Since January 2020, our supporters have included the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism Baden-Württemberg and the Vector Foundation. For the moment, the funding period is set for three years.

CyberMentor is in line with the goals of the state initiative Women in STEM Professions and represents another component of the promotion of career orientation for girls and young women. The funding of the program, which has been proving itself nationwide, is intended to expand STEM education for female students at secondary schools. Interested female students are introduced to the exciting world of STEM professions for a year by a mentor from science or business. "With the enthusiasm awakened, we want to win female students between the ages of 11 and 18 over to engage in STEM topics in the long term," says Minister Hoffmeister-Kraut regarding the goals of the project funding.

As part of this new funding, targeted collaborations are being established between CyberMentor and regional projects to enable further support for female students by involving the environment. One example of this cooperation is the Girls' Digital Camps, which are also funded by the Ministry of Economics, Labor and Tourism. The positive effects of mentoring are to be strengthened by including other aspects from the lives of the female students..

In addition to a weekly digital exchange between mentee and mentor, the aim is also to support regional and national networking among the participants. Also, additionally to the online offerings, face-to-face meetings are held to establish contact with like-minded people in a mixture of get-to-know-you meetings and STEM-related workshops.

The Ministry is enthusiastic about the program: "The mentors show the girls in a realistic way that STEM professions can be an absolute opportunity, appeal to a broad spectrum of interests and have nothing to do with the sometimes prevailing negative stereotypes," says Minister of Economic Affairs Hoffmeister-Kraut.