Five sisters, born in Gosforth, have made it their mission to guide students who, have trouble choosing a career for them, once they look for universities. The mission is to guide the students into the right field, by mentoring them for different career paths.
‘5 Diamond Mentorship’ was formed two years ago by Sumita Mahtab Shiekh, a lawyer, Dr Surita Mahtab Chaudhary and Dr Kabita Mahtab Shah, both dentists, Dr Najibah Mahtab, a consultant Clinical Oncologist and Tanveer Mahtab Ahmed, a Charted Accountant.
“It all started, just when us five sisters were having a chat”, says Dr Surita Matab.
“We realised that there are quite a few students reaching out to us, individually, for help and support. It’s only when we spoke to each other, we realised, we were in a similar situation, where students were asking us to get support, in different careers, like medicine, law or dentistry” she continued.
“We realised that there are lot of students out there who are looking for support and guidance and that’s when we decided to set up something a little bit more formal, just so we can help as many students as possible, so we set up this independent and not-for-profit organisation. Our aim is to support, guide and mentor students to enter the same industries as ourselves.”
“Once we started the workshop, we realised how much help students need, which is a bit strange, because this is a digital world, there is a lot of information out there, but all of it can make students confused.”
When the organisation started, the pandemic was at its peak and restrictions were set in place. It was the time, when restrictions also affected students who needed guidance on their careers.
Dr Surita recalls, “During the Covid lockdown, all five of us were having regular zoom sessions, and that’s when we found it that because of the lockdown, a lot of students were facing a lot of difficulties, a lot of places were not offering work experience because of the lockdown. They couldn’t attend schools face to face, so they didn’t have a direct contact with someone who could help them.”
“We launched in September 2021, and our first workshop was in November, post which the Covid guidelines eased, and we continued our work. But I don’t think the lockdowns and the restrictions stopped us from doing what we were doing.”
Speaking of students of South Asian heritage who need help, “The majority of students who attend our workshops are from a South Asian heritage. Naturally, all the time, we do have a natural hunger for success, we want to work hard and do well in life.”
She continued, “Most of the time, these students don’t have anyone in their family, who they can network with and ask advice for, so they find it useful that they can ask us.”
Speaking of her own journey into dentistry, Surita says, “It was a boy’s club. For example, when I did my work experience, most dentists were white males. It can be intimidating, not seeing someone who looks like you. But I think that’s changing, in all professions and there is a lot more representation, in terms of males, females and different ethnic minorities”.
“This change”, Surita says, attracts a lot of South Asian students towards new careers.
Five Diamond mentorship, as of now, provides career guidance in law, dentistry, medicine and accountancy. The fields each sister is individually working in.
“We definitely want to expand, we are looking for mentors, from different fields, we have students from different fields, like engineering who reach out to us for help,” says Surita.
The name 5 Diamonds, comes from a Bengali term, Ponchoratna, it was given by their father, Mahtab Miah.
Image: Dr Surita Mahtab Chaudhary
Dr Najiba Mahtab, who is a consultant clinical oncologist in Newcastle, providing an insight into the workshops said: “The workshops provide an overview of the career and the medicine workshop I lead provides details of different specialties presented by varied professionals and the opportunity to take part in practical aspects such as learning how to use a stethoscope.
The idea is mentoring long term for however long the student needs it and we can form a relationship moving forward when they can also turn their hand to mentoring too in the future.”
Dr Kabita Mahtab, also a dentist, describes the kind of students approaching them for help and assistance, “We have had several refugee students attend our workshop, who had to flee their country due to war and subsequently had to abandon their studies, leave everything behind. Amazingly this did not stop them from pursuing their dreams of becoming a Dentist. So, to have the opportunity to guide and mentor these kids has been an absolute honour.”
Sumita Mahtab, another ‘diamond’ among the five diamonds, speaks about success of students, who the organisation has mentored: “All students who have completed our workshop join our alumni, which offers free access to our mentors for ongoing support, advice and direct 1-on-1 work experience placements.”
Five-Diamond mentorship currently takes place in Newcastle, Manchester and London. For more information visit https://5diamondsmentorship.co.uk/
