Unfortunately, as the second Beyond Basics Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) results show, more than half of India’s school-going children are not so lucky. The report which surveyed children between 14-18 years (who form around 10% of India’s 1.4 billion strong population, and, at least according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey data, 75% of whom live in rural India), showed that schools are failing in shaping their aspirations. Nearly half of 14-18-year-old Indians do not know anyone doing the work they aspire to do — and schools are neither having conversations with students on career goals, nor are they providing role models.

Providing role models to underprivileged adolescent girls was the intent of Wonder Girls, a learning platform that I mentored for a couple of years. Inspired by a book by the same name by Varsha Adusumilli, the programme’s founder, the idea was to introduce role models from diverse professions (scientists, journalists, entrepreneurs) in a structured and safe way, to encourage students to broaden their career horizons. Needless to say, this was very well-received by teachers and students. As a mentor to the programme itself, I helped introduce the bright young girls to a world that they would have not have had access to otherwise. And though I am no longer associated with the programme, I am optimistic of the chances that these now young women have in pursuing a career.

However, over the course of 30 years since leaving school, I’ve learnt that one needs more than role models to succeed. In fact, as social scientist Ruth Gotian writes in Forbes magazine — and borne out by my own personal experience — we all need a role model, a mentor, a coach and a sponsor.

What does each do? Let me explain.

A role model, says Gotian, is someone you admire, look up to, whose traits you wish to “emulate.” You may know them personally, or you may not. For example, my role model is Lynda Gratton, a professor at London Business School. She lives a portfolio life, combining three professions of writing, teaching and public speaking, which I seek to emulate. While she is a family friend, I do not speak to her regularly, so she is more of a role model than a mentor.

A mentor according to Gotian, “is someone who talks with you about your career, goals, plans, and aspirations. They help you refine your plan, suggest people you should talk to, opportunities you should partake in, and obstacles you should be aware of.” I have been fortunate to have such a mentor in Khozem Merchant, a communications expert, who has helped me through an important career transition, from working in a family business, to full-time writing and journalism, over the last 15 years. I cannot imagine being the author of a national bestseller without his guidance.

Khozem and Lynda were complemented by my mother, Gita Piramal, a business historian, who has coached me as a writer. “A coach is someone who talks at you as you try to perfect something very specific, like a TED talk,” states Gotian. My mother has often helped me solve some tricky writing challenges.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we all need sponsors, who create opportunities for us, “someone who talks about you when you are not in the room,” as Gothian writes. Khozem has been such a sponsor as well as other individuals, who have generated professional opportunities and connections for me. Some experts feel that sponsors are even more important than mentors, since they advocate on your behalf, within an organisation or outside it.

Most people struggle to find one mentor, but here I am suggesting that we need more than one such person in our professional lives. Yet I couldn’t have made the professional transition that I did — from family business to a life consisting of writing, public speaking and teaching — without these individuals. No doubt, cash-strapped schools are unlikely to provide these resources to our youth. But our corporate sector could. A partnership between the corporate and business sector and schools, particularly those that are rural India, would help give the youth — our biggest demographic dividend — its much needed aspiration. They can offer role models, mentors, coaches and sponsors to students, which would no doubt help to narrow the skills gap, provide companies with a truly employable workforce, and most significantly, give our youth new dreams.

Aparna Piramal Raje is the author of ‘Chemical Khichdi: How I Hacked My Mental Health’ and 'Working Out of the Box: 40 Stories of Leading CEOs'. The views expressed are personal.