Natalya Nepomnyashcha has experienced how difficult it is to climb the social ladder in Germany if you come from a “non-academic, financially weak” family. Today, the 34-year-old is committed to helping people with similarly difficult starting conditions with the “Network of Opportunities” she founded.
FOCUS online: You have been working for one of the world’s largest management consultancies for four years. It is probably no exaggeration to describe your career as a textbook one…
Natalya Nepomnyashcha: That depends on which direction you look at it from. I would definitely have liked the conditions for my career to be different.
You immigrated to Germany at the age of eleven and originally come from Ukraine.
Nepomnyashcha: That’s right, my aunt left with her family a few years earlier. She told us about Germany on the phone. Among other things, about the three-tier school system. That sounded strange.
Is it different in Ukraine?
Nepomnyashcha: As far as I know, it’s different almost everywhere. In very few countries are children separated so early. And as a result, they often end up not being able to go to university. OK, there is the possibility of gaining access to university through second or third-chance education. But that’s something different.
Born in Kyiv in 1989, Natalya Nepomnyashcha grew up in a socially disadvantaged area in Bavaria. Without ever having completed high school, she completed a master’s degree in Great Britain in 2012. After studying international relations, she worked for one of the world’s largest management consultancies and an NGO from West Africa, among others. In 2016, she founded Netzwerk Chancen on a part-time basis. The social enterprise offers an ideal support program for social climbers between the ages of 18 and 39 and collaborates with potential employers. At the same time, the initiative is committed to ensuring that social background is recognized as a diversity factor. Natalya Nepomnyashcha heads the organization on a voluntary basis alongside her full-time job. In May, her new book “We from Below” was published by Ullstein Verlag.
Nepomnyashcha: The Hauptschule. That was not even questioned at the time. I attended a so-called transition class, we were all immigrant children. After a year and a half I moved to the Realschule. My grades were good, very good in fact. But the Gymnasium was not up for debate.
How come?
Nepomnyashcha: Good question. I did my master’s degree a few years later with distinction. Nobody can explain to me why I didn’t get my high school diploma. I would have loved to go to a grammar school myself. I still remember going to the vice principal of a grammar school before the summer holidays and asking him exactly that. And how he said succinctly: “If you had belonged to a grammar school, you would be at one.” Period. That was the end of the matter. My final certificate was the best in the whole school…
… and still no change to high school?
Nepomnyashcha: The humiliation I experienced probably became too great at some point. This path was obviously not intended for me – perhaps I was wrong in my wishes, or expected too much of myself? On the other hand, I really wanted to get out of the socially disadvantaged area where I grew up. A big driving force was what I saw on TV. Crime dramas, early evening series. Those great houses that you see there. That was another planet for me. That was how I wanted to live.
Did it work in the end?
Nepomnyashcha: Actually, I now live in a beautiful townhouse with a garden. Basically exactly as I dreamed it would be, yes.
How did you do that?
Nepomnyashcha: After secondary school, I did two apprenticeships. First as a foreign language correspondent, then as a translator and interpreter. I was lucky with the second apprenticeship. It was a stepping stone.
In what way?
Nepomnyashcha: In England, the degree was recognized as a bachelor’s degree. That means I could study there. Without a high school diploma. That wouldn’t have been possible in Germany. So much for the permeability of social classes… By the way: I tried very hard to get the foreign student loan, but it didn’t work out either.
Studying certainly wasn’t cheap. How did you manage?
Nepomnyashcha: I lived extremely frugally. Rice from the microwave was one of my main meals. If I hadn’t saved so much in the years before, during my training, I wouldn’t have been able to study. I worked as a cinema attendant at the time, for example.
In 2016 you founded the Opportunities Network. How did that come about?
Nepomnyashcha: It was triggered by a book I had read the year before: “You stay what you are” by Marco Maurer. I would have personally signed many of the pages, that’s exactly how it was. I remember getting really angry when I read it. How can it be that it’s so difficult to get ahead in Germany despite having talent? I wanted to change that. It can’t be that the country is suffering from a shortage of skilled workers. And at the same time, many people don’t even have the opportunity to grow into skilled workers.
Now you are dealing with this topic full-time?
Nepomnyashcha: No, I do this alongside my job.
What are the goals of the network?
Nepomnyashcha: There needs to be more awareness that social background does have an influence on how successful someone is. Background is just as much a factor as gender or an existing disability. There is a lot of talk about the gender pay gap. But there is also a class pay gap.
There are interesting studies on this in the United Kingdom in particular. People from the working class earn less than those from the middle or upper class. I stress: Even though they do a comparable job! If you are aware of these figures, you can start to think about concepts to counteract this. We urgently need data for Germany too.
What exactly does your network do?
Nepomnyashcha: We offer a support program and work with companies that we also advise. For example, we look at recruiting processes or job advertisements. What could possibly have a deterrent effect on people from lower social classes? Our main work is currently supporting over 2,300 people from all over Germany – people between 18 and 39 years old, the average age is 30. We offer a wide range of measures from individual coaching to workshops and support with networking.
And how do you benefit from this program?
Nepomnyashcha: It’s very simple: you fill out a form that you can find on our website. Anyone who comes from a non-academic or financially disadvantaged family and is of the appropriate age is eligible. The whole thing is done on a trust basis. We assume that the information is true.
Do you primarily address people with a migrant background?
Nepomnyashcha: Half of our members actually have a migration background. The aspects of migration and underprivileged circumstances can come together. Can. But we also support young Germans without a migration background who may have grown up with a single mother in Berlin-Marzahn. However, we do not accept people with a migration history from privileged circumstances. At this point, it is really important to us that we play with open cards.
It does happen that we say: Sorry, we are not the right program for you. Our aim is to ensure that social background is recognized as a diversity factor and that diversity increases. A diverse membership of the network is a prerequisite for this. We are happy that we have such diverse people on board, from senior managers to 30-year-olds who may be trying to catch up on their high school diploma.
Is there anything you would like to share with people who are just starting out?
Nepomnyashcha: You should be prepared to be rejected. Again and again. You will always find yourself in front of closed doors, that’s just how it is. But doors will also open. What I definitely recommend is networking. You can’t start early enough.
Do you have a concrete suggestion here?
Nepomnyashcha: Yes, go to events. Preferably for food. Sit at the bar tables and chat over snacks.
But most events will probably cost money.
Nepomnyashcha: Many are actually free. My tip: do a little research, sign up for the newsletter here and there, then you’ll find out what’s going on. Even inexpensive clubs sometimes offer exciting events. You just shouldn’t make the mistake of feeling intrusive when you go there. Society isn’t waiting for us people from below, on the contrary. So let’s take the first step.