Mentoring programme helps female students prepare for ‘real world’

AMMAN — Thanks to the efforts of women mentors from all walks of life, the professional path of 24 female students has become much clearer. 

Ana Huna ("I am here" in Arabic) is an initiative targeting female students from the University of Jordan (UJ) which seeks to ease their entry into the labour market in a country where unemployment rates among women are among the highest in the region, standing at 33 per cent during the first quarter of 2017.

Funded by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the initiative is being implemented by the UJ Centre for Women's Studies, in cooperation with the Economic Integration of Women in the MENA Region Programme (EconoWin) and the German International Cooperation Agency. 

The programme follows the UJ and the Centre for Women's Studies' vision of women’s empowerment which facilitates women's access to the labour market, through enabling young women to interact directly and benefit from professional women in their respective fields, according to Abeer Dababneh, the centre’s director. 

"The main goal of the initiative is to empower young women to become more efficient in the labour market and better decision makers… today, we ended the first one-year phase of the programme and we will enter its second year," she recently highlighted during a networking event that brought together mentors and media personnel to discuss the  initiative. 

Under the programme, mentors and mentees meet regularly to help the students achieve their personal and professional objectives. 

The advisers are responsible for supporting students in realising their full potential, developing their career plans and strengthening their communication and leadership skills, according to organisers.

Mentors interviewed by The Jordan Times agreed on the impact the initiative has had on the students, especially regarding their career choices and personality changes.

With the "widening" gap between educational outcomes and the needs of the labour market, they stressed the significance of mentorship in helping students to have a glimpse of the real, professional world.    

The approach was also implemented in Egypt and Morocco over the past two years, "gaining notable success", the organisers added.