Mentorship is often spoken about as though it happens naturally. A young professional meets the right person. A conversation begins. Advice is offered. Confidence grows.
Sometimes that happens, but often it does not.
My own experience of mentorship came through my first job at Deloitte. I was fortunate to enter an organisation where guidance, coaching and access to senior colleagues were part of the environment. I did not have to work out how to find a mentor from scratch – the opportunity was already built into the system.
That experience shaped me, but it also left me with a question: what happens to those who do not begin their careers in organisations with formal development structures? Access to mentorship should not depend on being lucky enough to work in the right organisation.
Giving back
That question became more pressing as I built She Counts, a community for women in finance in the Middle East.
I wanted to find a practical way to give back, and quickly realised that many other women wanted the same. They were willing to share their experience but wanted a format that felt useful rather than symbolic.
Mentorship reduces some of the fear that comes with starting out
A chance meeting with a representative from a university in Dubai at an ACCA seminar eventually became the starting point. One conversation led to another and, almost a year later, the mentorship programme Guided Futures was born.
The three-month programme connects 28 women students with 28 women mentors from sectors including accountancy, finance, consulting, construction, retail, transport, shipping, investments and transformation.
The aim is not simply to match people and hope for the best. It is to give students structured access to professional perspectives they may not otherwise encounter.
Making the unknown manageable
The need feels particularly urgent because the route into work is becoming more complicated. Younger generations face challenges in securing their first role. Not every employer has a formal apprenticeship scheme, and entry-level recruitment is becoming increasingly competitive.
AI has added another layer. Technology is now used to screen applications and reduce large candidate pools. That may improve efficiency, but it can also make it harder for a student’s potential to be seen by a human being.
This is where I firmly believe networks matter.
Ultimately, people hire people. The more opportunities students have to speak with professionals, understand workplace expectations and demonstrate how they think, the better their chances of being recognised beyond a piece of paper.
Hearing directly from a mentee beats reading another report on Gen Z
Mentors can also make the unknown feel more manageable. They can explain what the workplace is really like, help students prepare for interviews, challenge assumptions and reduce some of the fear that comes with starting out.
There is also a regional and cultural dimension that should not be ignored. Many young women still feel more comfortable discussing uncertainty, confidence and ambition with other women. A female mentor may provide the first safe space where a student can ask honest questions.
That does not mean mentorship should remain exclusively female. The workplace is diverse, and future cohorts should involve men in a thoughtful and appropriate way. But for some students, that first relationship with a woman who understands the cultural context can be particularly valuable.
Win-win
Mentorship is often described as one person giving and another receiving. That is too simplistic. Mentorship allows mentees to gain perspective and gives mentors proximity to the next generation.
At our first in-person session at Guided Futures, mentees spoke openly about wanting meaningful careers but also wanting clearer boundaries around work. For mentors, hearing that directly was more powerful than reading another report about Gen Z.
A conversation may begin as guidance and end as an opportunity
The exchange gave experienced professionals a better understanding of how younger employees think, what they value and what they expect from the workplace. That matters for accountancy and every other profession facing questions about attraction, retention and the future of work.
Multiple mentors
I have had several mentors throughout my career, and I continue to seek new ones. No single person can provide every answer. As careers evolve, the questions change.
The greatest value of mentorship may not be the advice itself but the mentee gaining the confidence to ask a better question, make a different decision or imagine a route that previously felt unavailable. A conversation may begin as guidance and end as an opportunity.
When access is designed deliberately, mentorship stops being accidental. It becomes a bridge.
