Mentoring Programme for Women Entrepreneurs in the Music Industry

Professional inequalities between women and men in the culture and creative industries persist: women represent barely 10% of entrepreneurs¹. In addition, women are often highly qualified but they do not always have access to managerial, artistic, or technical jobs. Statistics show that if a man has 60% of the requirements for a particular position, he applies for it. This figure rises to 90% in the case of women². There are two possible reasons for this phenomenon, also known as the “glass ceiling”: A lack of visibility and recognition of “female talent”. And a self-censorship that unfolds throughout their training, as soon as women begin to consider their future career.

MEWEM Europa is a project to implement and manage mentoring programmes for women in the music industry on a European scale. The project’s goal is that in the future, more women will also shape the music industry in leadership positions and as founders. Therefore, the project promotes access to management positions and entrepreneurship as well as the development of management skills among young women in the music industry.

For this purpose, a mentoring-based training programme, adapted to the music sector and with a European dimension, is being created in cooperation with seven partner organisations in six countries. Building on the experience of the various partners, a model mentoring programme for women in the music industry will be developed from which other European organisations can also benefit.

MEWEM Europa is funded by Creative Europe and follows an experimental project led by FELIN, le LABA and VUT in France and Germany funded by the European Union as part of Music Moves Europe.

7 Organisations in 6 Countries

	Austria mica – music austria
	Belgium WBM
	France FÉLIN LABA
	Germany VUT
	Romania RAW Music
	Spain MIM

140 Women Participants Over 2 Years

Mentoring connects young talent with experienced professionals, entrepreneurs, and leaders, who each accompany their mentee for a fixed period. The example of the role model is a key factor for success and a strong lever for empowerment. The mentor invests her time, experiences and “hot knowledge” into the professional and personal development of the young person to strengthen the mentee’s position. The mentor is an expert with long experience, a role model and advisor to the mentee who provides insights and feedback and discusses ideas. At the same time the mentee brings fresh insights and new perspectives into the relationship. This way both can grow and gain knowledge and skills.

80 Professionals Trained to Conduct a Mentoring Programme

The objective of MEWEM Europa is also to strengthen a network of music professionals and enhance the value of the participating organisations and support those organisations who wish to participate. The project partners are not only supporting each other in piloting mentoring programmes for women in the music business. They are also developing a mentoring model for European organisations who would like to implement this initiative in their region/country, based on experiences from France, Belgium, Spain, Austria, Germany, and Romania.

Thus, MEWEM Europa aims to create a European network to support the development of a European platform dedicated to welcoming young professionals to this sector through mentoring.