New women-focused mentorship programmes launched in Singapore

This year’s cohort will consist of 150 mentees and 29 mentors from 13 companies. Besides Dell Technologies, the companies include Aon, DBS, DXC Technology, Equinix, Google Cloud, the Infocomm Media Development Authority, J.P. Morgan, NTT Singapore, Prudential, Salesforce, ST Engineering, and the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisation.

“With Dell at the helm of the MentorConnect programme, we are working with industry partners to strengthen female representation in the tech sector. Our employees, together with other participating mentors, have the opportunity to do their part in preparing high-performing women mentees to take on leadership roles,” says Andy Sim, vice president and managing director for Singapore at Dell Technologies.

Speaking at the launch, Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo says: “To me, the essence of a successful mentorship programme is the creation of structures and processes around which people can access wisdom not through luck, but through systematic intervention.”

“By all accounts, MentorConnect is doing that, and I like the fact that this is a cross-company programme. This feature alone is quite interesting because the richest learnings for us as individuals will often come from people whose experiences overlap with ours the least. The stretch in our perspectives and thinking can only happen when you reach beyond the usual circle that you operate in.”

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MentorConnect was piloted in 2019 with eight mentors from Dell and three other participating organisations – IMDA, Salesforce and ST Engineering. Over the last three years, the programme has grown to involve nearly 50 mentors from 11 companies, benefitting 276 high-performing female mentees.

Closing the gender gap, the Micron way

Micron Technology is another company doing its part to close the gender gap in its workforce, and ultimately the tech sector.

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Its female workforce increased globally for the fourth year in a row, now representing 31% of the global workforce and trending ahead of the industry average. In Singapore, the company saw the percentage of women in technical roles grow to 32%, the highest among all Micron locations.

Moreover, more than 22% of the original patent applications that Micron filed in the fiscal year 2022 (FY22) named a woman as an inventor, for a total of 182 female team members — an increase of 10% over FY21.

Beyond its workforce, Micron hosts programmes designed to provide female students with access to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning and increase the pipeline of diverse talent.

For example, Micron’s Global Women’s Mentorship Program gives girls opportunities to learn about the professional world, acquire new skills, find their voice and get help from mentors as they advance in their careers. The programme was started in 2020 with just four mentors and 20 mentees at the Politecnico di Milano, Italy.

This year, Micron anticipates more than 80 women leaders and 270 students to join the programme, including 14 women leaders and 50 female students from Singapore. The six-week programme was launched on March 22, 2023.

“It is important to provide access to STEM learning to all underrepresented groups and equip students with the necessary skills to succeed. Mentorship programmes are one of the effective ways to make this happen. At Micron, our mentors are committed to supporting women at work and helping female students build confidence to develop professionally as they navigate challenges through their careers,” says Cher Whee Sim, Micron’s vice president of Global Talent Acquisition and Mobility.