Strengthening and Networking: The CIW Network of Female Engineers

Extending your own reach, making new contacts, sharing experiences and inspiration - networking has many advantages. Networks offer great added value, especially for women in engineering, whose share of the labor market is steadily increasing but is still underrepresented. The CIW Women Engineers Network has therefore set itself the goal of providing a platform for women in chemical engineering where female engineers at all career levels can exchange ideas and support each other.

The CIW Women Engineers Network (CIW IN) was launched in 2021 by the KIT Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Process Engineering (CIW) as part of the ExU project Gender Equity 1 and offers women at all career levels of this KIT faculty a platform to exchange ideas, network and support each other. The network has been active since 2022 and supports female scientists with a wide range of activities and programs.

What does the CIW Women Engineers Network offer?

It is particularly important for the participants to exchange ideas with each other. To this end, the network regularly organizes topic-specific workshops in which participants acquire valuable skills and strategies for their everyday professional lives. In addition, there is an exchange of technical content that enables members to discuss current research topics and challenges.

Guided tours of the institutes are also organized as part of the network meetings, offering participants insights into various departments and institutes. These tours not only promote an understanding of different fields of research, but also networking across institute boundaries.

Another component is a mentoring program in which experienced members support and accompany their younger colleagues. These mentoring relationships provide valuable guidance and promote the professional development of the networkers. Regular lunches together offer a low-threshold opportunity for discussions and networking.

What does it take to organize such a network?

Two things are important to the initiators of the network. Firstly, it takes staying power: the trick is to keep a network like this going over a long period of time. Success depends heavily on the human and financial resources available. This is because the acquisition of participants, the organization of network meetings and the identification of topics for workshops are ongoing tasks that are strongly influenced by the commitment of individuals. On the other hand, such initiatives should ask about the actual needs of the participants and design the activities accordingly. This can also depend heavily on the specialist culture. In the experience of the initiators, a top-down approach does not make sense.

What makes the CIW Women Engineers Network special?

What makes the network special is the exchange across hierarchical levels. The wide range of offers, the insights into other institutes and specialist areas and the openness to co-design by each individual participant make the network unique. The members particularly appreciate the opportunity to get to know other committed and strong women and to receive concrete help with professional and personal challenges. For this reason, the network also attracts interest from female Master's students.