MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
Give and receive advice, gain knowledge, and make connections
WiML is committed to advancing the careers of women and non-binary people studying and working in machine learning. Many of our events have mentorship roundtables that bring together mentors and attendees in close conversation on technical and career topics. Outside of events, our annual long-term mentorship program fosters meaningful long-term connections and provides targeted mentorship on specific topics that are selected every year, ranging from PhD applications to job seeking.
Mentorship Program History
1st WiML Mentorship Program: Pilot, 2021–2022
Our pilot program in 2021–2022 was our first step toward establishing a formal, long-term mentorship community within WiML. The focus of the pilot was on general career development in machine learning, and the participants ranged from students to professionals.
2nd WiML Mentorship Program: PhD Applications, 2022–2023
Building on the success of our pilot, the 2022–2023 mentorship program narrowed its focus to support PhD applicants. This allowed us to provide tailored guidance throughout the PhD application process.
3rd WiML Mentorship Program: PhD Applications, 2023–2024
The 2023-2024 mentorship program continued with a focus on supporting members of our community applying to research-oriented degree programs in machine learning, including PhD and Masters programs. This year, WiML also received a grant from NeurIPS to support this work, and started funding mentees’ application fee expenses. The website for the 3rd mentorship program can be found here [website]. The success of the mentorship program so far was described here [NeurIPS website].
4th WiML Mentorship Program: Ph.D. Applications and Job Seekers, 2024–2025
The 2024-2025 mentorship program grew its focus to not only support graduate degree program applicants, but also job seekers, in partnership with WiML corporate partners. The website for the 4th mentorship program can be found here [website].