Career paths for women: Focus on the University of Greifswald’s mentoring program!

Career paths for women: Focus on the University of Greifswald’s mentoring program!

CareerWegeMentoring at the University of Greifswald has been providing crucial support for female scientists on their way to leadership positions for 14 years. According to the university, the program aims to promote female specialists and managers and therefore represents an important part of equality work. On June 12, 2025, the current funding cohort will be ceremoniously farewelled, which includes the 25 postdocs, 29 doctoral students, 60 graduates and 9 doctors who have taken part in the program so far.

In total, 428 mentees and alumnae have benefited from this important program since the mentoring began. Many graduates are now working in leading positions within science and are helping to raise third-party funding, which demonstrates the success of the program. One of the participants, Dr. Diclehan Ulucan, highlights the benefits of the program for her career planning. The mentoring program not only offers qualifications such as self-presentation, visibility and strategic career planning, but also ensures long-term networking for the participants.

Sustainability and networking

Contact with the participants is maintained even after the program has ended. Alumnae are actively involved in university processes and networks, which ensures lasting effects for the institution. Prof. Dr. Isabelle Dolezalek and Prof. Dr. Daria Antonenko, both alumnae of the program, emphasize the crucial role of mentoring in equal opportunities and the further qualification of female employees.
The programs are specifically aimed at women in order to counteract structural disadvantages in the science system.

Participants in the current funding period have the opportunity to look back on their successes on June 12, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. in the auditorium of the University of Greifswald. CareerWeightMentoring has been anchored by the university's equal opportunities officer since November 2011. Since the beginning, 117 postdocs, 121 doctoral students, 159 graduates and 31 participants in coaching groups have been supported. Since 2016, there have also been offers for alumnae who return as experts or mentors.

Mentoring in business

In addition to the scientific sector, business has also taken measures to promote women in leadership positions. The Cheplapharm company, founded in 2003, now employs over 350 people, the majority of whom are academics. The company's growth, which has increased by an average of 45 percent annually over the last three years, requires consistent internal personnel development, as HR Manager Jens Schmidt emphasizes.

Cheplapharm stands out with a proportion of women in management positions of almost 50 percent, which is above the national average of 25 percent and the value of 33 percent in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Nine female employees are currently taking part in a mentoring program that supports all young managers regardless of gender.

Katrin Bäsell, herself in a management position, explains that gender plays no role in personnel decisions - what matters is the potential, performance and motivation of the employees. Through the mentoring program, she learned to encourage even humble employees and develop potential leaders.

In order to strengthen equal opportunities and to specifically promote potential, such programs are of great importance for the development of leading specialists. The motive of these initiatives is not only to improve the quality of leadership skills, but also to create balance in a traditionally male-dominated environment.

The diverse approaches to promoting women in science and business show that the path to equality is complex, but positive changes can be achieved through targeted mentoring programs and networking. For many women, this is the key to a successful career in leadership positions.

For more information, visit the official website University of Greifswald as well as among the offers of Cheplapharm and general information about Funding programs for women in science and research.