow us on social media on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn