After two successful rounds, the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences, the Unternehmerschaft Niederrhein and the "Leading Ladies in Town" network have built on the success of previous years and once again launched a joint mentoring programme. Under the title "Your Compass for Career Entry", twelve young, ambitious women have once again been taking advantage of the opportunity since March to be accompanied by managers from Lower Rhine companies on their career entry path.
From now on, the female graduates from the departments of industrial engineering, economics, healthcare, chemistry, engineering and computer science at the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences will have regular meetings and workshops with their mentors, which should not only better prepare the students for their later career entry and the choice of possible specialisation modules, but should also ultimately leverage and use personnel potential for the local economy. "In this way, the project is also our contribution to counteracting the shortage of labour and skilled workers," says Kirsten Wittke-Lemm, Managing Director of Unternehmerschaft Niederrhein. "Bringing qualified young women into contact with professional practice at an early stage as part of the mentoring programme and helping them to recognise and develop their own strengths and skills is the first step on the path to becoming the specialist or even manager of tomorrow."
The tandems got to know each other for the first time at the kick-off event in the offices of the Unternehmerschaft Niederrhein. Among others, 23-year-old Ashtar Abnoel and Dr Frauke von Knoop, Plant Manager at Baumer hhs GmbH in Krefeld, were "matched" with each other. "I'm delighted to have a female mentor, as I often face challenges as a woman in a male-dominated professional field," says the mentee, who is doing her Master's in "Production and Logistics" in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management at the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences. "Over the next few months, I want to work on my presentation and become more confident and self-assured. I would also like to expand my network and develop my communication skills." Her mentor would like to support her in this in the future. "I'm looking forward to exchanging ideas and working with Ashtar," says Dr Frauke von Knoop. "She strikes me as open-minded and motivated to develop further. This is a very good basis on which we can develop strategies together to better position Ashtar."
The mentoring programme is supervised by Prof. Ralf Kampker from the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, who is the main driving force behind the project. "Our aim is to offer young female graduates a safe space to leave their comfort zone. This is the only way personal development can succeed." Together with the Equal Opportunities Officer at Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences, Dr Sandra Laumen, and project manager Pola Jungmann, Kampker will offer the twelve tandems of mentees and mentors workshops on profile building and impulses on future topics for companies. The mentoring programme runs until November 2025.
With 12,948 students, the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences is one of the largest and most efficient universities of applied sciences in Germany with campuses in Krefeld and Mönchengladbach. With over 87 Bachelor's and 27 Master's degree programmes, the university opens up new perspectives for young people. Thanks to its problem- and transfer-orientated research, the HSNR is an innovative driving force for companies in the region.
More than just an employers' association: Unternehmerschaft Niederrhein offers its member companies a flat-rate expertise package from a multi-professional team of experts. From advice on labour law and labour science to collective bargaining policy issues, public relations work and further training - Unternehmerschaft Niederrhein provides member companies with an all-round carefree package. It is currently utilised by around 800 companies with around 90,000 employees. The area covered by the association is the left bank of the Lower Rhine.
