plan m Mentoring in Science

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Objectives of the Initiative

Short term objectives:

• Minimizing the drop out rate of woman at higher ranks of science careers
• Professional career management for women scientists
• Gaining certainty about ones own career path
• Advancing ones career target-orientation
• Establishing a lasting mentoring-relationship
• Improving professional networking

Long term objectives:
The mentoring programmes want to add to higher numbers of women in top positions in science. Furthermore they provide a measure for gender balanced support for junior scientists as well at Bremen University as for third-party-funded institutions, such as collaborative research centres and clusters of excellence. Through providing higher gender awareness and better sensitisation and awareness of equal opportunities the mentoring programmes aim at influencing the work culture at the University and third-party-funded institutions.

Which barriers in the career stages of females does the initiative address?

The programmes aim specifically at reducing the impact of the “Leaky Pipeline”. Measures are to increase the visibility of the mentees in their scientific community and to broaden their professional networks. The provided key competences for a professional career management and development contribute to a quicker promotion to the next career level of the mentees. Dealing with possible measures for a better work-life-balance also helps the mentees to stay in the occupational area “science”.

Demonstrable success of the initiative

• Among 10 out of 11 participants of the first programme (2004-2006), plan m has supported a sustainable decision in favour of an academic career. A clearer view of the necessary career steps, the corresponding development of a strategy and a purposeful approach have triggered clear steps forward within a short period.
• Through the acquired self-effectiveness in career development and communication skills mentees are enabled to take pro-active influence on their careers, to develop their areas of responsibility, to assume executive roles and to consolidate their own position in the working group and the scientific community.
• Due to a better perception of gender-specific impact mechanisms in academic culture, participants gain better judgement of their own options for action, for structural conditions and obstacles.
• Honed gender-political awareness will enhance the mentees self-confidence in acting as women academics in male-dominated structures.
• Active networking continues to exist.

Motives for launching initiative

Gender Equality is one of the headline goals of Bremen University. Because mentoring has proved to be an effective measure to gain more gender equality, it was implemented at the university. The DFG realized that the German scientific system lacks efficiency and success because of a certain blindness regarding gendered perspectives and has made public the so called “Gleichstellungsstandards”. This has smoothed the way for gender balanced support of junior scientists at Bremen University.

The Equal Opportunities Office saw in mentoring the possibility to combine individual support for women scientists with structural needed impulses for the University as an organization.

Equal opportunity measures in the organisation before the initiative

• Women’s representatives at all levels
• Compatibility of family and career
• Office for anti-discrimination
• Equal opportunities officer
• Research and teaching in the fields of women and gender studies
• Competence centre “Women in natural and engineering sciences”

Target group(s) of the initiative

Direct target groups:

• women PhD students
• women Postdocs
• women doing a “Habilitation”
• female junior professors

Indirect target groups:

• male and female professors as mentors
• male and female professors as supervisors of the mentees
• work group colleagues of the mentees.

Implementation of the initiative

plan m comprises a range of specific mentoring programmes targeted at young women scientists in different scientific areas, i.e. natural sciences and engineering, which all seek to benefit mentees regarding:

• Career management in science
• Individual career advice, career planning and strategy development
• Individual and structural career obstacles for women
• Sciences culture: Rules of the game, values and norms
• Integration into important networks and the relevant scientific community
• Individual scientific profile
• Communication and conflict management and leadership skills.

In advance of each programme, there is a three to six months information phase. Potential mentees are targeted mainly through information events which are promoted by mailings, brochures etc. In addition, there is marketing material for each of the programmes (brochures, posters).

Each programme consists of four modules which entail different services:

1. “Networking module”, i.e.: organisation of round table discussions with professors and mentors.
2. “Seminar programme”; here, the mentees will jointly develop their needs for qualification in a workshop; the seminar programme is then organized according to each individual group’s profile and needs. There are 10-12 seminars per programme.
3. “One-to-one mentoring”; here, workshops are organized which are designed to develop criteria for the choice of a mentor; after that, the preferred mentors are contacted and acquired.
4. “Peer group” module, i.e.: realization of seminars on methods and techniques of peer consulting, organization of group meetings.                                                                       Each mentee-mentor team shall meet at least four times, however, there will often be spontaneous consultations. Experience up to now is very good. In some cases, where the mentor is located abroad, the mentees are even invited to visit and to join the mentor’s network. The mentoring relation is confidential.

The programmes are run by the Equal Opportunities office on behalf of the chancellor of Bremen University. In 2004-2009, one employee was working on the programmes (on a 75 % basis); from 2009 on two employees conduct the initiative (each on a 75 % basis). In addition, a student assistant works on the initiative during 7 hours/week. There are regular meetings between programme manager and co-ordinator. The initiative is internally managed and supervised by the chancellor and the equal opportunities officer as well as the advisory board. Evaluation is conducted by external experts.

Factors of success

1. plan m follows quality standards agreed on in a nationwide “Forum Mentoring”, but in some areas even exceeds these. I.e., there was a follow-up evaluation (see 36) while the identification of long term effects is not required by the standards.
2. Programme progress is monitored constantly, i.e. through workshops for taking stock, in order to identify and react to obstacles.
3. Each programme is tailored to the specific needs of the group of mentees that was chosen for the programme.

Obstacles, barriers to implementation

By backing of the chancellor and directors of the research institutions at which programmes are conducted, the mentoring programmes can be implemented without too much opposition

Lessons Learned

It is important to react to different work cultures in different scientific fields. Therefore measures must be tailored specifically to any target group.

Benefit for the organisation

Less women scientists drop out. Highly talented scientists continue to use their workpower for Bremen University.

Sustainability of the initiative

The first plan m programme was highly successful. With plan m having attained umbrella brand status in the meantime, the fifth programme is now already in progress. In addition to the central programmes for natural and engineering sciences and the humanities and social sciences financed via University funds and the Wolfgang Ritter Foundation, productive co-operation schemes with MARUM/GLOMAR and Collaborative Research Centre 597 “Transformations of the State” have been developed.

Transferability

The central programmes have been transferred to in-house programmes at collaborative research centres or clusters of excellence.

The programmes can be designed for any other institution of higher education, such as universities of applied sciences for instance or any other third party funded institution in higher education such as graduate schools.

Systematic Approach

- The mentoring is part of the overall efforts of the Equal Opportunities Office; the programme is embedded in a wider strategy to promote equal opportunities
- As the initiative is part of the equal opportunity strategy, R&D is also affected by the “Professorinnenprogramm” and the “Centre for Gender Studies”.

Innovation

An innovative approach is the programme’s orientation towards each specific group of mentees. In particular, the seminar programme is designed according to the needs and interests of the mentees (see Implementation). In addition, there are very effective implementation, monitoring and evaluation structures (see also Factors of Success).

Monitoring / Evaluation

http://www.chancengleichheit.uni-bremen.de/seiten/themen/mentoring/Evaluation/Plan%20m_Abschlussbericht1.pdf http://www.chancengleichheit.uni-bremen.de/seiten/aktuelles/plan%20m%20Folge-Evaluation.pdf

Summary: This initiative is good practice because...

plan m mentoring is highly successful. The effects on the mentees really result in higher positions, managing ones own career self-determinedly and self-effectively. Mentees gain more satisfaction in their line of work. Altogether, Bremen University and the German Science System gain more highly qualified scientists and research gaps can be filled. plan m also affects colleagues and superiors of mentees which leads to changes in the University structures with respect to equal opportunities.

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