The ninth round of the mentoring programme ‘Frauen in Kultur und Medien’ (Women in Culture and the Media) began in Berlin on 19 October. A jury selected 26 participants from more than 250 applications; for six months, they will receive guidance from experienced colleagues. The programme centres on direct exchanges, supplemented by seminars and networking meetings. It offers practical support in a sector where professional recognition and actual access to leadership positions are not the same thing.
The crucial question therefore extends beyond individual careers: does mentoring help women assert themselves more effectively within existing structures – or does it also change who makes decisions about staffing, money and artistic programmes? The answer does not depend on the mentoring pairs alone.
A Tool with Limited Reach
The German Cultural Council developed the programme following its study on the situation of women in culture and the media, published in 2016, and a subsequent dialogue process. There have been several rounds since 2017; in the ninth, more than 250 applicants competed for 26 places. The Cultural Council reports that 237 mentoring pairs were formed over the first eight rounds. The high demand demonstrates a need for exchange and guidance, but does not in itself prove that the programme changes the distribution of leadership positions.
Mentoring can help at a specific juncture: an experienced person can help someone reflect on career decisions, explain informal rules and make introductions. Such networks are often important, particularly in small fields of work spanning different disciplines. Participants must take an active role themselves; the call for applications stresses the importance of taking the initiative in building professional connections. Mentoring thus initially improves individual participants’ opportunities to make use of existing pathways.
An external evaluation of the seventh round, summarised by the Cultural Council in a publication, reports that participants reflected on their career goals, took up new posts or began launching ventures. These are significant professional steps. They do not, however, automatically demonstrate that the overall composition of leadership teams or selection panels, or funding decisions, has changed. That would require longer-term, comparable data.
The Rules Behind Career Progression
Career paths are shaped by more than qualifications and ambition. How posts are advertised, how women candidates are identified and how selection decisions are justified are also crucial, as is whether leadership responsibilities come with predictable working hours and adequate pay. Where informal contacts tip the balance or availability is taken for granted, individual advice alone is not enough. These are organisational issues – not shortcomings on the part of individual women applying.
An overview of gender equality presented by the Cultural Council in 2025 explicitly describes mentoring as one component among several. The evaluation summary also states that changes within companies and institutions are necessary. This shifts the responsibility: not only participants, but also management teams, governing bodies and funders must examine the effects of their procedures. The federal government can fund programmes such as this and set standards in the institutions for which it is responsible. Germany’s federal states and municipalities are responsible for many theatres, museums and other institutions; each has its own independent staffing and cultural policies.
In its analysis of the 2025 coalition agreement, the German Cultural Council points to the goal of equal participation and to flexible working-time models in the public sector. Such declarations of political intent do not yet establish consistent practice across the cultural sector. What matters will be whether institutions use transparent criteria, review working conditions and regularly record who reaches leadership positions and who is involved in decision-making.
From Access to Decision-Making Power
Mentoring is neither mere tokenism nor structural reform. It can pass on knowledge and contacts, open up career options and empower participants in a working world that often has few formal structures. At the same time, places remain limited, and the programme can neither change staffing procedures nor create secure employment.
Whether this leads to a broader shift in power can be measured by more than successful individual careers: by appointments to leadership positions, transparent selection processes, pay and working conditions, and who makes decisions about budgets and programmes. The ninth round opens up space for development. The institutions must show whether they are also changing their own routes of access.
Original reviewed by the editors · 3 November 2026
