Mentoring in the ProFiL Programme

In the ProFiL Programme, mentoring is used as a method of leadership development in higher education. Mentoring focuses on the informal transfer of experience and knowledge and the individual support of the participants by experienced professors or, in individual cases, by business leaders and leaders from relevant organisations.

This provides ProFiL participants with access to advisory and knowledge resources that have not yet been systematically used at German universities and are hardly accessible through formal training and continuing education methods.

Types of Mentoring

The ProFiL Programme offers two types of mentoring to respond to the mentees' diverse interests and requirements:

• One-to-one mentoring: mentoring tandem made up of one mentee and one mentor

• Group mentoring: mentoring team consisting of several mentees and one or two mentors

In one-to-one and group mentoring, support relationships are established with professors from universities and non-university research institutes or, in special cases, with business leaders and leaders from relevant organisations. For international participants, mentoring is offered in English.

Mentors counsel the mentees on career planning and provide them with constructive feedback on the mentees' academic profile, accomplishments and skills. They share important information on leadership requirements and on structures and processes in research and academia, explain unwritten rules and facilitate access to networks.

The Matching Process

Crucial for the matching of tandems and teams is the compatibility between the mentee's development goals and personality with the mentor's capacities and personality or that of the peers.

In a workshop and in individual consultations with the mentees, the mentoring form is determined. For the selection of mentors, either are profiles developed or the mentees name persons of their choice. In the case of group mentoring, peer teams are built in the course of a matching meeting, which is hosted by the head of the ProFiL Programme or the two coordinators of the English programme line.

Preparation and Process Monitoring

For first orientation, a mentoring guide and a mentoring agreement sample are made available. The mentees are offered a more detailed introduction to mentoring and a continuous process monitoring in workshops and one-to-one consultations. For the entire duration of the programme, the head of the ProFiL Programme and the two coordinators of the English programme line are continuously available as contact persons. The mentors are offered in-person and phone/online exchanges, tailored to their time constraints.