Women face more challenges as they rise through the ranks in their careers, including getting promoted to leadership positions, according to the McKinsey report and the LeanIn study.
The Women’s Professional Development Programme (CFG1500) module is designed to provide year 2, 3 and 4 female undergraduate students with the knowledge and skills to succeed as a female in the workplace.
Students will have the opportunity to put their new skills into practice through the experiential group project and skills-focused training workshops conducted via e-learning and in person. Students will also be mentored by senior female leaders and engage in peer learning through experiential activities.
Receive exclusive mentorship
by a female leader
Design an initiative to solve workplace challenges faced by women
Acquire skills to accelerate your professional advancement
Programme Details & Registration
Modular Credits: 2MC, Unrestricted Elective Module (UEM)
Assessment and Grading Basis: CS/CU
Pre-requisites: Year 2, 3 and 4 female undergraduate students
Schedule: Semester 2 of AY2022/2023
Mode of Enrolment: You may register for this module by filling your details in the registration form. You will receive an email on about your registration status on the week of 12 December, 2022.
For any questions on this module, please e-mail lndcfg@nus.edu.sg and attention it to Camilla or Cecilia.
Module Structure
Session 1: Build Awareness on the Barriers Women Face in the Workplace
Understand the phenomenon of the ‘broken rung’ where fewer women reach the first level of management than men. Students will appreciate the complexities and various reasons why the broken rung exists including four common types of biases, self-stereotyping, network, communication styles, and career aspirations.
Session 2: Introduction to Design Thinking Process (Independent Interview and Ideation Process)
Apply design thinking techniques to create an initiative that will enable women to accelerate their advancement in their early careers.
Session 3: Build a Powerful Presence as a Woman; Speak Up and Show Your Value
Learn how to develop vocal skills and mindsets, including how to use an assertive communication style to advocate for themselves and achieve professional development at work.
Session 4: Can You Have It All?
Panel discussion with female leaders to explore how they manage multiple roles in their professional and personal lives, set priorities and boundaries, and practice self-care.
Session 5: Perfect Your Pitch
Delivered by an expert in the field, learn the secrets of pitching and presenting ideas as well as marketing techniques.
Session 6: Finale Event – Pitching & Networking
Students will get to pitch their project ideas and network with all mentors.
Workload
CFG1500 is an 8-week long module structured around six lessons and delivered in an e-learning and face to face workshops format.
There is no examination for this module.
Assessment Instructions for Students
Grading Components:
| Assessment Task |
Assessment Weightage |
Submission of Group Project
- Interview Summary (10%)
- Review session with mentor and submission of concept board (10%)
- Submission of presentation slide and pitch deck (20%)
- Pitching & Final Presentation (20%)
|
60% |
| In Class Participation (Session 3 & Session 5) |
20% |
| Reflection Paper (Session 4) |
10% |
| Canvas Forum Participation (Session 1 & Self Reflection Paper) | 10% |
| Total Module Score |
100% |
Passing Criteria for CFG1500:
CFG1500 is graded on a CS/CU basis. Submission and completion of all the following assessment components is compulsory to secure a CS grade in this module.
To pass this module, there will be 2 components that you are required to fulfil.
1. Assessments
- Submission and completion of all assessment components is compulsory to pass the module
2. Attendance Requirement
- All students must maintain at least 80% of classroom attendance (4 out of 5 live workshops).
- The student should not have a percentage of attendance less than 80% without any valid reason.
What our students say
“It always motivates me to meet other empowering and compassionate women leaders. I would like to thank the organisers of the wonderful WPDP that has been thoughtfully designed to develop young women holistically. It taught me how to take charge of my emotions, tools to navigate ambiguity and complexity, and broadened my perspective on the power of positive psychology and language.”
Cherie Lim, Business, Class of 2022
What our mentors say
“It was a great experience to share my career journey with a group of passionate female students as part of the Women's Professional Development Programme (WPDP). As an NUS Science alumna turned Marketer, I shed light on my career switch journey and how good mentorship enabled me to embark on my dream. It was insightful to hear students sharing their career challenges as well as aspirations. That gave me insights to better support my mentees and young team members as well. Due to its good engagement, I decided to contribute more of my time to the Programme and I look forward to being part of more students’ growth journeys!”
Alice Yu, Partners and Industry Marketing Lead, NCS Group
"It's great to be invited back to my alma mater to facilitate a Design Thinking workshop for the Women’s Professional Development Programme. It was a wonderful session seeing over 30 students solve a real world problem they can relate to. The students were equipped with design thinking tool kits and the critical thinking skills that they could bring to their new organisations when they graduated. It was a practical session that went beyond the academic curriculum.” Adeline is one of the mentors for the Women’s Professional Development Programme in AY2022/2023, Semester 2.
Adeline Tiah, CMO in Residence for startups, Adjunct lecturer at SUSS (School of Business), Author