goWo*Man

Crea­ti­vity, willing­ness and ability to learn, initia­tive, goal-oriented action, readi­ness for risks, inno­va­tion, self-effi­cacy, sense of respon­si­bi­lity and the ability to learn from personal expe­ri­ences are among the most important entre­pre­neu­rial competences.

Male and female students weigh these compe­tences against their perso­na­li­ties in diffe­rent ways, but will still be confronted with diffe­rent role models during their lives. Frequently, a start-up founder is presented as a mascu­line hero, who bravely takes a stand against diffi­cult working condi­tions. This model is seen as coun­ter­pro­duc­tive and alien­ating (and not only for women), as this idea hides the coll­ec­tive and team-based aspects of start-ups. Current studies show that the majo­rity of successful compa­nies were founded with diverse teams, and that mixed-sex teams are more successful. 

With over 50% of female students at the HfG, it is important to have suitable discourse. The measures of goWo*Man strive to break down the cultu­rally-anchored stereo­types by presen­ting success stories of mixed start-up teams and hero­ines, as inspi­ra­tion and encouragement.

As soon as a team is founded, the success and survival depend on the trust between its members. For that reason, the goHfG-team offers start-up teams the oppor­tu­nity to parti­ci­pate in a team deve­lo­p­ment trai­ning, to get to know their strengths and room for impro­ve­ment better, along with the other team members. Students can then better reco­gnize their own contri­bu­tions to the team’s success, and improve their own self-manage­ment and leader­ship within the team. This offer applies for all start-up teams. Diverse teams have a wider range of content available, such as an intro­duc­tion to gender-specific language and connected beha­viors. For example, men can misin­ter­pret the perspec­tives of women colle­agues, and the other way around. Commu­ni­ca­tion work­shops are a solu­tion to get to know and appre­ciate unfa­mi­liar procedures.