The ratio of women taking degree courses in the field of technicals natural and engineering sciences is relatively low.
Despite an increasing number of female students over recent years, the current percentage of women on the Informatics programme is only about 10.5%, and 21.5% respectively on the Information Engineering and Management programme. Overall, 26.6% of students at the KIT are female.
This is especially surprising since surveys have shown that female pupils tend to get better grades at school in subjects such as mathematics, when compared to their male classmates. On average, female pupils also achieve better grades in their final examinations at school.
There are plenty of good reasons to take up studies in Informatics or Information Engineering and Management:
Many job opportunities and excellent vocational prospects: By 2013, another
330,000 university and college graduates will have retired from the market - among them 70,000 natural scientists and 85,000 engineers. The industry's demand for qualified young professionals is already higher than the supply.
Attractive career opportunities and earning potential: A broad spectrum of vocational fields open up after studying Informatics, as this field influences all aspects of science and life in general.
Studying Informatics does not involve working exclusively with computers: The key purpose of Informatics is not concerned with machines, but rather with the organisation and design of jobs.
A strong technical interest is not required for studying Informatics: as with many other courses, an ability to think logically and abstractly is most important.
An increasing number of young women obtain outstanding qualifications for careers in technical and natural sciences. This potential should be grasped at school-leaving age, rather than being quashed by traditional gender prejudices.
Informatics is not a »male discipline«, as proved by the more equal ratio of male and female students and professionals in other countries.
Contact person: Equal Opportunity Commissioner at the Department of Informatics: Dr.-Ing Ioana Gheta
Interesting Links:
- Girls’ Day – Every year, various departments of the KIT offer workships on Girls' Day. These workshops are intended for female school pupils in their fifth up to their last school year who want to inform themselves about programmes in technical and natural sciences.
- Girls go Informatik, a page dedicated to women. Besides other things, the page presents curriculum vitae of professional informatic engineers, thus illustrating the diversity of this vocational field.
- Scientifica: Portal for women in science and technology in the federal state of Baden-Wurttemberg
- Femtec – The Femtec.GmbH cooperates with leading technical universities and colleges in Germany and Switzerland to promote young female professionals from the fields of natural and engineering sciences.
- MINT-Pakt – German Federal Ministry of Education and Research
- Kompetenzzentrum Technik-Diversity-Chancengleichheit: The competence centre for Technics - Diversity - Equal Opportunities. Women in the information society and technology.
- Representatives for Women and Informatics of the German Society for Informatics (GI)
- Office for Equal Opportunities of the KIT
- Scientifica: Portal for women in the fields of science and technic in the federal state of Baden-Wurttemberg
