CASE STUDY: Manchester Digital accelerating women in digital

MentorHER is a mentoring programme, designed specifically for women in the tech industry, by Manchester Digital, and sits under their wide-ranging award-winning Digital Her programme. Its design is anchored in the Digital Her mission, inspiring girls to strive and supporting women to thrive.  

MentorHER was launched in 2022 and cohort 2 has just finished. The programme, which is run by Roxy Stafford, Programmes and Events Manager at Manchester Digital, has also launched a call out for both new mentors and mentees for cohort 3, which begins in April.  

The MentorHER programme is currently sponsored and facilitated by Auto Trader.

The problem

Digital Her was set up in 2018 to encourage young women and girls to consider a career in the tech industry and help them understand the wide range of different roles available, build professional confidence and community. However, it also became apparent that for women in the tech industry, retention was also a huge problem, for multiple different reasons.  

Research from the Tech Talent Charter found that just 21% of senior tech roles are held by women and only 20% of software engineers are women or non-binary. In addition to this, only 9% of tech employees are from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.  

Additionally, stats show us that women leave the tech industry twice as much as men. Tech Talent Charter research found that one in three women in tech are considering leaving their job for a non tech role. The research also found that 80% of women reported dissatisfaction with their career progression, which was a factor in them leaving. On top of this, McKinsey’s 2021 ‘Women in the Workplace’ report (external website) found that for every 100 men promoted to manager, only 86 women are promoted.  

The solution

MentorHER was launched in 2022 to provide purposeful mentoring and create a support network for women within the Greater Manchester tech network. The mentors and mentees are intentionally selected from different industry backgrounds.  

The key focus has been around early careers, in order to address the ‘leaky bucket’ and increase retention for women in the sector; an essential underpinning if we are to really shift the gender representation and equity dial long term. If we are not retaining and progressing more women within and up through companies, we will not see greater representation at every level of the workforce, creating true inclusion.  

The programme begins with a bespoke matching session, designed to carefully create lasting mentorships based on various traits and experiences. Once matched, the mentors and mentees meet for an in-person kick off session, followed by training sessions to best equip them as mentors and mentees respectfully. Once the programme is underway, each mentorship duo creates their own contract of commitment, with a range of online and in-person sessions taking place over the course of six months.  

Throughout this period, the Digital Her team and the sponsor host regular ‘connect’ sessions, on a wide range of relevant topics, as well as one-to-one support for any guidance needed for the cohort. At the end of the programme, the mentors and mentees are invited to an end of programme wrap-up and graduation, sharing of stories and celebrating successes. 

MentorHER is a sustainable programme, which asks mentees to commit to becoming a mentor when they have progressed in order to ensure women, as a community, pay it forward. However, it would not be possible without the continued support of its sponsors.  

The results  

Cohort 2, which has just concluded, saw 20 mentors and 20 mentees taking part in the programme. Overall since MentorHER was launched there have been more than 150 hours of mentoring time and 32 businesses in Greater Manchester involved.  

However, there are so many unquantifiable elements to an initiative like this, such as the inspiration, the ambition and the drive of women to support each other, as well as the longlasting connections made. Both mentee and mentors benefit.  

Lee Emery, Product Management Team Lead at Nexer Digital, wrote a wonderful blog post (external website) about her experiences as a mentor, saying “Through our conversations I hope I’ve offered my mentee a different perspective. I hope I’ve helped her see that she is more than capable in her role, and that she is in control of it and can impact its direction. I believe she has been able to see the power that she has to hold the pen and be the writer of her own tech future.” 

Mercy Fulani, Account Manager at noticed, said “Over the last six months, I have been a mentor in the Digital Her community. I had an inkling it would be rewarding but my goodness, I wasn’t fully prepared. Witnessing her growth over the time we have spent together has given me an unexplainable amount of pride and joy. On paper, I was the mentor but this relationship has taught me so much about myself, which is a great help as I search for my own mentor. It has reinforced the fact that I don’t see my career as ‘me me me’.” 

Cohort 3 will launch in April to support and provide mentorship for another set of women in their early careers and will also be supported by Auto Trader.

Find out more about the Digital Her programme (external website) 

Women in tech - mentees and mentors wanted  

Whether you are women in her early stage tech career looking for a mentor, or in tech or a woman with more professional experience keen to pay it forward as a mentor we want to hear from you.  

Register your interest for cohort 3 of MentorHER (external website)

If you are a community-minded tech company that resonates with Manchester Digital's mission, you can have a direct and real impact by sponsoring a future cohort. Get in touch with the team to talk about the opportunity.