No digitalization without women: MINT promotion in Karlsruhe

Without women, no digitization. According to a study by Bitkom e.V., the German information and telecommunications industry association, this is also the view of the digital sector: 68% of companies say that the industry will not be able to solve its skills problem in the long term without women. We are taking March 8, International Women’s Day, as an opportunity to identify existing challenges and point out solutions.

While achievements in terms of equality are currently being called into question again, it is becoming clear in technology and science that diversity is not only a social value, but also a driver of innovation. If you want excellent research and technological excellence, you cannot do without female talent.

As a science and technology location, Karlsruhe offers a wide range of initiatives, programs and support measures to specifically strengthen women in STEM fields – from early school education to career development. Here we present the most important programs that specifically promote women.

IT and digital professions: Women still underrepresented

The IT sector is growing and shaping the digital future – but women are still underrepresented in this field. Currently, the overall proportion of women in the IT sector is 30%, as a recent analysis based on data from the Federal Statistical Office, the Federal Network Agency and the Federal Employment Agency from 2024 shows. However, if you take a closer look, it becomes clear that women are rarely represented in core technical professions in particular.

Only 18 percent of IT specialists are women. The picture is similar for the next generation of computer scientists: The proportion of women studying computer science is only 21 percent. Significantly more women are interested in interdisciplinary courses with a computer science component – such as medical informatics with 44% or bioinformatics with 37%.

The proportion of women in IT apprenticeships is particularly low: Only 12 percent of trainees in this field are female. These figures make it clear that there are still many challenges in attracting more women to the IT sector.

Women in IT: still plenty of room for improvement

According to a recent Bitkom study, 64% of the companies surveyed see underrepresentation as a risk to the competitiveness of the German economy. In an international comparison, 59% see themselves as laggards, and 23% even believe they have lost touch.

The proportion of women is even lower in the specific IT professions: In 94 percent of companies, women are the minority in these fields, in none do they dominate. Despite this, only 37 percent of companies have formulated targets to increase the proportion of women, of which only 5 percent have a concrete timetable. A lack of female applicants and other priorities are frequent reasons for the lack of measures.

60 percent of companies use targeted recruiting measures, including cooperation with universities (24 percent) or special entry programs (19 percent). At the same time, companies cite obstacles such as a lack of further training during parental leave (59%), traditional role models (53%) and a male-dominated corporate culture (50%). 39% even believe that men are generally better suited to IT professions. “Anyone who cultivates such stereotypes should not be surprised about the shortage of skilled workers,” says Bitkom CEO Dr. Bernhard Rohleder.

But politics and society also play a role: 55% of companies see deficits in the childcare infrastructure, 52% criticize the lack of support for female career changers and 46% criticize clichéd career guidance. The #SheTransformsIT initiative is therefore calling for compulsory computer science lessons, more practical experience and the expansion of childcare.

Although 88 percent of companies recognize the added value of mixed teams, the implementation often remains unspecific. 52 percent have targets for the advancement of women, but 39 percent do not name those responsible. 36 percent see the advancement of women as lip service. “Anyone who sees equality as a short-term trend is damaging competitiveness,” says Rohleder. The study shows that without more women in IT professions, Germany will lag behind economically.

Early promotion and sustainable support

It is often decided as early as school whether young women will pursue a technical or scientific career. Studies show that girls are initially just as interested in computer science as boys. However, girls’ interest declines with age. Professor Ingo Wagner from the Institute of School Education and Didactics at KIT and his team have investigated what causes this development. To do so, they compiled findings from around 800 studies on computer science and education. “There are social factors such as restrictive expectations or male-dominated educational opportunities. For me, these are the reasons why girls are less interested in computer science,” says Wagner in the podcast “Campus & Karriere” by Deutschlandfunk.

Various programs and initiatives in Karlsruhe specifically target this threshold in order to get as many girls as possible interested in STEM subjects and keep them interested. But there are also targeted support programs for women who have already decided to study STEM subjects.

• Girls’ Day Karlsruhe: A nationwide day of action on which Karlsruhe universities and companies offer schoolgirls insights into STEM professions: Karlsruhe dates can be found on the Girls’ Day website.
• she.codes: This initiative by female students from KIT and TU Munich offers free programming workshops for girls and promotes a lasting interest in computer science.
• Technika: The Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economic Affairs’ transfer project “Girls’ Digital Camps” is designed to accompany schoolgirls on their way into the digital world and get them interested in all related topics and future-oriented professions.
• MINT-Kolleg Baden-Württemberg (joint institution of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the University of Stuttgart.): Supports first-year female students with preliminary courses, tutorials and workshops for a successful entry into STEM degree programs.
• Diversity dashboard at KITKIT records the development of the proportion of women in degree programs in a structured manner and uses this data for targeted support measures.
• karlsruhe.digital – #DigiWomenKAThis platform presents outstanding women from Karlsruhe’s digital sector. Inspiring role models such as Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jivka Ovtcharova (KIT), Dr.-Ing. Katharina Glock (FZI) or female entrepreneurs such as Kerstin Stier (engomo) show the many ways in which women are helping to shape the digital future.
• Karlsruhe Cooperative State University (DHBW): An effective measure to attract more women to study computer science is to increase practical relevance, interdisciplinarity and clear communication about the breadth of the range of activities in IT professions. The dual study programs at DHBW Karlsruhe not only create practical relevance but also financial security during the course of study, which can make it easier for women with care responsibilities to take up a course of study.