"BreakING the Glass Ceiling - early installation of professional networks for female engineers" is the launch of a very special mentoring program for female students at the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, just in time for Diversity Day. It focuses primarily on contact with experienced female leaders in "typical" male domains. Those interested can apply now.

Another project for the support of women - is it really necessary? Women make up 40% of the students in our Faculty's undergraduate programs. And if they need targeted support, the Ruhr-University offers a wide range of coaching and continuing education programs.

So: Do we really need a new offer?

You can be sure - role models are lacking, especially outside the university! Female role models in industry are still hard to find and even more difficult for students to reach.

This is where the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering comes in with the new BreakING mentoring program, which specifically connects female master's students with experienced female managers. The structured program teaches skills that support successful career entry and strategic career planning - but most importantly, it brings female students together with female executives who have been competing in "typically" male industries for many years.

One of the program's mentors is Jessica Wergin, associate director at Turner & Townsend, who knows well the challenges female leaders face in the industry: "It doesn't hurt to demonstrate that you're not afraid of noise, dirt, and getting your hands dirty on the job site." However, she believes, "Authenticity is key in any field. Of course, you can adjust your choice of words and also your appearance. For me, it's not a contradiction to still wear high heels in the morning to the builders' meeting and construction site shoes and a hard hat in the afternoon - but if you don't feel comfortable in the construction site environment, you notice it very quickly."

Without role models, there is often a lack of imagination as to what one's own authenticity as a leader might actually look like. Mentor Bettina Hellenkamp, who worked for years in male-dominated companies as a journalist and press officer, is also familiar with this: "Unfortunately, I often had negative role models who showed me what I considered unpleasant or obsolete. But it is also possible to derive from this how things can be done better! Sometimes in very traditional structures, it helps to take individual mechanisms and combine that with modern leadership methods."

The female students can learn how to do this in the BreakING program. For example, from Dr. Birgit Sponheuer, who has just founded her own consulting company after more than 10 years at a leading strategy consulting firm and another 10 years in various management positions in the pharmaceutical industry. She knows the problem with a lack of role models: At the beginning of her career in strategy consulting, there was not a single woman in upper management among around 100 partners worldwide. That makes contacts outside one's own work environment all the more important. "Deliberately and purposefully build a professional network," Dr. Sponheuer advises today's students, adding, "As women, support each other wherever you can."

That the mentors come from such diverse industries is no coincidence. "Our graduates are being recruited more than ever by very different industries and companies," explains Dean Prof. Dr. Markus Knobloch. "That makes it all the more important that they have an idea of the many different paths open to them."