"I found the programme very enriching. The mixture of intensive discussions with a mentor I chose myself from another university, the workshops on offer, shared writing time and the exchange with my fellow mentees definitely helped me progress and strengthened my decision to stay in academia."

(Mentee, first year)

• new impulses and ideas for a career in science or science-related fields

• concretisation of individual career and future planning

• reflection on personal and professional skills and development opportunities

• insider knowledge about professional success strategies

• expansion of professional contacts and long-term networks

"My mentee asked very specific questions that made me reflect on my own career and behaviour. I found that very valuable. And it also helped me to convey what the findings from my career and my approaches can mean in a more generalised view. These now also flow into the mentoring of other doctoral candidates."

(Mentor, year 12)

• deepening personal interviewing and counselling skills

• reflection on own professional and methodological working methods and leadership skills

• opportunity to reflect on one's own career in dialogue with an independent doctoral candidate

• expansion of the professional network

From the mentees' perspective:

"The faculty and university benefit from participation in the mentoring programme insofar as they offer young, ambitious female academics the opportunity to further their individual career-relevant skills and to network on an interdisciplinary and inter-university level, thus also becoming a figurehead for the faculty or university. In addition, the mentoring programme contributes significantly to the successful completion of the doctoral process."

(Mentee, year 12)

• efficient use of the previously insufficiently tapped performance potential of qualified female scientists

• individual preparation of women for university leadership roles

• medium to long-term increase in the proportion of women in qualification levels and professorships as well as in management positions

• promoting interdisciplinary networking and establishing a supportive culture in which expertise is shared

• recruitment and long-term retention of qualified female employees at Paderborn University