The start is promising: Alina Zelinska, who is attending the Bachelor's degree program "Sales and Marketing" taught in English at The Hochschule Niederrhein, is enthusiastic about the networking opportunities the program offers. She hopes "for a strong career development", as the 20-year-old Ukrainian explains. She is supported by entrepreneur Patricia Behrendt (Agentur für Deutsche Vermögensberatung, Kaarst) "I love to see people grow, especially women. Alina and I form a strong team," says Behrendt.
Mentee Alina Zelinska and mentor Patricia Behrendt form one of seven so-called tandems as part of the mentoring program, which is run by the Kompetenzzentrum Frau & Beruf Mittlerer Niederrhein (Competentia) together with The Hochschule Niederrhein. This fall, the program has already entered its fifth round. The aim is to make it easier for female students to start their careers and for small and medium-sized companies to recruit specialists. The aim is to increase the proportion of women in management positions. In addition to Patricia Behrendt, the following companies are taking part this time: Barbara Rührup (Dieckers GmbH und Co. KG, Willich), Ulrike Gewehr (In Time Personal- Dienstleistungen GmbH & Co. KG, Mönchengladbach), Anne van Overbrüggen (AnneConsulting, Brüggen), Christina Guth (CGW GmbH, Willich), Anna Lichtmann (VitalCentrum HODEY KG, Kamp-Lintfort) and Sascha Camps (MOStron Elektronik GmbH, Viersen).
The Hochschule Niederrhein students were able to apply for the program and were then invited to the kick-off event at the Haus der Wirtschaft in Viersen. After welcoming words from Dr. Thomas Jablonski, Managing Director of the Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft (WFG) für den Kreis Viersen mbH, and Dr. Sandra Laumen, Equal Opportunities Officer at The Hochschule Niederrhein, mentors and mentees got to know each other. "It was a room full of interesting conversations and positive vibes," is how Sabine Baum sums it up. She is part of the Competentia NRW WFG team and - together with Paskalia Mpairaktari from the AUGE Institute (Occupational Safety, Environmental Protection, Health Promotion and Efficiency) at The Hochschule Niederrhein - put the tandems together. "We used the application documents to work out which mentors and mentees were best suited to each other," explains Baum.
An intensive exchange now takes place for six months, both in the groups of two and at larger meetings. At "half-time", for example, all participants will meet at the university in Mönchengladbach in January.
Competentia Mittlerer Niederrhein, with its regional headquarters in Viersen, is sponsored by numerous partners. In addition to the WFG Kreis Viersen, these include the business development agency of the city of Krefeld, the district of Viersen, the city of Mönchengladbach and the AUGE Institute. The competence centres Frau & Beruf are part of the state initiative "Frau und Wirtschaft" (Women and Business) of the Ministry for Children, Youth, Family, Equality, Refugees and Integration of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
