?SAER? INDUSTRY MENTORING PROGRAMME
EXTERNAL EVALUATION BRIEF
PROJECT OVERVIEW
TU Dublin is delighted to have been successful in securing a grant
from Salesforce to pilot an innovative project to support students
into meaningful internships during their studies and rewarding careers
post-graduation through mentoring and career development activities.
The Saer Industry Mentoring programme is being developed on a pilot
basis by TU Dublin?s School of Computer Science in City Campus in
collaboration with Computer Science faculties on the University?s
Blanchardstown and Tallaght campuses and extending to other
disciplines where relevant. Saer trains industry professionals in
early-career mentoring and connects them with student mentees. The
programme specifically targets groups traditionally underrepresented
in the Information Communications Technology (ICT) sector, including
females, those with disabilities, from socially disadvantaged
backgrounds and minority groups. In the short-term, students who
participate on the programme are supported into meaningful, paid
internships during their studies. Ultimately, Saer aims to lead
students on a path towards rewarding careers in technology-related
fields after graduation. Alongside mentoring from industry
professionals, students will also benefit from a range of career
development supports and a wraparound programme to connect them to
leaders in the ICT world. The overall goal of Saer is to promote
diversity and inclusive behaviours among future ICT professionals,
while developing a diverse pipeline of talent for the sector. Saer
originates in the old Irish tradition of learning from the Master and
becoming free to pursue one?s own career.
The pilot will run from December **Apply on the website** to December
**Apply on the website**. The development and design phase began in
September **Apply on the website**. The programme will include eight
individual mentoring sessions between student and their industry
mentor, alongside group mentoring to include industry and TU Dublin
mentors with students to explore unconscious bias and inclusive
behaviours. A wraparound programme will connect students with leaders
in industry who have taken non-traditional routes into their roles or
represent diversity in the sector. In the third phase of the
programme, students undertake internships and following will be
connected to a range of career development supports to equip them with
the required skills, attributes, knowledge and understanding to enter
meaningful and rewarding careers post-graduation.
TU Dublin is developing this programme in the context of Ireland being
a global Information and Communication Technology (ICT) hub with the
second-highest number of ICT specialists with tertiary education in
Europe (**Apply on the website**%). However, there is a persistent
shortage of ICT specialists in Ireland including the current vacancy
backlog, which is estimated to be about 5,**Apply on the website**
open roles (pre Covid_**Apply on the website**). Forecasts predict
**Apply on the website**,**Apply on the website** new?vacancies
for?persons with high-level ICT skills per annum by **Apply on the
website**,?in both international and indigenous Irish
companies.?**Apply on the website**% of Ireland?s difficult to fill
vacancies in October **Apply on the website** were for the ICT sector,
primarily for professional roles in software development, followed by
engineers, systems/solutions architects, business intelligence, tech
support and sales, and digital commerce managers, with **Apply on the
website**% of all vacancies being in entry-level positions.?While the
number of people in Ireland studying ICT has been rising over the last
few years, there are persistent diversity challenges, including:
* Lack of gender diversity
* Importation of talent
* Lack of people from disadvantaged and minority?groups and
communities
DELIVERY ? PROJECT STEPS & TIMELINE
* SEP ? DEC **APPLY ON THE WEBSITE**: Design and Development Phase
? stakeholder engagement + design of evaluation framework
* JAN ? MAY **APPLY ON THE WEBSITE**: Phase 1- Individual
mentoring -**Apply on the website** students/**Apply on the website**
mentors + mentor CPD
* SEP ? DEC **APPLY ON THE WEBSITE**: Phase 2 ? wraparound
programme + group mentoring for inclusivity
* FEB ? AUG **APPLY ON THE WEBSITE**: Phase 3 ? **Apply on the
website** students commence & complete internships
* SEP ? DEC **APPLY ON THE WEBSITE**: Final Evaluation
REPORTING, EVALUATION AND IMPACT MEASUREMENT
Effectiveness as a programme ? does it have impact and meet results?
Does it work? Is it an effective tool?
In order to fully maximise the potential of this programme and to
ensure that we are delivering a project that achieves and tracks the
proposed impact, we would like to work with an external agency to
support the development of an evaluation framework and the interim and
final evaluation of the programme.
We are seeking a quote from relevant companies to work with us to
deliver these reports and provide a framework for how best to gather
our data and to bring it together. We are seeking the following:
* Evaluation framework
* Interim report following phase 2 ? by January **Apply on the
website**
* Full and final external evaluation ? by January **Apply on the
website**
The evaluation should cover the following areas:
* Impact of the intervention
* Achievement of objectives as outlined to funders
* Profiles of students
* System of tracking students throughout the programme and
post-graduation
* Employer engagement
* Communications, promotion and awareness
* Challenges, trends and opportunities ? the wider context
* Analysis of findings
We will be in a position to share our concept notes and research, data
in relation to student recruitment, employers and other stakeholders.
We are also happy for the prospective organisation to suggest other
data that may prove important to the final evaluation.
PROJECT OUTPUTS IDENTIFIED WITH FUNDERS
OUTPUT - _DEADLINE_
* Data collection system to track programme results and graduate
outcomes in place - _DECEMBER **APPLY ON THE WEBSITE**_
* **Apply on the website** students from underrepresented groups
enrolled in programme - _JANUARY **APPLY ON THE WEBSITE**_
* Student participants receive at least 8 hours of individual
mentoring - _MAY **APPLY ON THE WEBSITE**_
* Students participating report attitudinal and behavioural changes
in relation to unconscious bias and inclusivity -_ SEPTEMBER **APPLY
ON THE WEBSITE**_
* **Apply on the website**% student participants secure meaningful
paid internships + **Apply on the website**% employed in ICT-related
field after graduation - _MARCH **APPLY ON THE WEBSITE**_
* **Apply on the website** industry mentors complete CPD in Early
Career Mentoring - _SEPTEMBER **APPLY ON THE WEBSITE**_
* Partner companies offer internships - _MARCH **APPLY ON THE
WEBSITE**_
The full funding application and relevant programme documentation will
be shared upon awarding of contract.
BUDGET
The proposed budget for this work is to a maximum of ?**Apply on the
website**,**Apply on the website** for three work packages which will
include development of evaluation framework, interim report and final
report and recommendations.
NEXT STEPS
Tenderers must submit a proposal of no more than 4 A4 pages (excluding
supporting documentation). Proposals should be submitted in the format
outlined below and include the following information.
* Knowledge & Understanding of Brief including prior experience in
working on educational pathway programmes
* Approach/Methodology ? including a timeframe and work plan
* Value for Money ? include detailed budget and expectations of
time required from TUDublin staff
* Further Information
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA - _SCORE_
* Knowledge & Understanding of Brief -_ **APPLY ON THE WEBSITE**_
* Approach/Methodology - _**APPLY ON THE WEBSITE**_
* Value for money - _**APPLY ON THE WEBSITE**_
* Track record (experience with mentoring programmes an advantage) -
_**APPLY ON THE WEBSITE**_
* TOTAL - _**APPLY ON THE WEBSITE**_
We request that all submissions be made by email to Dr. Deirdre Lillis
at **Apply on the website** no later than FRIDAY **APPLY ON THE
WEBSITE**TH APRIL. Following submission, we will shortlist to a
maximum of three and will request a phone call with all potential
candidates to discuss in more detail. Queries in relation to this
brief can be made to Anna McCarthy ? **Apply on the website**
We need : English (Good)
Type: Permanent
Payment:
Category: Others
