Fit4Profin Mentoring Programme for Women
The free Fit4Profin mentoring programme prepares women for their appointment as professors. Over the course of a year, you will gain the knowledge and support you need to submit an application with confidence.
You have left the world of academia to pursue a successful career in business, or you are looking to take the next step in your academic career. You are wondering what career opportunities are available to PhD graduates with professional experience that also offer a secure job, freedom and opportunities for development.
If you also enjoy passing on your expertise to young people, then a professorship at a University of Applied Sciences might be of interest to you.
Our free mentoring program, Fit4Profin, provides you with the best possible preparation for your career: with insider knowledge and training, one-to-one mentoring and the chance to network with like-minded people.
What is the purpose of the mentoring programme?
The Fit4Profin mentoring programme prepares female researchers for a career as a professor at a university of applied sciences, providing them with information, guidance and training to empower them to submit an application within the next 1–2 years.
The programme creates physical and digital spaces for exchange, in which participants can share (in)formal knowledge with one another in a productive and meaningful way. The benefit of ‘being on a journey together with like-minded people’ is at least as important as practical know-how, guidance, feedback and training.
The programme is particularly suitable for women who are currently employed in the industry or science management and who meet most of the requirements for a professorship at a University of Applied Sciences.
- A degree from a University of Applied Sciences or a University, with a doctorate (to be completed over the course of the next year)
- A habilitation is not required
- Approximately 4 years’ professional experience (including approximately 2 years outside academia)
- Interest in taking up a teaching post as a Professor at a University of Applied Sciences
If you do not yet have any professional experience, please feel free to apply anyway – you will then be notified by email when the next application round begins or when we open events to a wider audience as part of the programme.
Further information is available here: https://www.lakof-bayern.de/downloads/ihre-berufung_professorin.pdf
How does one-to-one mentoring work?
As part of the mentoring programme, an experienced professor (mentor) supports a mentee (a prospective professor) in her professional development over a specific period of time. The programme focuses on dialogue, opportunities for job shadowing and self-reflection.
Above all, mentees expand their knowledge of day-to-day working life, application processes and career paths, preparing for a trial lecture, and the unwritten rules of the academic world.
The mentors develop their advisory and leadership skills, receive feedback and are given space for self-reflection, and gain insights into the situation of potential female professors outside the academic world.
Benefit from your mentor’s experience, gain an insight into the day-to-day working life of a Professor at a University of Applied Sciences, benefit from personalised feedback and insider knowledge to help your career, and learn to better assess what you still need to take the next step.
Opportunities for mentees
- A mentor will support you with solidarity, acting as a role model and a partner in reflection. They have first-hand experience of the role of a Professor at a university of applied sciences and can therefore provide you with first-hand information.
- You will gain an understanding of the formal and implicit structures, processes and rules within your mentor’s professional field.
- Through a series of workshops, you will gain practical knowledge, guidance and feedback to help you prepare your application.
- Coaching supports your personal and professional development.
- Through contact with your mentor, experts and other highly qualified women from the worlds of academia and business, you will create an environment in which taking a major career step becomes easier.
- Through peer group exchanges, you’ll find female partners who are a good fit for you and with whom you can better tackle the challenges of work, family and applications. You’re not alone – you’re part of a community of women working towards a new career goal.
The best gift is YOU: your life story, your personality, your experience, your openness. Support highly qualified women who are interested in your profession by listening to them and sharing what you know, observe and experience as a Professor.
Mentors are (emeritus) HAW professors. As a mentor, you act as a role model, point of contact and adviser with regard to your mentee’s personal and professional development.
Opportunities for mentors
- Participation in networking events and keynote talks
- Personalised coaching
- Reflection on and appreciation of one’s own professional or academic career
- Developing one’s own counselling, communication, reflective and leadership skills
- New inspiration and motivation for one’s own work
- Expansion of one’s professional or academic network
- The opportunity to nurture and support future generations
What are the arguments in favour of offering highly qualified women who are keen to make a change the option of returning to a university by publicising the mentoring programme internally?
- Anyone who is no longer happy with their job – perhaps because their circumstances have changed – will be grateful to you for pointing out this option.
- Anyone who actually takes up a professorship at a University of Applied Sciences through the programme will remain positively associated with your company for decades to come (rather than being ‘lost’ to the competition).
