Women in Rail Mentoring Programme - 20 years on

Rajinder Pryor MBE, Head of Business Partnering (Southern), Route Services, Network Rail and Board Trustee, Women in Rail

It’s almost 20 years in the railway, since I joined on 24 January 2004, and I still love it. One thing I don’t take for granted is being able to come into work and feeling that you actually belong which is something to feel blessed about. In those 20 years I have worked in various roles and across different parts of Network Rail. It’s not always been easy, and I’ve had my fair share of challenges, but driving change is what I have always felt compelled to do. I’ve seen change happen across the organisation and the industry at large. It is perpetual. It never stops and so it shouldn’t.

One area where change hasn’t stopped which I’ve found hugely rewarding to be involved in is changing perspectives regarding equality, diversity and inclusion. In an environment like rail, I’ve found it to be an amazing place to try and push change forward. It’s also changed me as a person – for the better.

Why should it change though? The industry has made some important strides in tackling issues with diversity and gender representation, but women still make up less than 20% of the rail workforce, despite continual growth. There is so much more to do when we look at stats involving women working trackside or within civils and rolling stock. When we look a little further, we find that only 12% are from diverse backgrounds. For an industry that serves the whole country and everyone in it, that isn’t good enough. That is not representative of the people we serve or society at large. So, it is acknowledged collectively that work is still yet to be done. We are better together.

For me Women in Rail also changed my life. From tough challenging times and low points (personally and professionally) to being the first woman from an ethnic background to win Inspirational Woman of the Year at the inaugural Woman in Rail Awards 2018. It has helped me achieve, grow and help others. This gave me confidence to inspire others to talk about a taboo topic, spurring me on in becoming an Ambassador with Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse (EIDA) and I have been successfully driving how organisations in the rail industry embed a domestic abuse response which is part of their workplace culture as a safety net for those who need it.  When you think about it, vehicles for change like Women in Rail need to exist, partnering with others in order for us to empower and improve each other’s situations in organisations across rail.

Change in an industry like rail is a gradual process and it goes further than simply representation. Ensuring that opportunities for women are available as well as protecting rights and equality in the workplace and raising awareness of where issues still exist are hugely important - still -something which I passionately believe in and actively champion for.

Women in Rail is the sum of its parts. That is why we need initiatives like the Women in Rail Mentoring Programme which I lead with great pride. The programme itself was launched in 2014 aimed at empowering people to help them progress in their careers. Of course, that in turn creates equity in organisations.

The way the programme is structured, expertly delivered by our partners Moving Ahead ensures that what you take away from it, stays with you. Mentors are men and women professionals with a breadth of experience working across the rail industry. Mentees are matched with mentors from different companies and male mentees matched where possible with female mentors to promote diversity and inclusion.

Over nine months, whether you are a mentee or mentor, it will definitely change how you see yourself, how you interact and how you build relationships.

One of the most exciting things is that year on year, our data shows a significant lift in mentees’ positivity towards their long-term career prospects within the organisation in which they currently work. 41% of mentees participating in the 2023 programme were promoted, expanded their responsibilities or moved roles since the start of the mentoring programme. That’s outstanding and a credit to the organisations putting forward participants who in turn took the time from very busy schedules to prioritise their self-development or support others.

The topline statistics for the programme are quite incredible but it is also more than getting you ready for a promotion. For me, the mentoring programme was a spark. I remember my first meeting and thinking this could change my life, inspiring change where it was really needed for me. I was asked the right questions and felt in a safe space to open up and speak. That isn’t always the case. Not everyone has that opportunity. As I continued, I could see that the programme is so much more than just mentoring. It is about leadership as well. It is about helping people feel belonging, opening up, being a little scared and vulnerable to know themselves better. But then at the same time using those feelings and thinking ‘so what next, what can I do?’ Anything is possible when you have a growth mindset.

As I mentioned earlier though, rail still has a lot of work to do to improve equality.  In frontline roles, women struggle to move up the ladder. This is true across the board within rail. It took me many years before I took my first cagey step up the ladder. But I got there hence I’m such a huge advocate of mentoring.  Senior roles are a challenge for women to obtain and that challenge is brought into sharper focus when we look at ethnic minorities which figures show are represented even less at senior level.

It's this kind of change I’d like to keep moving forward with. The mentoring programme can unlock different mindsets for people. I know it did for me, allowing for somebody like me to think of themselves in positions and places that they hadn’t seen themselves in before - exploring how to navigate the inevitable obstacles that a woman or a person from an under-represented group may have to overcome. Because that ladder upwards is clearly slippery, any help from a person a couple of rungs higher up is invaluable, and no one will always know what challenges a person may have had to face to get as far as they have.

There is no doubt that the rail industry has work to do in understanding, developing and implementing changes. It is making big strides in overcoming the challenges it faces. I know Network Rail is working extremely hard at this which is why I have stayed. I am committed to its genuine intent to change.  However, standing still is falling short and as a Trustee within Women in Rail, I want to ensure that is never the case. We can’t allow that for the generations who will follow us.

I’d like to take this opportunity also to congratulate our Women in Rail Mentoring Programme partner Moving Ahead who celebrate 10 years as an organisation driving change and empowering so many, not only within rail, but across industries.

We can’t do this alone and need all our partners to help us along. As an industry we will get there. I know we will.