The Access Fellowship Programme is a six-month comprehensive initiative aimed at providing educational and professional opportunities to talented individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds - especially bursary students at Institutes of Higher Learning in Singapore.
In this single half-day programme, students are exposed to a diversity of career paths through sharings by various industry professionals. They are also educated on the importance of planning ahead and constructing possible career paths. This includes understanding the factors necessary to form decisions regarding their future careers.
As an optional follow-up to Pathways, students can also undergo Pathways+ where they will be given the opportunity to better understand their career anchors and the potential jobs that best suit their inclinations. They will be equipped with frameworks to research various industry roles, including the steps that need to be taken to reach their short and long-term goals.
Similar to a case competition format, participants will be presented with a Challenge Statement based on an assigned industry. They will be guided by mentors and facilitators over five sessions, and will collectively brainstorm and ideate innovative solutions to the Challenge Statement. At the end of the programme, teams will present their ideas to a panel of industry professionals who will provide feedback.
Mentees will be teamed up with a mentor who will share their experiences, guide them in exploring different academic and career routes, and support their individual development. Over the course of the mentorship programme, which typically constitutes four sessions, mentors will engage in skills-honing and nurturing, and address the main themes of each session through structured objectives.
Access is a social mobility charity providing career exposure opportunities for disadvantaged students in Singapore. We provide early intervention programmes that aim to help them explore different career paths, receive mentorship and guidance from industry professionals, and gain crucial workplace skills and experiences.