Mentorship is a part of occupational health, said Dr. Marissa Baker.

Baker is an assistant professor with the University of Washington’s Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences’ School of Public Health. She keynoted a webinar on the subject with the Center for Construction Research & Training (CPWR) alongside her research coordinator and MPH (master’s in public health) student Lila Monsey.

The two are interested in female workplace experience – specifically in male-dominated industries. The presentation was an evaluation of their data – and the work created from them – at the end of a five-year study on mentoring women in the trades sponsored by CPWR.

While physical risks of the trades might be fairly apparent, Baker and Monsey also discussed “psychosocial risk factors” as well. These factors can be examples of discrimination, harassment and poor work/life balance. Baker gave examples: a lack of sanitary facilities, the disregard of supervisors, ill-fitting PPE and the inability to take on overtime or the same opportunities for advancement afforded to male peers due to greater family responsibilities.

“Exposure to these psychosocial safety hazards can not only be tied to resultant physical but also mental and emotional outcomes – stress, burnout, job satisfaction and retention and so much more. These tradeswomen are at a higher risk for psychosocial and even physical risk factors than their male counterparts.”

The study Baker and Monsey were connected to (funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) via CPWR) spent five years operating under the thesis that mentorship from qualified industry workers who have “been there, done that” could close some of those gaps and boost retention and long-term success.

The program trained mentors from the SMART (Sheet Metal, Air, Rail & Transportation) Union using the curriculum Baker and Monsey created. The mentors were journey-level women and the mentees, fourth- or fifth-year apprentices. The study observed the pairs throughout a year of mentorship, assessing several outcomes including stress levels, intent to leave, injury and use/application of skills learned during the relationship.

When it came to the goal behind the curriculum, Baker said, “Mentorship as an intervention strategy offers confidence and skills to tradeswomen through targeted support.” The group sought to provide a “toolbox of skills” – active listening, goal setting, problem solving and self-advocacy – among others.

The actual SMART mentor curriculum had two components: a self-paced online section and a hybrid section incorporating online work with some live Zoom training sessions. Each module dealt with a different topic utilizing many different elements (audio, text, etc.) and all were structured to keep engagement time down and be conscious of participants’ busy schedules. Roleplay opportunities are incorporated for mentors to practice what they are learning.

You can structure your own mentorship program at your local or within your organization. In fact, Baker and Monsey would love to see a replication of their efforts facilitated.

Support needs to be gauged – “Who shares your vision?” You have to be aware of potential pushback from prospective participants too. Baker shared the line “This will put a target on my back.” How can you spin the message and goals of your program to counter some of these fears and concerns? Messaging is everything when you’re looking to launch a program like this.

Will you have qualified individuals at hand to help staff and facilitate the program? You will need someone to coordinate logistically via email and to conduct meetings. The coordinator might conduct in-person pitches within the organization and without to raise awareness of the program. They might take part in recruiting within the organization or play a part in matching mentors and mentees.

A mentor support person should be someone who has “been in the trenches,” who can provide confidential support to mentors and mentees. (The duo suggested this is possibly a retired member of the group – someone a little removed from the day-to-day work and able to maintain neutrality.)

A trainer or facilitator is the individual who will be conducting the mentor training and tapping in for any additional instruction or guidance that’s needed. They should ideally have some facilitation or leadership experience.

To select mentors, Baker and Monsey suggested looking for individuals who have the requisite experience and who display good communication skills and a willingness to learn and grow.

When matching them to mentees, the connection doesn’t have to be complicated: look for schedule overlaps, common identity factors or similar personalities.

The duo listed some activities that might give mentors and mentees input into the process: First, mentor biographies – they can list anything about themselves of value in a professional context: availability, personality type, why they want to mentor and what they think they can bring to the table.

In their pilot program, Baker and Monsey shared these biographies with potential mentees and let the mentees rank their top three personal preferences, scaling mentor assignments from there.

The pair also suggested some variation of a social mixer, which offers a time and place for mentors and mentees to get to know each other a little better and rank those they might like to work with based on conversation and interaction.

Make sure you can make it worth your participants’ time and effort – you have to be able to provide some type of certification or compensation, even if it’s just within your own organization. This is especially important for your mentors – you must provide certification and recognition for completing the training program and working the program.

This won’t be a “set it and forget it” type of program, even once the wheels of each component are in motion. It’s crucial for the long-term success of the program that you implement a continual feedback cycle, checking in with mentors and mentees and gauging responses via evaluation, surveys, etc.

Those interested in perusing the SMART training mentioned above can visit https://phlearnlink.nwcphp.org/course/view.php?id=358. The link redirects to PH LearnLink, the online portal to trainings from the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice. Anyone can create an account at no charge. The training can be found under the course name “Mentoring SMART Women.”

by Andy Haman