Schoolgirls develop ideas to improve their everyday school life

STEM stands for teaching and study subjects or professions in the fields of maths, IT, science and technology. Women are underrepresented here, with significantly more men opting for a career in this field. The fact that there are not more female engineers or mathematicians is by no means due to a lack of talent, explains Barbara Hillen, Equal Opportunities Officer at the university: "Boys come into contact with technology in a playful way early on in their lives. For them, access to STEM subjects is completely natural. Girls are socialised differently, which means that many are interested in other subjects when choosing a career. We offer girls new perspectives with a creative and playful approach to technology," says Hillen.

During the hackdays, the girls were first able to develop ideas as a group and discuss how they could simplify their everyday school life with the help of technical solutions. They then set about turning these ideas into reality. They were supported by trained coaches from the "Make Your School" project run by the "Science in Dialogue" organisation. A lot of help was needed at the beginning, especially when it came to programming. Hardly any of the pupils had any previous experience in this area. However, these initial difficulties were forgotten when the results were presented: "I find it fascinating how much information is contained in a single code," says pupil Yannika, who designed the Blubba water dispenser with her group. It shortens the waiting time of its customers by playing them a song.