The founding scene is still predominantly male. THWS is providing various offers to encourage female students to realise their business ideas and make them a reality. The funding programme EXIST-Women is another step towards a society in which starting a business is a real option - for all genders.
Published on 18 June 2024
Places where young and diverse minds come together are sources of creativity - and thus of new business ideas. This makes it all the more important to create a supportive environment in these places. That is why THWS wants to establish the topic as an integral part of studies. "Where if not at higher education institutions do knowledge-based highly innovative ideas emerge?" emphasises Ulrike Machalett-Gehring, start-up consultant and project coordinator of the EXIST EntrepreneurSHIP project at THWS. With the help of the EXIST funding programme of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), THWS has already been able to establish a practice-oriented start-up culture in recent years. Workshops, courses, and projects offer support through providing contact persons, networking opportunities, and room to try things out. And with increasing success: THWS has already yielded some fruitful ideas and successful companies.
However, it can be seen that the founding scene is mostly dominated by men. Female founders only make up 37 percent. And the percentage of those making use of THWS' offers is even smaller. According to Machalett-Gehring, women are a significant economic force - especially with regard to sustainable and social business start-ups. "Ultimately, we can shape our future if we motivate, sensitise and qualify women to become independently active in the field of sustainability and the common good."
Diverse offers for female students
To support female students interested in founding, THWS has created special offers: The virtual Female Founders panel discussion covers various topics relating to female entrepreneurship. Every two months, the GründerinnenCafé (female founders’ café) offers the opportunity for exchange and networking. And in the video series "Nachfolge ist weiblich" (‘Succession is female’), women who have become entrepreneurs through business succession are presented. It was essential to have female entrepreneurs as role models to sensitise female founder, Machalett-Gehring explains.
Thanks to further funding measures from the German government, female students have also been able to apply for the EXIST-Women programme since 2023. The new start-up strategy aims to make the start-up ecosystem in Germany more diverse and thus also increase the proportion of women. This enables THWS to support ten women for a year in the developing of business ideas. The model project comprises a three-month scholarship, coaching by the start-up consulting services of THWS and external experts as well as a mentoring programme. At the beginning, the participants are assigned 15 mentors who provide support, guidance, and advice based on their own experience. Over the twelve months, the women take part in workshops and training sessions on topics such as empowerment, personal development, project management, goal setting, and communication.
There, no one needs a finished business idea
EXIST-Women is oriented towards women who are looking to start their own business, i.e. who would like to become self-employed. The application is examined for the applicant's motivation and the commitment driving the women and what potential they have. Machalett-Gehring and her team ask themselves questions like: "In what areas of life do applicants see room for improvements or change? Where do they see problems that can be solved through innovative business ideas?". Personal development is another important aspect: When selecting applicants, the personal goals that the women want to achieve are observed. A special characteristic of the programme is that participation does not require a fixed start-up idea. First of all, it is important to have the right mindset, i.e. an open-minded attitude towards the topic of founding a company.
Former THWS student Lena Ulsamer got some important impulses at the start of her entrepreneurial career from the general elective “Gründen@THWS”. After graduation, she started her own business, the agency for brand communication Meraki. Later, THWS graduate Sophie Hofmann got involved. From offers during her studies, she as well had learnt to be open towards entrepreneurship, to be daring, and that it is okay to make mistakes.
Together with Madlen Kehr, Sophie and Lena founded the co-working space nomad in the Würzburg district of Grombühl, that follows the values of community, conscious work, and open office. The two were able to make important contacts in the start-up scene through the THWS programmes. This support and the positive voices from the community encouraged the students to take their first steps, they say. "Simply disregard the critical voices from time to time - there is plenty of them," Lena advises others interested in founding.
Founding is not only a male preserve!
Also Linda Klatt, THWS graduate and founder, has benefited from the support of experienced people in her network which she got to know through THWS. Later she developed the start-up guide for the University. "In addition to the technical aspects of founding a company, THWS showed me a world in which founding is normal and a real possibility alongside employment," she says. Today, Linda is self-employed in the field of conscious work coaching - among others for the nomad. It wasn't always clear that she would become self-employed at some point. At the beginning of her studies, she had a male person in mind when she thought of founding a company, someone who was loud and perhaps even egotistical. "Character traits I did not associate with myself," she says.
Traditional role models and gender stereotypes were still being reinforced in education and upbringing. According to Machalett-Gehring, this is where we needed to start in order to promote potential and self-awareness from an early age. Studies show that it is actually more difficult for women to obtain financing and venture capital. When it comes to sponsorship and risk-taking, male founders often take a different approach. "We can see that men are still more courageous when it comes to founding a company. Women often need to be one hundred percent certain before taking the next step," says Machalett-Gehring.
That is exactly what Linda could take home from this male environment. "This masculine energy that we all carry within us - it's an energy that goes forward and is put into practice." Today, when she is given an assignment that takes her into unknown territory, she relies on her strengths: "As a self-employed person, you also grow with your assignments - it's just important for me to communicate this openly."
Social changes are necessary to make it easier for women to start a business, and THWS' start-up programmes are intended to contribute to this. Ulrike Machalett-Gehring hopes that programmes like EXIST-Women do not stay mere pilot projects but that long-term structures are created. They could pave the way for even more women with their business ideas in the future - both for themselves and for society.
