Women's power in the church: Successful completion of the mentoring program

Women's power in the church: Successful completion of the mentoring program

In Eichstätt we can look forward to a special success: The mentoring program “Church in Mentoring – Women Shaping Leadership” celebrated its final round. Alena Buckl, Katharina Hupp and Stefanie Bauer presented today the individual projects they developed during the program. This program, which is carried out under the auspices of the Hildegardis Association in cooperation with the German Bishops' Conference, aims to increase the proportion of women in leadership positions in the Catholic Church and to promote their professional development. The visibility of women in the church is also part of the objective, as Diocese of Eichstätt reports.

The final event took place in the presence of head of office Thomas Schäfers, who gave the mentees valuable feedback. Stefanie Bauer, consultant to the head of the department, presented her project for structural optimization in the management area. Alena Buckl, the deputy head of the payroll department, presented her initiative to introduce digital personnel files in the Caritas area. Katharina Hupp, an art historian, explained the change in inventory software in the cultural sector. These projects not only reflect the individual strengths of the mentees, but also the positive influence of the program.

Background and objectives of the program

In the Germany-wide context, the promotion of female managers is of great importance. By 2025, the proportion of women in management positions in Germany is expected to be around 25 percent, which falls well short of the ambitions. The “Church in Mentoring” program responds to this need by working with a strengths-based approach and supporting the mentees in tandem with experienced mentors, as kirche-im-mentoring explains.

The aim is to increase the attractiveness of the church as a field of work and to promote sustainable personnel development. To date, over 250 mentees from various Catholic organizations have participated in this program and the results are encouraging. At the upper management levels, the proportion of women increased from 19% to 28%, and at the middle level it even increased from 24% to 34%. In the Episcopal Ordinariate of Eichstätt, the proportion of women is 22%, while 66% of the total workforce is already women.

Where is the journey going?

The German Bishops' Conference has set itself the goal of filling a third of leadership positions with women by 2023. In the long term, the share should be increased to 30-35% by 2030/35. The implementation of these goals should be supported through succession planning, development discussions and further training. Although there will be no new participants in the mentoring program next year, promoting women in leadership positions remains a strategic goal of the diocese.

The debate about the role of women in leadership positions and the need for measures to promote female leaders remains tense in Germany. While some companies, such as Cheplapharm, with around 50 percent women in management positions, show what is possible, the question remains how many more organizations will follow. In many cases, the implemented strategy is crucial: companies must carefully consider their approach between gender-neutral and gender-sensitive measures in order to be sustainable and successful. Gisela Schwack, a renowned prosecutor, encourages young women to take on these challenges and actively work for leadership positions. There is more about this in an interesting report by Das Wissen.