“This certificate will be noticed later in your applications,” says Prof. Dr. Katja Specht certainly. With a document and a handshake, the Vice President of the Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen (THM), who is responsible for studies and teaching, says goodbye to the first cohort of the “ProTHM” programme, which is intended to make the career goal of “professorship at a university of applied science” attractive to young women. Even though she herself found her way into teaching through detours, Specht is likely to be the role model that many of the 23 students have in mind when they think about such a career.

Not entirely unselfishly, the university "ProTHM" came into being in November 2020 with an application in the federal-state programme "FH Personal": The proportion of women at the THM , which is geared towards scientific and technical subjects, is low and under among the students the teachers even lower. Some job postings only receive a low single-digit number of applications, often purely male rounds - qualified minds are urgently needed. But in order to take up a HAW professorship, you need a lot of practical work experience. Only a few people dare to take the step back from a job in industry and business to university.

Among other things, the THM would like to introduce young "high potentials" to the career path at an early stage and bind them to the university. Around 2.56 million euros are available for this until 2027. Three pillars are intended to increase the flexibility and attractiveness of the HAW professorship career path, make it easier for newly appointed professors to start and stay, and as a first step to find qualified young people through targeted scouting - with a special focus on women.

That is why Department E was asked to propose “ProTHM” in early 2022 through performance and commitment. There were a total of 47 nominations for the first cohort, 36 women registered at the start in May, 23 went through the programme until the end. "Who can actually imagine a doctorate and maybe more?" Asks Specht at the end - at least around a third of women reports.

Of course, they first have to finish their studies. Most of the participants in the programme are in the second half of their master's degree, but there are also some bachelor's students. You attended workshops for nine months and had conversations with women - but also men such as President Prof. Dr. Matthias Willems - to find out basics about the profession of professorship, about its compatibility with your own family planning and also about how you can assert yourself in a male-dominated environment and use personal networks to your advantage.

"In the next round, we not only hope for further good suggestions from the Department , but also want to address doctoral students and post-docs this time," says Dr. Stefanie Klos, who is responsible for "ProTHM". The basis is to be expanded, the programme is even more adapted to the needs of the participants. So that success like this becomes a matter of course: Thanks to the programme, at least one participant has already decided on a doctorate in her subject - construction.