Copyright: CASA, Michael Schwettmann
With Diversity Mentoring, CASA offers a program for early career researchers who could experience discrimination based on gender, socioeconomic background, ethnic origin, skin color, sexual orientation, religion, and/or mental or physical ability.
The Importance of Mentoring at CASA
Mentoring is a process in which an experienced individual (mentor) shares their knowledge, skills, insights, and experiences to support and foster the growth of a less experienced or newer individual (mentee). The goal of mentoring is to enhance the personal and professional development of the mentee by establishing a supportive and advisory relationship. This relationship takes place in a protected environment, ideally free from hierarchy and potential dependencies. Additional prerequisites for the mentoring relationship include voluntariness, openness, confidentiality, respect, as well as availability within agreed-upon timeframes and commitment.
Diversity and Inclusion within the Mentoring Program
At CASA, we acknowledge the importance of mentoring programs within the academic system to support the development of early career researchers. Therefore, we not only continue to advocate for the advancement of female researchers but also provide mentoring opportunities for individuals with diverse gender identities who could experience discrimination based on gender, socioeconomic background, ethnic origin, skin color, sexual orientation, religion, and/or mental or physical abilities, taking into account the intersectionality of these categories. This allows us to approach equality work in a diversity-sensitive and discrimination-aware manner, enabling us to identify further areas for action.
Our CASA Diversity Mentoring Program is designed to provide tailored guidance and support for early career researchers.
Foundation of our Program
The eligibility for our program is not solely based on personal experiences with discrimination in the university environment. With our program, we address the broader structural discriminations that exist in society.
Definition of Diversity:
CASA understands diversity as the individual, structural and social differences and similarities between people, including researchers. Diversity encompasses more than just gender and includes aspects such as age, ethnic origin and nationality, sexual orientation, religion and ideology, mental and/or physical ability and social background (economic situation, non-academic background, migration history).
Copyright: CASA, Michael Schwettmann
Our initiative pursues two main goals:
At CASA, we are committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, and supportive environment where all early career researchers can thrive and succeed in their academic and professional endeavors.
Copyright: CASA, Michael Schwettmann
For all CASA researchers interested in participating in the CASA Diversity Mentoring Program, further information and the necessary documents are available in the CASA intranet. For any questions regarding the mentoring program, Kirsten Jäger is happy to assist.
Kirsten Jäger
Equal Opportunities & Diversity,
Quality & Event Management
