TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY AT QATAR WOMEN MENTORSHIP

PROGRAM
S. Akhter1, J. Bautista2, D. Al Huneidi3, S. Ghada4, A. Ruimi5
Texas A&M University at Qatar

Abstract
We report on the Women Mentorship Program, a new student-led program at Texas A&M University at
Qatar (TAMUQ) which aims to support and ease the transition of recent high school female students
into university life. Also, to help make their university experience more successful, so they can reach
their full potential. This program will develop a partnership between junior or senior female students with
freshman (female) students to share insights, knowledge, skills, information, and perspective to foster
the personal and professional growth of the students.
The program will provide an opportunity for the mentors to reflect on and grow their leadership
capabilities, as well as build professional and communication skills. It will benefit the mentees by helping
them develop new skills, have an improved understanding of how TAMUQ operates, create greater
access to new networks and contacts, and enhance enthusiasm for work with increased confidence in
one’s abilities.
Keywords: Mentor, mentee, engineering, women, female, transition, buddy-system

1 INTRODUCTION
It is a universal fact that STEM majors account for far more males than females. Nonetheless, Texas
A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ) has held a unique position since its inception in 2003 with 40% of its
engineering students being females. Texas A&M University at Qatar is situated in Doha (Qatar) and
offers Bachelor of Science (B.S) degrees in mechanical, chemical, electrical, mechanical and petroleum
engineering. This is one of the highest percentages in the world and twice the number of that in the US.
In this paper, we report on the launch of a female mentorship program at TAMUQ. This initiative was
led by three engineering undergraduate students, with the supervision of two female engineering faculty.
The team is shown in Fig. 1.
Previous studies on university mentorship programs in the US indicated that female students who were
assigned same-gender mentors during their first year were more likely to stay in school, graduate from
STEM fields related and it increased their sense of belonging [1][2][3]. In another study, results indicated
that mentorship programs improved students’ motivation to excel and led them to higher achievements
[4]. A recent study conducted at Texas A&M University at Qatar showed that female engineering
students experienced gender-bias related issues in the classroom and reported a lack of opportunities
in comparison to their male peers [5].
From these observations, it was proposed that a Women Mentorship Program (WMP) led by students
be developed to ease the transition of female students to the university, boost their confidence and
equip them with additional skills they need to succeed in school and the workplace. Entering university
and leaving the university are known to be particularly challenging times in the life of students. In
addition, this peer-mentorship program would allow female undergraduates and professionals to interact
and give students who have graduated a chance to share their success stories with other students. The
idea was well received by the administration who has been fully supporting the initiative.
Figure 1. The official launch of the program. From left, Syeda Akhter, Dr. Salama Ghada, Texas A&M
University at Qatar Dean, Dr. Ceasar Malave, Dana Al Huneidi, Dr. Annie Ruimi and Jerahmeel
Bautista.

2 METHODOLOGY
2.1 Research
The student leaders for the program were chosen from a pool of applicants. The students were selected
after writing a letter of motivation and completing an interview. The team started meeting weekly since
the beginning of the Fall semester. The student leaders researched existing mentorship programs in the
US, comparing some of their unique features. For instance, it is important to note that Texas A&M
University at Qatar is a co-ed educational system with more than fifty different nationalities represented.
Students decided on a timeline of event that would culminate in the launch of the mentorship program.

2.2 Logo and Mission Statement

Student leaders’ responsibilities included working with the Marcom team (Marketing and
Communication) at the university to design a logo, decide on a motto and release some promotional
material. The final logo is shown in Fig. 2. Student leaders also wrote a mission statement that would
capture the essence of the program which was finalised as ‘the goal of the Women Mentorship Program
is to develop a supportive community between female students, encourage female Aggies to share
insight, knowledge, skills, and perspectives, and foster the personal and professional growth of the
female student body’. The ‘Aggies’ term refers to members of the Texas A&M University community.

Figure 2. Final WMP logo

2.3 Survey
To advertise the program and recruit potential student mentors and mentees, student leaders decided
on a list of about ten questions to create an enrolment form. This is shown in the appendix. Questions
included major, class level, preferred language, previous mentoring experience, etc. This information
was deemed necessary when matching the mentors with the mentees. The enrolment form was
released on the Qualtrics website, open to all the Texas A&M University at Qatar students. The
questions were sent to the Registrar’s office for approval and cleared any issue of confidentiality or
voluntary information. The information technology (IT service) helped with releasing the enrolment form.

