10 years of Hessen-Technikum

PRESS RELEASE July 14, 2023

10 years of Hessen-Technikum: In the future, the MINT orientation program will increasingly be aimed at first-time female graduates July 14, 2023

Darmstadt – For 10 years, the Hessen-Technikum developed at the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences (h_da) has been aimed at young women who want to find out whether a MINT degree or a career in the MINT sector is something for them. The orientation program now has 160 graduates, 90% of whom are taking up MINT studies. In the future, the Hessen-Technikum, which has now been rolled out nationwide, would also like to increasingly target first-time graduates: young women whose parents did not study.

STEM Orientation Program

Try out MINT for a semester with a trial course and two paid internships at companies: The Hessen-Technikum first started with this concept in 2013 as a pilot project at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences and has been offered at all Hessian universities of applied sciences since 2018. The central project management lies with h_da, and the state of Hesse supports the technical and scientific orientation program. The aim is to increase the proportion of young women in the MINT sector, where they have traditionally been severely underrepresented.

In the future, the Hessen-Technikum would also like to attract more young women who are the first in their family to study. To this end, among other things, cooperation with schools should be intensified in order to reach students from educationally disadvantaged households as early as possible, who often do not consider studying due to a lack of role models. Study preparation courses are also intended to impart skills that are necessary to complete a course of study. To accompany this, a mentor program is being planned in which young women can exchange ideas on an equal level with graduates of the Hessen-Technikum and with MINT students. The support of financially weak participants should also receive greater attention in the future.

First-time female graduates in particular are at an additional disadvantage because they come from families in which starting a course of study often does not seem to be an option. With the Hessen-Technikum we would like to ensure more permeability in the education system in the future.

“Too few women still decide to study MINT or receive training in the MINT sector. There is certainly no lack of interest, but there is a lack of female role models and orientation, as our program shows,” says Prof. Dr. Yvonne Haffner, central project manager of the Hessen-Technikum. “First-time female graduates in particular are at an additional disadvantage because they come from families where starting a course of study often doesn’t seem to be an option. With the Hessen-Technikum we would like to ensure more permeability in the education system here in the future.”

The next round of the Hessen-Technikum starts in October 2023. The application deadline is September 1, 2023. Detailed information can be found on the orientation program website: https://www.hessen-technikum.de/