Lack of female role models within the agricultural industry is one of the biggest stumbling blocks for women working within the sector, according to a poll conducted for Women in Food and Agriculture.
The organisation’s online conference takes place this week on December 8-9, 2020 and aims to improve gender diversity in food and agriculture, while also inspiring attendees to transform the industry for the better.
Results shared showed 75% of the 2,500 respondents from the global food and agriculture industry said a lack of mentorship was a “significant barrier” to their progression.
In response, the organisation is setting up a global mentorship programme and hopes to pair around 20 young women working in the industry with mentors.
The scheme aims to support women of a range of backgrounds in their careers and professional development through monthly meetings.
The programme will be complemented with training sessions and roundtables so participants can share what they have learned.
Introducing the programme, Olympia Theocharous, head of content at Women in Food & Agriculture, said: “The sorts of people who it might provide barriers for are those who might not necessarily have someone of their race or their gender to look up to in their organisation.
“So they might want to be mentored by people who are like them. Also, if you are in a standalone role you might not feel there is anyone you can look up to in your organisation.
You might not have an organisation around you. You might be working independently. So there are quite a few situations where we find people don’t have those opportunities and we want to remedy that.”
Applications for mentors are open now on the WFA website. Applications for mentees will open in February.
