About ARIADNErewi

FAUmentoring ARIADNErewi is based on the idea of mentoring, a proven instrument from the field of personnel development. Logo ARIADNErewi im Rotton der Rewi-Fakultät

The basic building block of mentoring is a relationship between an experienced (professional) person (mentor) and a less experienced, more junior person (mentee). As an informal relationship, mentoring has long been an important factor for a successful career, and not only in academia. In the Anglo-American world, organized mentoring has established itself both inside and outside universities as a cornerstone of the promotion of young talent. Organized and formalized mentoring programs support several people at the same time and network them with each other.

Based on their life and professional experience, the mentors regularly support the mentee in

  • strategic questions of career planning,
  • practical questions regarding specific career steps or career
  • career decisions.

The mentees gain valuable insights into the mechanisms and unwritten rules of the academic world. They become more involved in formal and informal academic networks. The mentoring relationship is outside of normal superior-subordinate dependencies and is based on reciprocity; the mentors are also learners. ARIADNErewi does not offer a subject-based mentorship.
Supervision of the doctoral theses remains in the hands of the supervisors.

The individual mentoring is systematically combined with a framework program that is open in content and geared towards the specific needs of the female scientists.

Regular network meetings offer participants the opportunity to exchange ideas and network with each other. Over a period of 18 months, the program encourages female scientists to plan their academic careers in a targeted manner and strengthens their self-image as scientists. By building formal and informal networks beyond the boundaries of their own university, it supports the mentees in establishing themselves within the scientific community.

The opportunities and benefits for the mentees lie in

  • the acquisition of knowledge about structures, processes and rules of the game in the academic world,
  • the acquisition of career-relevant (subject-independent) key qualifications,
  • the development of new academic networks and integration into existing (formal and informal) academic networks,
  • gaining valuable insights into the experiences of a professionally advanced person working successfully in science.

Occasion and background

FAUmentoring ARIADNErewi is a measure of the “Target agreement to increase the proportion of women in science” concluded between the university management of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) and the faculties. With this agreement, FAU wants to actively contribute to increasing the proportion of women in all areas of science. The long-term goal is to increase the proportion of female professorships. However, to achieve this, it is necessary to increase the proportion of women at the previous qualification levels. The ARIADNErewi mentoring program is intended to help achieve this goal.

The reasons for the underrepresentation of female academics in the upper qualification levels can be found in individual as well as structural circumstances. In addition to the lack of support and targeted promotion of female academics, traditional role models also make it difficult for women to pursue an academic career. Moreover, the concept of “homosocial co-optation”, the different participation of women and men in formal and informal networks also plays a role, which is why women are less likely to be found in the upper academic qualification levels.

These diverse reasons block the view of the scientific excellence of female scientists. This is why ARIADNErewi aims to encourage women to pursue their academic careers consistently.

In April 2014, ARIADNErewi was launched for the first time at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Law. Just like the other ARIADNE mentoring programs at FAU, ARIADNErewi supports particularly high-potential female scientists on their path to an academic career. The program encourages female scientists to plan and pursue their academic careers in a targeted manner and strengthens their self-image as scientists. It also promotes the development of formal and informal networks and networking beyond the boundaries of their own university, thus ensuring better integration within the scientific community.

In autumn 2014, FAU’s ARIADNErewi mentoring program was included as a model example in the German Research Foundation’s (DFG) toolbox of best practice models for research-oriented gender equality work. When deciding on the inclusion, it was of central importance that this mentoring program is unique in Germany in terms of its approach and content.

FAUmentoring ARIADNErewi works according to the quality standards of the nationwide umbrella organization for mentoring at universities, Forum Mentoring e.V.