MENTORING

Launched in 2019, our Mentoring Programme was created to support incoming Part I women-identifying and gender-diverse law students, especially those who face additional barriers to entering Law School. These barriers might include living with a disability or chronic health condition, identifying as LGBTQIA+ or an ethnic minority, coming from a refugee background, or growing up in a low socioeconomic context.

Since its inception, this has grown to become one of Women in Law’s most successful and impactful initiatives. Today, our programme proudly supports 300+ participants each year, with mentees paired with experienced senior law students based on shared positionality, lived experience, and interests.

The programme provides a strong foundation of pastoral support, leadership development, and community. Mentors receive dedicated training, while both mentors and mentees benefit from a range of events - from networking and social spaces to professional development sessions.

We are proud to run this initiative in partnership with Meredith Connell, who have been our sole sponsor and a consistent champion of equitable legal education.

Resources for Mentors & Mentees

Mentoring Handbook

Access our handbook for guidelines, tips and best practices.

Complaints Form

Report any issues or concerns regarding your mentoring experience.

Feedback Survey

Provide feedback on the mentoring program to help us improve.

Women in Law Mentor

“The best piece of advice I shared to my mentee was to trust the process and not compare her journey to others. As a first year law student, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed seeing peers doing well out of highschool. I reminded her that everyone’s path is different and that consistency, self-belief, and reflection are more important than rushing through milestones. ”

Women in Law Mentee

“Talk to your professors. Even if it seems super daunting at first it is such a good exercise for all sorts of things. It helps take away that stage fright feeling for when you want to interview and network for law clerk positions and it also creates some great mentor relationships because professors can really be the ultimate mentor and have so much great advice to impart.”

Mentoring Programme FAQs

  • Definitely! In fact, as a Part II you will have just experienced Part I Law online and during a pandemic - this is exactly what Part I students this year will be going through. Sharing your experience with them will be invaluable. You aren’t expected to teach your mentee the course content so don’t worry about that, your job is to provide pastoral support - to be a friend.

  • Your mentor is here to help you navigate the confusing first year of law school. They can help you figure out who to go to if you have questions about your course content, or if you have enrolment issues. They can also provide advice about what the first (and subsequent) years of law school are like. They are also human too - you can chat about your hobbies and interests, you might have more things in common than you think!

  • Your mentor should reach out to you within the first week of being paired up. They should let you know the best way to contact them - email, phone, Facebook, etc. If they don’t specify a means of contact, you can check with them what they would prefer.

  • You can contact your mentor as often as you need! It might be helpful to discuss at your first meeting if you would prefer to have regularly scheduled contact, or keep in contact on a more ad hoc basis. While this is up to the two of you and what works best for your circumstances, we recommend a minimum of three meet-ups per semester.

  • Please reach out to the Education Officers, Claudia and Yogita (uoawomeninlawmentoring@gmail.com) if your mentor has not contacted you within the first week of being paired up. If you are unable to get in contact with your mentor during the semester, please let us know about this too.

  • Your mentor is here to help you navigate the stressful first year of law school. However, your mentor is not a tutor - if you have questions about your assignments, your first port of call should be to ask your tutors or lecturers. However, your mentor can give you tips and tricks on how to work on your assignments and manage your time effectively.

  • No. Your mentor is not a tutor. They can give you tips on how to study for your exams, but they cannot run tutorials or teach you the course content. If you are struggling with the content, you should reach out to your tutors or lecturers - your mentor can help you with this if it is a bit daunting.

  • Communication is key in the mentoring relationship. If your mentee/mentor reaches out to you, make sure you respond in a timely manner. Life is busy - we totally get that - but make sure you don’t leave your partner wondering if you’ve fallen off the edge of the world because you haven’t responded to them in weeks.

  • We recommend that you meet up with your mentee at least three times each semester. However, your mentee may reach out from time to time with questions, or you might decide between yourselves to meet more often. Before signing up as a mentor, please make sure that you will have enough time to make these meetings and respond promptly when your mentee messages you/check in with your mentee regularly. We don’t want you to be stressed and overloaded, but if you do feel this way partway through the semester please reach out and let us know so we can help.