2.4 Official Launch Event

Student leaders planned the official launch of the program, which was set during lunchtime Tuesday
April 24, 2018. The event was attended by more than fifty people, students, faculty, administration, and
staff. In planning the event and ordering TV screens, microphones, flyer announcement and food items,
the students worked with multiple entities on campus, giving them an appreciation of the complexity of
the organization. Promotional material such as notebooks and water bottles with the WMP logo were
designed and ordered as well as pins with a ‘Ask me about WMP’ statement written on it.
A multiple choice trivia quiz with questions such as “Qatar is home to how many different
nationalities?100, 180, more than 250” , “In the early 1980, what was ~ the % of female engineers in
the US?, 5%, 10%, 18%” or “by the end of year 2000, How many female engineers were they in China
?~5 million, 10 million, 20 million”.

3 RESULTS
The mission statement was unveiled during the event. The launch of the program was a success, as
attendees were very interested in learning about the program and appeared genuinely supportive. Fig.
3 shows female students lining up to register as mentors to the incoming class of female freshmen for
Fall 2018. Fifteen female students signed up to be mentors and were happy to promote the program to
other students. This can appear a small number, but it is not since the university count a total of about
500 students, of which half are female so approximately 50 for each class level.
Already in planning, in the next month, the team is working on developing guidelines and expectations
for both the mentors and the mentees. Examples include appropriateness of places to meet, things to
discuss, confidentiality, etc. Upon reviewing the guidelines, interview of the students who have applied
to become mentors will take place, and those accepted will receive training followed by a matching
(mentor-mentee) phase.
The mentor-mentee will meet at their own convenience but preferably at least once a month with a
commitment to at least a semester. The program is entirely voluntary, and students may opt to drop out
if, so they feel. To gauge the success of the program and address any shortcoming and/or
improvements, the survey will be sent in the middle of the semester to both mentors and mentees.
Outstanding mentors who have displayed dedication and enthusiasm will be recognized annually with
an award.
To further advertise the program to mentors and incoming mentees as the Fall semester gets closer,
we plan to take part in freshmen events such as the Aggie 101 Week and the Aggie Involvement Fest,
which is where the several societies of TAMUQ come together and advertise to students, especially
freshmen, to take part in their organizations.
 Figure 3. Female students waiting to sign up to be mentors

4 CONCLUSION
We have reported on the Women Mentorship Program, a new student-led initiative at Texas A&M
University at Qatar, fully supported by the administration, which aims to match junior and senior female
students to incoming female engineering students transitioning from high-school. The program hopes
to develop a new kind of partnership between fellow female Aggies beyond the classroom, as they
exchange experience, insights, knowledge, and perspective. The event was successful at promoting the
objectives and missions of the program, receiving applications from fifteen students. The program was
introduced to the new incoming student class (Fall 2018) by the executive team at some recent event.
Future development of the program includes a senior-alumna mentorship program matching senior
female students to females in who have gone to work in the industry, government or academia. These
can consist of Texas A&M University at Qatar alumna but not necessary. Transitioning from university
life into the workplace is also known to be particularly challenging. The hope is that the students who
have benefited from being mentored become mentors themselves and go on the becoming mentors
after having established themselves in the workplace.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We acknowledge the financial support of the Transformative Educational Experience (TEE) program at
Texas A&M University at Qatar.

REFERENCES
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[2] Cramer, R. J., & Prentice-Dunn, S. (2007). Caring for the whole person: Guidelines for advancing
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https://mcnair.siu.edu/_common/documents/caring-for-the-whole-person.pdf
[3] Perez-Castillejos, R., & Santhanam, P.R. (2014). Student-led Mentoring Program Fostering
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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0187531
[5] Hillman S., Salama G. (2018) Female Participation in Engineering Fields: Successes, Challenges,
and Recommendations in a Non-western Context. In: Auer M., Guralnick D., Simonics I. (eds)
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APPENDIX