Mentoring Program
An ECAP and WiAP Working Groups initiative
Application for the second edition of the Mentoring Program will open in September 2024
Scope and expectations
The ECAP/WIAP mentorship program is a joint program between the Early Career and the Women in Antennas and Propagation Working groups. It aims to facilitate the transfer of knowledge from the senior professionals to early career professionals. This guidance is expected to be mainly oriented towards promoting the career of the mentee, but can also be used to develop technical and soft-skills.
Mentoring is a special partnership between two people based on commitment to the mentoring process, common goals/expectations of the partnership, and mutual trust and respect.
Mentoring is a “get and give” experience with the goal of providing a rich and rewarding experience for both partners. We ask you to share your information so the program manager can match you in a mentoring relationship. But both the mentor and the mentee will have the opportunity to agree to the pairing before you are assigned to work together.
Objectives
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The main objective of this program is for the mentor to provide career guidance and potentially facilitate the soft-skill development to the mentee.
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Technical mentorship can be agreed by the parties, but it is not the main scope of the program.
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Conflicts and personal issues are out of the scope of the mentor program. This is imperative to avoid sowing discord within the community. Importantly, personal issues with colleagues in the community are not to be discussed during the mentorship and we ask that any related issues or discussions are reported to the organizers (ecapwg@euraap.org).
Timeline and dedication for the 2024 Edition
Applications to the mentor program (for mentors and mentees) will open in September and the mentor-mentee pairs are finalized in December. The mentor program spans one calendar year (January to December). During the mentor program ECAP/WiAP Working Groups will organize a mentees and mentors event and a mid-term review to supervise the activity. An estimated timeline of the program can be seen below. After the first year, the mentorship can continue if both parties are interested , but outside the umbrella of the ECAP/WIAP mentorship program. The mentor-mentee pairs will agree on how often they want to meet during the program.
Useful information
How to handle problems
If any problems arise during the mentorship (e.g., issues between the parties, or with a third party), please contact the program team (ecapwg@euraap.org) and the issues will be sorted
Possible solutions are:
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Meeting with the two parties to try to solve the conflict.
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Disbanding the pair, potentially re-assigning the mentor/mentee with a new partner.
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Ban from the program in case of repeated or serious misconduct.
Confidentiality
Trust must be a verb before it is a noun. You must trust and be trustworthy to be trusted. It is one of the most, if not the most, important factors in the partnership.
Mentoring pairs will share information about one another throughout the association. Partners must be very clear on the limits they want to place on the information shared. Establishing clear boundaries is a big step toward building trust.
If you are a Mentor or a Mentee you will receive a document with some statements to start your agreement. You may accept these as they are, build upon them, or establish a completely new agreement. The important thing is that both partners concur with the Confidentiality Agreement. Any breach of the agreement may result in disciplinary actions.
Mentoring Program Team
Pilar Castillo- Tapia
KTH, Sweden
Organizer
Cristina Yepes
TNO, The Netherlands
Organizer
Oskar Zetterstrom
KTH, Sweden
Organizer
Francesca Vipiana
Politecnico di Torino, Italy
Organization support
Davide Comite
Sapienza University, Italy
Organization support