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SSA Mentoring Program

Applications for the 2024 Mentoring Program are now closed

Please complete an Expression of Interest form if you are interested in participating in future opportunities, as a mentee or mentor.

If you have questions about the Program, please contact us by email: ssa.mentoring@gmail.com

Are you an early or mid-career statistician seeking support to develop your career? Or are you a more experienced statistician looking for opportunities to share your skills and career experiences with a new generation of statisticians?

Following a successful pilot in 2020, hosted by the Biostatistics and Bioinformatics section, the SSA Mentoring Committee was established to run an annual mentoring program, to support SSA members.

Program details

  • Applications to take part in the program will be open once a year to all SSA members. The program will run for six months.
  • Mentees and mentors will be matched by the SSA Mentoring Committee, taking into consideration applicants' career stage, area(s) of statistics and reasons for participating in the program. Successful applicants will be contacted by the committee with details of their proposed mentee/mentor match prior to program acceptance.
  • Each mentor will only be assigned one mentee.
  • Mentee-mentor pairs will aim to meet at least once a month, with a minimum of four meetings in-person or virtually expected over the course of the program.
  • Mentees will be responsible for arranging meetings with their mentor.
  • Mentors and mentees will be given opportunities to training resources and participate in peer group sessions to share experiences and build professional networks.
    The SSA Mentoring Committee will follow up with all participants during the program to monitor progress and provide additional support as required.

Who can apply?

  • Applicants must be an SSA member.
  • Mentees must be a student or within the first 10 years of their statistics career at time of application.
  • Mentors should have a minimum of five years' experience working as a statistician in academia, government or industry. Prior mentoring experience would be beneficial but is not a requirement to participate in the program.
  • Successful applicants must be SSA members and willing to commit to the 6-month program.

    Program experiences from past mentees and mentors

    The thing I liked is being able to pass on years of experience in just a few hours. I can share the mistakes I’ve made and decisions I made that ended up having benefits years later. The stats community in Australia is small, so it can be hard to get this career advice from other statisticians. Having a network helps us support the community and keep stats and science strong. - Adrian Barnett (Mentor)

    This has been a fantastic program to be a part of. I have gained such valuable knowledge and experience for myself as an early career researcher. I found it most reassuring to have a mentor who really cared and wanted to help me succeed in my transition to the workforce. - Rebecca Harding (Mentee)

    I found being a mentor in this program very rewarding. Getting the opportunity to connect with one of the SSA’s up-and-coming statisticians and talk about careers in statistics with them was something I really enjoyed and appreciated - Jess Kasza (Mentor)

    I found the mentoring experience to be rewarding, with modest time commitments. I was able to use my experience to give some perspective in discussions with my mentee about the ‘art’ of working of working as an applied statistician - Kris Rogers (Mentor)

    Being part of the mentoring program was really valuable. Having a mentor to ask career questions to helped me think about where I might want to end up and the things I should be working on for the next few years. It was also nice to hear about the experiences of someone I look up to and respect, hearing about what challenges they faced and how they overcame them. They don't teach you these things at university, I'd highly recommend joining the program! - Ben Harrap (Mentee)

    Mentoring a bright young statistician who works in isolation for an academic institution made me aware of our responsibility to educate and inspire the next generation of applied statisticians. And I was also inspired and energised interacting with a young statistician full of ambition and curiosity about navigating a career in statistical teaching (to non-specialists) and statistical consulting. - Terry Neeman (Mentor)


    Resources and useful links


    Committee

    • Karen Lamb (Program Co-chair, Melbourne)
    • Elizabeth Korevaar (Program Co-chair, Melbourne)
    • Nicole White (Brisbane)
    • Andrea Peng (Adelaide)
    • Julie Simpson (Melbourne)
    • Taya Collyer (Melbourne)

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