Female Mentoring Program

Key benefits for mentees

• Mentors serve as additional sparring partners on mentees' journeys to return back to work.

• Mentees get the opportunity to discuss their ideas, plans and potential uncertainties with someone outside of their existing network to gain new perspectives and benefit from their mentor’s professional and personal experiences.

• Mentees expand their network, one of the most important success factors in today’s working world.

Mentee profile

• Woman living in the greater Zurich area - Bern, Basel, Luzern, Zug and St. Gallen also count.

• Finding themselves in their middle years after taking a longer career break, e.g. due to personal obligations.

• Planning to return back to work within the next year or couple of months.

• Convinced that they would benefit from having a mentor as an additional sparring partner by their side.

Important information about the program

• Participation in the program is free of charge.

• Experienced Dow employees based in Horgen, with interesting career paths, serve as mentors.

• Official program language is English (events, materials), since a lot of mentors have international backgrounds. However, it is up to the mentoring tandems to decide in which language they want to communicate.

• The program is sponsored by Dow’s local community engagement. Therefore, it is targeted towards women in the greater Zurich area.

• Loopings and Career Relaunch will guide and support throughout the mentoring process and share their experiences with and knowledge about non-linear careers and return to work.

• Disclaimer: Participation in the program does not imply job prospects at Dow.

Overview of the program

Applications were accepted until 13th of May 2022.

Matching of mentees and Dow mentors and assigning tandems until end of May 2022

Introductions between mentor and mentee during a short intro-call

Kick-off event on 23rd of June 2022 with all participants. Onsite at Dow offices in Horgen, duration approx. 2 hours

Mentoring phase during nine months with around six meetings between mentors and mentees (in person or virtually)

Closing event in March 2023

Evaluation of the program based on anonymous survey conducted before and after the program

Who is joining forces for this program?

Loopings is a project by non-profit foundation Neustarter-Stiftung. With the platform loopings.ch, it supports people from midlife onwards in shaping their professional future in a self-determined and creative way. Loopings links companies and organizations and inspires them to develop future working, learning and career models.

At Dow, we work to become the most innovative, customer-centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company in the world.

The Career Relaunch team of the University of St. Gallen has over a decade of experience equipping qualified professionals to return to work after a break or to reposition themselves on the job market. In 2008, they launched the management programme «Women Back to Business», which has empowered nearly 400 women in Switzerland and abroad to relaunch their careers.

Impressions of the Kick-off event