20 years of BayernMentoring: Awards honour influential figures at Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt (THI)

For 20 years, BayernMentoring has been supporting female students in STEM subjects. This cross-university programme brings them together with experienced female mentors from the worlds of business, academia, and public administration, offering insights into career paths, decision-making processes, and career prospects. This individual support is complemented by workshops, seminars, and networking events.

Professor Sabine Bschorer has been involved from the very beginning. She received an honorary award for her contribution to the development and establishment of BayernMentoring at universities of applied sciences. As one of the few women in her mechanical engineering course, she experienced firsthand how important guidance, exchange, and role models can be for one’s professional career. Together with representatives from other universities, she helped develop the cross-university concept and established the programme at THI at an early stage. For many years, she played a key role in its expansion and further development. Even after her term as Women’s Representative ended, she remained closely involved with BayernMentoring and led the programme at THI until 2023.

The story of Daniela Zierer demonstrates the long-term impact of this work. She first came into contact with BayernMentoring as a school pupil. This developed into a connection that accompanied her through all stages of the programme – from her first insights into technical study courses, through her academic study, to her career entry. Today, she herself supports young women as a mentor and passes on her experiences to female students at THI. She was awarded the Long-Term Mentoring Prize for her more than 15 years of commitment.

To mark the programme’s 20th anniversary, mentors, mentees, and programme managers from across Bavaria gathered in Würzburg. The focus was on the development of BayernMentoring, its impact on women’s career paths, and the question of how important personal support and resilient networks will continue to be for entering technical and natural science professions in the future.

The recognition of a co-founder of the programme and a former participant highlights the lasting impact of mentoring at THI. These two honours exemplify a cycle in which support fosters commitment, and participants become mentors themselves. This creates networks that connect generations of female students. Anyone interested in becoming a mentor from the winter semester onwards can contact bayernmentoring@thi.de.