MOMENTUM: Women’s power in science – a path to leadership!

MOMENTUM: Women’s power in science – a path to leadership!

The first alumni meeting of the “MOMENTUM Women’s Leadership Journey” of the Münster Medical Faculty took place on September 17, 2025. This program supports female scientists in developing their personal leadership style and promoting their careers. Participants benefit from individual coaching and interactive workshops, with the aim of strengthening their awareness of their own leadership skills and actively testing different approaches.

Dr. Nadine Ludwig, a participant in the program, reported on her personal growth and a career change that was triggered by her experiences in the MOMENTUM program. Also Dr. Dilvin Semo emphasized the importance of exchange and support within the group for personal development. In recent years, the program has helped to strengthen female doctors and scientists at crucial career stages.

The goal of the MOMENTUM program

The MOMENTUM program, which has existed since 2020, aims to close the so-called “leaky pipeline” and create a better working environment for future generations. Prof. Dr. Petra Scheutzel pointed out that although the proportion of women in management positions has increased, many talented women are still lost in the qualification process. The program has so far produced five cohorts with a total of 73 female scientists and will continue in 2025.

The participants, who are in the late PhD stage of their medical or scientific careers, have the opportunity to identify personal development priorities and experiment with their leadership behavior in everyday situations. This takes place as part of a nine-month development journey that offers comprehensive personal feedback in the form of a Leadership Circle Profile (LCP). Two individual coaching sessions and five joint seminar days are also on the program.

Challenges and the path to equality

However, the proportion of women in management levels, especially in Germany, remains a challenge. According to a current analysis, the proportion of women in the 200 top-selling companies outside the financial sector is only around 18 percent. In the DAX-40, the 40 largest listed companies, the proportion of female board members is 23 percent. Although there is progress, women often only have a marginal role in top committees.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, only one company in the top 200 group had a woman as CEO, showing the decline from nine to five compared to the previous year. In addition, in almost every second of the top 200 companies there are no women represented on the board, which indicates structural problems in equality. Companies are trying to actively combat this underrepresentation with legal requirements for gender quotas on supervisory boards.

A critical mass of at least a third of women at the top management level is required in order to achieve significant effects on the gender pay gap, which is currently 18 percent in Germany. It is also crucial that both companies and supervisory boards actively work to specifically seek out and promote women in order to achieve equal participation in management positions.

The MOMENTUM program therefore represents an important building block in the long-term strategy to achieve these goals. The next call for applications takes place annually by January 31st and is open to doctors and natural scientists from the Medical Faculty and various research associations. In coaching, individual support for the participating scientists is of great importance.

For more information about the MOMENTUM program, please visit the official website Medical Faculty Münster. Detailed analyzes of the proportion of women in management positions can be found in DIW weekly report. Further information about individual leadership styles can be found here Leadership Journey funding program.