English Information

“Go MINT!” – Careers of the Future for Women

MINT – Mathematics, Informatics, Natural Sciences and Technology – offer innovative career opportunities with great future perspectives. About 330,000 additional university and college graduates in these subjects will be needed by 2013 in Germany alone.

Steps taken to date are producing first results. For instance, the proportion of female students in the first semester of Mechanical Engineering rose from 17.5% (2005) to 18.6% (2009).

MINT careers provide lots of variety

They offer exciting career prospects. There is a demand for a wide range of interests, experience and talents – whether it be working in areas that develop ‘green’ ways of generating energy, in cause research and it’s fight against life-threatening diseases, or solving the mystery of black holes in our universe.

“Go MINT!”

• Gets female pupils interested in MINT subjects, offers decision assistance on a course of study and establishes contacts to the working environment

• Opens up opportunities for womens MINT careers in business and science, with specific measures at the transition from university to the work force

• Lets businesses, organisations and universities benefit from the development of activities for attracting young female academics

• Provides parents, teachers and propagators of MINT with information on how to consult girls and women with an interest in MINT fields

The National Pact for Women in MINT Careers was launched by Federal Minister Prof. Dr. Annette Schavan in June 2008 as part of the Federal Government’s “Get Ahead Through Education” qualifications initiative. The aim is to build on earlier successes and, together with partners from politics, business, science and the media, combine efforts and utilise the wealth of diverse experience accumulated in encouraging young womens interest in MINT.

MINT Pact: the players

Everyone involved actively promotes the Pact. The players integrate successful initiatives and get new projects off the ground. The Pact focuses the commitment of everyone concerned and raises the public profile. In this way, successful measures are extended to other regions and institutions.

Aims of the Pact

• To increase the proportion of female students embarking on a course of study in MINT subjects at least to European level, i.e. a rise of about five percentage points

• To increase the proportion of women recruited to MINT careers at least to the proportion of college/university graduates in the relevant subjects

• To increase the proportion of women in executive positions at universities, colleges and research institutions by one percentage point per year

• To perceptibly increase the proportion of women in executive positions at the participating enterprises in accordance with the companies set targets

MINT Partners

• Public-law corporations and institutions

• Scientific establishments, universities and colleges and higher education associations

• Employers’ and employees’ associations

• Media

• Clubs and associations

• Research organisations and research consortia

• Enterprises and foundations

• Federal States

The Pact partners are assigned to the adjacent partner segments. A full list of Pact partners can be found in the enclosed insert or by visiting www.komm-mach-mint.de.

MINT Projects

Together with Pact partners, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research supports and promotes specific measures in various areas of the Pact.

MINT Role Models

Verein Deutscher Ingenieure e. V. is working with other Pact participants on developing a concept for presenting positive examples of female careers. Attractive MINT career paths are presented at regional and national events and publicised via school newspapers, TV spots and Internet forums.
CyberMentor

First-hand knowledge: female mentors working in MINT careers are available to schoolgirls via e-mail to answer questions on MINT topics. Schoolgirls can also obtain relevant information from a variety of online and offline sources.

Fraunhofer Talent School and Junior Engineer Academy

Deutsche Telekom Stiftung and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft offer a joint and continuous promotional programme from high-school to university/college entrance. By the end of 2010, at least ten Junior Engineer Academies will have been set up and 20 Talent Schools run throughout Germany.

tasteMINT

tasteMINT gives female high-school graduates a chance to assess their potential for MINT study areas.

mäta – Federal girls’ technology talent forums in MINT

This project centres on ‘round tables’ at which regional activities in MINT subjects are pooled to produce seven national Girls’ Technology Conferences. The project aims to establish nationwide networks, building on regional centres, between the mst|femNet network and other girls’ and women’s networks in MINT fields.

Light up your Life

The “Light up your life – for girls with brains” project aims to expand the choice of careers available to girls in the fields of natural sciences and technology, using the cross-cutting technology of Photonics as an example.

MINT Students

In partnership with universities and colleges, businesses and research institutions the VDE (Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies) is running the MINT Students project as a platform for support in the career choice process of female students and graduates.

The project map currently contains some 750 projects and provides a nationwide overview of activities, introduction days, grants, mentorships and competitions for schoolgirls, female students and those working in MINT careers. With the success of the project map, a total of 90,000 girls and young women have taken part in the offered activities to date. Schools, associations, universities, colleges, businesses and others can register new projects online.

The Website – www.komm-mach-mint.de

The Website is the central place to go for all the information about “Go MINT!”.

Structured by target groups, it provides the latest news along with dates and event information for

• Schoolgirls

• Female students

• Parents / teachers

• Businesses / organisations

Functions of the “Go MINT!” office

• Development and organisation of the Pact as well as central coordination and consultation of Pact members

• Pooling of activities and handling of public relations

• Building of a joint interactive Web community and distribution of information

• Compilation of facts and figures

The National Pact for Women in MINT Careers is coordinated by a central office which operates within the Kompetenzzentrum Technik-Diversity-Chancengleichheit e.V.

Contact

If you would like to get involved in the National Pact or have inquiries about “Go MINT!”, please contact us at our office:

Geschäftsstelle Nationaler Pakt für Frauen in MINT-Berufen
Kompetenzzentrum Technik-Diversity-Chancengleichheit e. V .
Wilhelm-Bertelsmann-Straße 10
33602 Bielefeld
Tel.: + 49. 521. 329821 - 64
Fax: + 49. 521. 106 - 7171
info@komm-mach-mint.de