Conference Agenda

Mentoring has been used as a strategy to close gender gaps in STEM. In this study, we present an analysis of the implementation of a mentoring program designed to encourage female secondary school students to choose STEM elective courses. The analysis focuses on the experiences of the mentors, who were university students who delivered four online mentoring sessions to female secondary school students. Our findings are organized around three axes: mentors’ perceptions, the feedback they provided on the program’s implementation, and the benefits and drawbacks mentors perceived from their own experience. Overall, mentors found the online format difficult to achieve full participation from mentees. At the same time, mentors considered that the program was implemented positively, given the support structure and the materials provided for each session. Finally, mentors reported substantial benefits from the experience, especially personal gratification, mutual personal enrichment, increased self-confidence, and the development of soft skills. In conclusion, the experience was meaningful for mentors, who were able to reinterpret their own school trajectories and valued the opportunity to be the kind of support they would have wished for at that stage.