Development, Leadership, Visibility Initiative

Women Faculty Mentoring Program

A campus-wide survey in 1989 demonstrated that women faculty were leaving UW-Madison voluntarily before the time of promotion. Consequently, a Women Faculty Mentoring Program (WFMP) was begun with staff and faculty salary support by the Provost. Senior women faculty from an outside department, but within the same division, volunteer to serve as mentors for junior women. The WFMP sponsors four Brown Bag Sessions annually, an orientation/training session for mentors and mentees, an annual Women Faculty Mentor Award, and an annual reception to welcome new women faculty and celebrate promotions. This past year, a Peer Mentoring Program was begun by the WFMP and has resulted in several groups, including a peer mentoring group for women faculty of color and one for women faculty in physical sciences. Rates of tenure and departure are now comparable for men and women. An annual evaluation survey assesses the perceived benefit of the mentor relationship, the specific personal and professional areas sthe mentor has or has not been helpful with, and the value of the WFMP activities.

Evaluation:

The Women Faculty Mentoring Program run by the Office of the Provost is currently being evaluated by the WISELI Evaluation Team, and they will include in their longitudinal data system any existing data on this program, and will gather data on it in their in-depth impact studies (years one and five), campus-wide climate surveys, and, as determined by the Leadership Team, the Issues Studies.

Evaluation Reports:

Executive Summary (not yet available)

Final Evaluation Report

Additional links of interest:

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