- Your company can thus benefit from partnerships and the recruitment of young talent, as well as in the area of employer branding.
The components of the Fit4Profin programme
Each mentoring cohort begins with a kick-off event and ends with a closing event. Peer group meetings, workshops and one-to-one mentoring, supplemented as required by one-to-one coaching, e.g. on mental blocks and individual emotional issues.
The Fit4Profin mentoring programme is structured as follows (please note that the chart is only available in German):
1) One-to-one mentoring: The focus is on regular, face-to-face interaction. We recommend at least three meetings, which are prepared and organised by the mentees.
2) Keynote talks: Experts share their knowledge and experiences regarding a career path leading to a professorship at a university of applied sciences. This is followed by a Q&A session, discussion and transfers (what specific insights can I take away to put into practice?).
3) Workshops on cross-disciplinary skills: During the programme year, all mentees take part together in two workshops to prepare their applications.
4) Optional one-to-one coaching: You will have the opportunity to discuss your personal concerns during a one-to-one coaching session. Possible topics include mental blocks, dealing with specific challenges, or your career and/or personal development.
Information on how the Fit4Profin programme works
Places are limited. Places are allocated through a matching process. Once you have submitted your application and brief CV, you will be informed whether you can take part in the next mentoring cycle. You will also receive an invitation to an introductory meeting, during which we will discuss your situation, any questions you may have, and your preferred mentor.
You can register as a mentor at any time: https://eveeno.com/fit4profin_mentorin
A mentoring pool will be gradually established with the help of your feedback. As soon as suitable applications from mentees are received, Monika von Aufschnaiter will contact you to arrange a matching interview. Please feel free to register even if you will only be available at some point next year.
The current aim is to have the matching process completed by the end of June (before the exam period begins).
However, a vacancy may also arise over the summer.
Anyone available to give short talks will be contacted separately.
Once you have registered and following your introductory meeting, the matching phase will take place. During this phase, the programme coordinator will contact your potential mentor and try to facilitate a partnership. Only once this step has been successfully completed can a definitive confirmation be given.
Each mentoring cohort begins with a kick-off event for all mentees and mentors. There is an opportunity to get to know one another and to find out more about the following topics:
- Women with PhDs in Business and Science, and the Benefits of Mentoring
- Recommendations for structuring mentoring sessions
- Recommendations for setting objectives in the mentoring process
- How can self-organised success groups work?
- Networking
You decide for yourselves whether and how you want to network with other participants who have similar needs – with the aim of ensuring that the success teams function effectively, particularly in the midst of a stressful daily routine.
The focus is on regular, face-to-face exchanges between the mentor and the mentee. We recommend at least three meetings, which are prepared and organised by the mentees. Job shadowing can be a good way to get to know the profession better: during job shadowing, you accompany your mentor to a teaching event and then discuss methodology, experiences and best practices. It is also possible – by arrangement – for you to lead part of the event yourself.
As mentees, you meet in small groups of 2–5 people, organising yourselves as and when required, to offer each other advice and support on individual matters relating to mentoring, trial teaching sessions, application forms or even balancing work and family life.
The following topics are expected to be offered:
Keynote talks to prepare for the workshops:
- “Applying for a position as a Professor at a University of Applied Sciences – Factors and tips for an effective application”
- “Designing and presenting a teaching concept – a guide and templates”
Workshops on the topic
- “Your application for a professorship at a University of Applied Sciences – feedback and training”
- “Optimising and presenting your teaching approach – feedback”.
You will have the opportunity to discuss your personal concerns as part of a one-to-one coaching session. This might include issues such as mental blocks, specific challenges, or your career and/or personal development.
At the closing event, to which both mentees and mentors are invited, we will look back on the mentoring year together and you will be presented with a certificate of attendance.
The mentoring programme and its components are evaluated at regular intervals throughout the year to ensure ongoing quality assurance and to continuously improve the programme based on your feedback.
From the kick-off event right through to the closing event, you will be supported by a programme coordinator, whom you can contact at any time if you have any questions and who will support you throughout the entire mentoring year.
Your contact person
The mentoring programme is funded by the
Women Professors Programme 2030 and is therefore free of charge for participants.
Fit4Profin contact person
