Economy and Social Matters in Germany – Panorama

Even today, fewer women than men choose to pursue a profession or course of study in the sciences. Companies, foundations and schools have launched a variety of initiatives intended to change this.

Class 2a at Südschule, a primary school in the town of Düren: a container of reddish-brown liquid stands on the table. And it stinks. Bits of old fruit and dirt are floating in it. The children’s task now is to clean the water as best they can. To help them, their teacher Isabell Freyschmidt has given them a jam jar and a coffee filter, through which a girl is carefully pouring some of the liquid. Six children watch enthusiastically: “It’s coming through!”, one girl shouts excitedly when she sees the first drops dripping into the jam jar. The water is now already much cleaner than it was before: “You still can’t drink it though”, explains the girl, “as it still contains fine particles of dirt.”

Girls Technology Award

Today, the children are giving a demonstration of something they learnt a year ago. During their project week, they are conducting all kinds of experiments involving water: they have been shining a light on a plant wrapped in plastic in order to observe the water cycle. In another experiment they measured how much oxygen is to be found in stream water. The project is designed exclusively for girls, for even today they choose to pursue a career in the natural or engineering sciences less frequently than boys do.

Foundations, associations and companies are thus using a variety of initiatives aimed at recruiting girls at a young age to these disciplines. The primary school in Düren, for example, received support from a foundation called Partners for Schools. In the “Girls Choose Technology” project, teachers are encouraged to try out new ideas in their lessons. Funded projects are supported with 500 euros.

In early January, Südschule additionally received 1,000 euros when it won the  Technology Award: “Obviously that’s quite an honour for us”, says Isabell Freyschmidt.

Women give skilled trades a wide berth

Nonetheless, women wishing to pursue a career as a scientist or engineer evidently still face a whole host of hurdles. In the 2010/2011 winter semester, for example, around 50,200 people were studying mechanical engineering at universities in Germany – yet just 5,500 of them were female. The situation is similar in electrical engineering, where roughly 22,000 male students are joined by 2,700 women. By contrast, women are traditionally significantly over-represented in the cultural and linguistic sciences: 56,000 of the 74,000 students of German language and literature are female.

The picture is much the same in the area of vocational training, most girls preferring to give the skilled trades a wide berth. Apart from the fact that many companies are reluctant to employ women in these areas, one reason for this could be that the image associated with certain professions does not tally with the way the girls view themselves: “People choose a particular profession partly on the basis of how they wish to be perceived by others”, explains Joachim Gerd Ulrich, vocational training market researcher at the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB).

New names increase popularity

The BIBB’s latest data report shows how a profession’s image influences the choices made by young people. The institute’s researchers surveyed between 3,000 and 3,500 youngsters to find out whether a particular job enhances their reputation among their friends. Over 60 percent of the girls surveyed feared that they would not make a good impression if they worked as an industrial engineer or an information and telecommunications engineer. The figure is even higher, at over 70 percent, for the job of motor mechanic. By contrast, boys worry about the effect on their reputation if they were to pursue a career as a medical assistant or nurse. Professions in catering and gastronomy are also not a popular choice among boys.

Yet there are points on which both genders agree: baker, butcher and sales assistant are all jobs which are right at the bottom of the popularity scale, while creative professions such as digital and print media designer or visual marketing designer are much higher up the list: “That said, this has only been the case since the professions were renamed”, says Joachim Gerd Ulrich. These two jobs were previously known as typesetter and window dresser respectively.

Companies and schools bang the advertising drum

A new image, in other words, can have a major impact on young people. For twelve years now, so-called Girls’ Days have been staged in an attempt to convince girls of the merits of professions which do not interest them at all at first glance. For instance, girls can spend an entire day watching a skilled craftsman at work, or can themselves work in different departments. “There are many great projects”, says Wenka Wentzel, who is responsible for evaluating the Girls’ Days at the competence centre Technology-Diversity-Equal Chances. “But it is important for them to continue to be run long-term.”

Her evaluation reveals that many girls really enjoy the events and could also imagine embarking on a technical profession, yet actual applicant statistics paint a different picture. Just 17 percent of those companies surveyed actually received applications from Girls’ Day participants, and only 64 percent of these were given a work experience placement or apprenticeship place. “One day a year is simply not enough to change the entire attitude towards choosing a profession”, explains Wenka Wentzel.

I want to be a researcher of everything

In other words, a great deal still needs to be done if stereotypes are to be overcome in career decisions. Girls must learn that it is completely natural to get involved in the engineering or natural sciences – and this is only possible if everyone pulls together: parents, schools, universities and companies.

The girls in Class 2a at the primary school in Düren show how easy it is to get children enthusiastic about science. Following the water experiments, they can well imagine pursuing a career in the sciences: “I want to be a researcher”, one girl calls out excitedly after the lesson, “preferably of everything: water, earth, moon and sun.” We can only hope that this enthusiasm remains until she has successfully completed her schooling.