WiJ Scotland 2025 Mentoring Scheme

The Women in Journalism (WiJ) Scotland has launched the fifth round of its successful mentoring scheme.

The mentoring scheme has supported more than 100 women journalists of all ages and backgrounds to date, from beats as diverse as politics and investigations to travel, food and drink, arts, health, sport, local news, digital, data, opinion and tech.

The 2025 mentoring scheme will draw on the knowledge and experience of a pool of experienced women journalist mentors. Successful applicants will be paired with a journalist mentor based on their specialism/goals. Mentees will receive:

• Twelve career development sessions
• An introductory online workshop guiding them through what to expect from the mentoring year
• A mentoring meet-up at BBC Scotland HQ with wine and snacks, where they will get to know other mentees and mentors and network with BBC Scotland journalists
• Invitations to events hosted throughout the year by Women in Journalism Scotland

Who can apply?

• Early and mid-career women journalists working in Scotland will be chosen to take part in a year-long programme, which will include an hour a month of their mentor’s time, most likely on Zoom.
• WiJ Scotland defines an early to mid-career journalist as someone who feels they still have space to grow in their career and has specific goals they feel a mentor could help with. They would particularly urge journalists who have lost confidence or career direction to apply.
• Boosting the number of women of colour journalists and women sports journalists in Scotland is one of their goals. Therefore, while the mentoring scheme is not generally open to student journalists, it is open to women of colour student journalists and students who want to be sports journalists.
• Applicants must be a member of Women in Journalism Scotland.

Benefits

• A year’s mentoring with an established women journalist with sessions conducted either in person or on Zoom
• An invite to an introductory mentoring workshop and an in-person mentoring social at BBC Scotland’s HQ
• The chance to connect with other mentees on the scheme through via Discord or WhatsApp
• Career development, opportunities and guidance from Women in Journalism Scotland

How to apply

The deadline for applications is December 18, 2024. To learn more and apply, please click here.