Today, women confidently conquer all areas of work and often only realise later that they have come up against the infamous “glass ceiling”; they do good work and are nevertheless overtaken on the career ladder by men - often through the mutual support of men. The mentoring programme aims to establish networks for women and encourage them to actively market their skills and confidently not only plan but also demand the next career step.
Women are still rarely to be found in the management levels of universities, political parties and companies, although they are often equally qualified. Traditional role expectations and an often still discriminatory personnel policy hinder their career advancement.
Mentoring programmes are a strategy to increase the number of women in management positions. Experienced managers (= mentor) support and accompany a younger, less experienced person (mentee) outside the usual superior-subordinate relationship for a defined period of time.
Advantages of mentoring programmes ...
- are systematically promoted on an individual basis;
- are supported in career planning, strengthen their motivation, obtain opportunities for their future careers, are offered career prospects;
- pave women the way to top management;
- gain a realistic insight into professional practice;
- are offered professional perspectives and contacts;
- represent goal-oriented alliances with experienced executives;
- are able to break through the so-called “glass ceiling.”
- give impulses for further personal development through equal and intensive exchange;
- offer the opportunity to win new employees for their projects as well as professional discussion partners and finding solutions together;
- offer the opportunity to pass on their own experiences to their young colleagues;
- enable feedback from the mentee;
- expand their own leadership competencies.
- mentoring is a measure of personnel development;
- mentoring increases the quality of the university through equal opportunities;
- the attractiveness of the study location increases;
- mentoring promotes young women in a targeted/individual way;
- the image is improved by the active support of qualified women;
- the programme offers additional public relation,
- the following is important: Mentoring is recommended by the BLK as an important measure.
The mentoring programme intends to create a network in which information, communication and cooperation are promoted for professional success. The mentoring programme at RPTU in Kaiserslautern aims to support students of advanced semesters, graduates and doctoral candidates individually and to support them in their career planning. The programme also aims to increase the proportion of women teaching at universities and in management positions in industry. Therefore, a professionally oriented network is to be established, which includes universities and companies.