About the Program

Mentees & Mentors Group Program

Purdue's Women in Engineering Program (WIEP) invites you to participate in our Mentees & Mentors Program (M&M). M&M is a unique opportunity to be a part of mentoring relationships that start here on campus and often extend beyond the college experience. Whether you consider yourself a mentee, a mentor, or both,mentoring relationships are key for sharing and receiving helpful advice about engineering, college life and successful preparation for the future. As such, it is worth noting that many companies also recognize the value of mentoring and have initiated mentoring programs for employees to enhance their professional and personal growth experiences. 

As a member of M&M, you will also have the privilege to network with practicing engineers, engineering alumni and engineering faculty members. Keep in mind that while your primary goal in college is education, it is 'added-value' activities, such as mentoring, that make the college years count among the most special and significant in your life. You will learn from these mentoring encounters as much as you gain in the classroom, including leadership skills to help you get the internship or job you desire after college. Also, employers expect students to get involved outside of their academics. Read quotes from past M&M participants and apply today!

Quotes from Participants:

-"M&M provides information I need and knowledge I can apply directly to my future." 

-"I have been a 4-year participant and have grown and improved immensely!" 

-"All the benefits I received from this program are invaluable!" 

-"Kept me motivated and enabled me to keep going with my major." 

-"Helped me become more familiar with girls in my major and my classes."

-"The Group mentoring program helped me to realize that I am not alone. There are so many other women in the same boat as me, and we can all get through this with the right support. I really enjoyed listening to the upperclassman talk about their classes, because that helped me to realize what I have to look forward to in future years!" 

-"I like most being able to meet other women in my major, which traditionally has an extremely small number of women." 

-"It has been really nice to hear from women who have gone through what I'm going through and to hear how they have succeeded. I also really liked being able to help freshmen who are just starting out in engineering and helping them with some of the things that I went through as well." 

Applying to the M&M Group Program

Depending on your needs as an individual, we offer two M&M programs from which to choose. If you would like to be considered for both programs, apply to your first choice and near the top of the application, you will have the option to mark if you would also like to be considered for your second choice. To better visualize the program differences, refer to the flowchart below.

"Group" mentoring participants mingle at monthly meetings which rotate between hosting guest speakers and fun group activities organized by the M&M program. These meetings/activities will help you to get to know other women in engineering (in small group activities- up to 8 women per group each meeting), to learn about strategies for reaching personal/professional goals, as well as to receive personal support and affirmation of your skills and values by others. The Group program provides group mentoring relationships where distinctions between mentors and mentees are not made (i.e., we all learn from one another) and flexible attendance requirements can accommodate students who will not be on campus for the full academic year (e.g., due to a study abroad/co-op opportunity or December graduation). In this group mentoring structure, you will have the opportunity to hear advice from a diverse group of women (which could include other engineering disciplines as well as your own). Please recognize that different participants may attend each meeting due to the flexible attendance requirements but that this provides a wonderful opportunity to meet a variety of new people throughout the year. The Group mentoring program typically meets monthly on Wednesdays from 5:30-7:00 p.m. with dinner provided. Participants in the Group program are required to attend at least 2 monthly meetings per semester (4 offered each semester) and at least one social event/semester (one offered each month). 

Learn more about the Small Group Program here.

The heart of the M&M program is the relationships you will develop by sharing/receiving helpful advice about your majors and engineering-related jobs, great classes to take, fun social events for breaks, etc. Join us and see for yourself how a mentoring relationship can be both beneficial and enjoyable!