In relation to the number of female graduates, there are still fewer women starting a doctorate in many subjects. The Women Career Lunch (WoCa-Lunch) has set itself the goal of counteracting this loss of qualified women in the transition phases. These phases are also known as the "leaky pipeline". The Women Career Lunch is a modular plan designed to inform female Master's students about the doctorate as a possible career path and to reduce existing uncertainties in career planning.
The module plan consists of eight modules. The first module serves to get to know the participants and to record expectations and the existing doctoral project. Modules two to to seven offer the opportunity to invite internal and external professors to discuss topics relevant to the doctorate. The last module can serve as a conclusion and summarize the participants' experiences. It offers the opportunity to reflect on whether the doctoral project or career planning has changed as a result of the WoCa lunch.
One or two committed members of staff in the faculty or department are needed to organize a Women Career Lunch. It is helpful to set the dates for the individual modules at an early stage and to decide how many female students should be invited to the event. It can then be clarified whether the event series should take place online or in person and, if necessary, a suitable room can be booked.
The persons carrying out the modules can decide which modules are to be implemented and which professor or lecturer from their network is suitable for the respective module.
A questionnaire was created for the moderation of the modules. This contains a series of questions that the speakers can be asked during or after their talk or presentation.
Previous topics have been: "What is a doctorate?", "Doctorate as an academic career step?", "Doctorate as an industrial career step?", "How do I find a doctoral position?", "Dealing with doubts and problems before/in the doctorate?" and "Doctorate abroad?". If required and funded, the modules can be supplemented or replaced by coaching sessions for the students. Possible topics include 'Presentation and voice' and 'Mastering challenging situations with confidence'. Funding can currently be covered by the 'Career support and networking for young female academics' position in the Equal Opportunities Office.
