Girls and IT? But sure!

help allliance recently started supporting a new employee project in Hamburg

Together with the moinschool initiative of the moinworld association, the Lufthansa Group’s aid organization wants to help overcome socially internalized prejudices when choosing a career and turn girls into active creators of the digital future. Dr. Jana Bohnstengel, consultant at Lufthansa Industry Solutions, is in charge of the help alliance project in the Hanseatic city.

Women are underrepresented at all levels in the digital sector in Germany. Although the digital economy is growing rapidly and creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs every year, the proportion of women in this important sector is decreasing, according to the European Commission. The active participation of women in IT could give new impetus to the economy. Digital education is also important in society, as the Federal Ministry of Education and Research stated last year, because “pupils should be able to use digital media confidently and autonomously”.

While the Grand Coalition is still making plans with the DigitalPact School, the help alliance and the moinschool initiative are becoming active and are tackling questions of equal opportunities and lack of skilled workers with a three-month programming course for schoolgirls.

With technical know-how from the Lufthansa Group, experienced trainers and financial support from the help alliance, moinschool has therefore entered a first pilot phase at the Reform School Winterhude in Hamburg in September. “We are looking forward to the professional support in the expansion of our digital education offer. In particular we are looking forward to the effects of the Unconscious Bias Training”, says Hendrik Weber, full-day manager. In the coming six months, the pupils in grades 8-10 will be offered a programming course as well as a workshop on the question of how unconscious bias shapes our self-perception, our behaviour and, finally, our choice of studies and profession.

There, the students can immerse themselves in the colourful world of programming and in the end even implement their own small project. An additional highlight is the visit of female developers from the Lufthansa Group companies located in the Hamburg area. The Lufthansa employees talk about their personal experiences and the many opportunities for training, studies and a future career. In the second half of the school year, the project is to be gradually placed in the hands of the students and teachers in the form of a computer club. moinworld will continue to provide support in the background. An opening of the offer for further schools and lower class levels is also planned.