"Girls like STEM": There are too few girls and women in MINT professions. Not news, but a growing concern given the STEM skills gap has risen to around 262.000 people. In order to draw attention to the urgent topic, zdi.NRW created the zdi heroines October. This year, too, the community in NRW dealt intensively with the question of why girls and women are less likely to choose a STEM career and what can be done about it. A highlight of this year: the first zdi specialist day "Girls like MINT", which gave a strong boost to the nationwide exchange.
How can girls be inspired for the STEM field in the long term? What scientifically based approaches are there? Does it always have to be pink? And how can Muslim girls and women be specifically addressed? MINT makers from all over Germany tackled these and other questions together at the first digital and nationwide zdi specialist day on October 27, 2021. There were impulses from business, science, the media landscape, from zdi.NRW and from the Schoolgirls themselves, whose perspective is often ignored. The zdi regional office organized the event on behalf of the Ministry of Culture and Science NRW as a highlight of the third zdi heroines October.
zdi-Fachtag takes a look at the perspective of the schoolgirls
After exciting keynote speeches and a constructive panel discussion, the more than 50 participants went to the workshops in the afternoon. These deal with very specific questions. Ideas and approaches were developed on how to continue working on the relevant topics in the future - together, but also in the local regions. Participating in all workshops: schoolgirls from North Rhine-Westphalia, who are not afraid to talk tacheles from time to time. STEM offers only for girls? Can, but doesn't have to be. Make your own lipstick in STEM courses? Why not. Everyday reference of the course offer? Absolutely! The clear plea of the students: The target group must be included in the planning of the educational offers, otherwise the offers will come to nothing.
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Facts about Heroines October 2021
19 zdi heroines, 4 take-overs, over 60 zdi courses, 4 STEM women in conversation and around 80 active people at the zdi specialist day.
The campaign reached over 80.000 people on Instagram.
Safe Spaces: Gender-sensitive course offerings throughout NRW
zdi supports girls and young women in being active in the STEM field with self-confidence and lots of fun. The nationwide zdi networks regularly offer courses and workshops aimed specifically at girls and young women. Every year, with the help of the zdi heroines October, we draw attention to the long-term commitment of the zdi networks in the field of STEM and girls. For a month, the MINT community highlighted the gender-sensitive course offerings of the zdi networks and zdi school labs. You can find an overview of the offers on our MINT community platform: www.mint-community.de/ferienkurs.
zdi heroines: More visibility for women in MINT
What was emphasized at the symposium, especially on the part of science, namely the need for visibility of female STEM role models, has been the central component of the campaign month at zdi.NRW for years. From the roofer to the astroparticle physicist to the specialist for food technology - zdi.NRW offered numerous girls and women a platform to share their own experiences with STEM. The zdi heroines represent the diversity of STEM women and show girls and young women interested in STEM potential areas of activity. In focus this year: female entrepreneurs from the STEM field, who encourage other women to deal with self-employment. View all zdi heroines on Instagram.
