The Ministry of the Environment, on behalf of the Ontario Public Service and with support from partner ministries and organizations, is pleased to introduce a new mentoring opportunity.
The Women in Engineering Mentoring Initiative (WEMI) aims to provide mentoring and guidance to women engineering students in their final year of study by partnering them with women engineers working across the Ontario Public Service (OPS).
About the initiative
The Women in Engineering Mentoring Initiative (WEMI) is designed to support women engineering students by:
- Helping future women engineers transition into a traditionally male-oriented profession through a mentoring program that shares relevant experience and provides guidance and career advice, and,
- Offering opportunities to network and dialogue with professional women engineers working in the OPS and the private sector.
Who can participate in the WEMI program?
A Mentor is a women engineer currently working in the Ontario Public Service who has at least two years of engineering experience and is licensed by Professional Engineers of Ontario as a Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) or is an Engineer-in-Training (EIT).
A Mentee is a woman engineering student enrolled in her final year of engineering study at an Ontario university.
In year one of the WEMI program, Mentees have been accepted from the following Ontario universities:
- Lakehead University, Faculty of Engineering – Thunder Bay
- Laurentian University, Bharti School of Engineering – Sudbury
- Queen’s University, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science – Kingston
- Ryerson University, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science – Toronto
- University of Ottawa, Faculty of Engineering – Ottawa
- University of Toronto, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering – Toronto
- University of Waterloo, Faculty of Engineering – Waterloo
- University of Western Ontario, Faculty of Engineering – London
In subsequent years, the WEMI program is expected to include additional Ontario universities with engineering schools.
Timeframe and commitment
Through the WEMI program, women engineering students in their final year of study are partnered with women engineers working in the OPS. WEMI is a virtual mentoring program, making it flexible and accessible to mentors and mentees across Ontario.
The program follows the academic year from September to May. Mentors and Mentees will connect at least six times during the course of the program.
Mentors and Mentees are primarily matched by fields of interest. Relationships between the Mentors and Mentees will develop and grow through webcasts, teleconferencing, email discussions, videoconferencing and in-person meetings, where possible.
The Women in Engineering Mentoring Initiative (WEMI) is designed as a voluntary learning and development opportunity for women engineering students in their final year of study and women engineers in the Ontario Public Service (OPS). Participants are encouraged to share insights and experiences through formal and informal meetings and dialogue.
The Honourable Glen Murray, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, committed to launching “a virtual mentorship program for women engineering students in Ontario” during a speech delivered at Ryerson University on December 6, 2011, the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.
The Women in Engineering Mentoring Initiative is the result of the following Ontario ministries and partners working together to support the development of this virtual mentoring program for women engineering students in Ontario:
- Ministry of the Environment
- Ministry of Energy
- Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities
- Ministry of Education
- Ministry of Transportation
- Ministry of Government Services
- OPS Diversity Office
- Youth and New Professionals Secretariat
Other partner organizations:
- Professional Engineers of Ontario
- Ontario Society of Professional Engineers
- Professional Engineers Government of Ontario
Contact
For more information about the Women in Engineering Mentoring Initiative (WEMI), or to apply to participate in the program as a Mentor or Mentee, please contact:
WEMI Program Co-Chairs
Amy Bougiouklis, Senior Divisional Coordinator
Assistant Deputy Minister’s Office,
Corporate Management Division, Ministry of the Environment
416-314-7604
Sarah Paul, Manager, Global Air Issues
Air Policy and Climate Change Branch,
Integrated Environmental Policy Division, Ministry of the Environment
416-326-7999
