Program Structure
Expressions of Interest to mentor in the 2026 program are now open.
The Faculty of Engineering and IT is delighted to announce the launch of the 2026 Intercultural Career Mentoring Program!
Now in its fourth year, this program aims to connect our alumni with current students, with a focus on global career readiness. We are seeking mentors from a range of Engineering & IT disciplines and cultural backgrounds, who are interested in learning more about cross cultural communication and giving back to students from diverse backgrounds.
The program consists of two parts.
Intercultural Training for Mentors
This training is provided to mentors free-of-charge as part of the program. It will help to inform your mentoring, will also provide you with valuable training that will benefit you in your career more broadly.
The session will be delivered by Project Global Citizen and will integrate University of Melbourne and AHRI (Australian Human Resources Institute) mentoring guidelines with Cultural Intelligence. During the session participants will create their own personal cultural profile to highlight how their own cultural background influences many common behaviours. From here they will create templates for dealing respectfully with people whose cultural background differs from their own. The session will involve activities designed to clearly demonstrate the differences that are usually unconsciously disregarded or assumed to be non-existent.
Outcomes for participants of this session are:
- To be able to identify their own personal cultural orientation.
- To be able to anticipate when differences may call for a modification in behaviour, or not. (Rather than mandating change for change's sake)
- To create strategies that can be applied to working effectively in multicultural teams.
- To upskill awareness of intercultural interactions, developing their leadership skills in this area.
Students will also complete Cultural Intelligence training prior to the commencement of the mentoring component of the program.
Mentoring
Following the completion of the students' Cultural Intelligence training session, mentors will be allocated to groups comprising three mentors and approximately ten students. Mentors will get to meet their mentees at a mentor and mentee workshop event. This event is an opportunity for introductions, getting to know your group, and to join an online group together to communicate over the following weeks.
During the mentoring period, we invite you to get to know your fellow mentors and your mentee group, and to guide your mentees with advice around your intercultural experiences in the workplace, insights into entering the industry and sharing knowledge of your field to better equip them to successfully enter the workforce after graduation.
The formal program will conclude with a networking event in September, providing the opportunity for a final check in between mentors and mentees, as well as an opportunity to network across other mentoring groups. This will provide mentors with a broader opportunity to connect with both our students as well as other mentors. Of course, we encourage the development of ongoing connections beyond the program too!