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60 TRANSITIONS, INTERLOCKING AND PERMEABILITY OF EDUCATIONAL DOMAINS
Education Network Berlin for Gender-Oriented Education and Employment (Berlin)
Women and Girls in the Natural Sciences “FuMiNa”
I. Problem
The PISA study showed that young people in Germany are
not performing well in the natural sciences. Moreover,
national comparisons reveal that girls are still achieving
lower grades in all three natural science subjects. At the
same time, a shortage of skilled workers in the natural science
sector is expected, particularly in the Berlin region.
Increasing the practical relevance of training, on the
other hand, was the aim of a seminar entitled “Natural
Scientific Experiments in General Knowledge Lessons” for
primary school teachers, which was held in the summer
semester 2003 with over 20 students. It provided participants
with a basic knowledge of the natural sciences in
order to guarantee a foundation for future experimentation.
II. Solution approach
The aim of our sub-project FuMiNa is to promote a new generation
of natural scientists and open up the natural sciences
and technology to women and girls. We are pursuing
this objective in the following projects:
• The “Forschermäuse” (young scientists) experiment club:
in four experiment groups, including one group for girls
only, girls and boys from the age of 8 upwards are encouraged
to develop an interest in the natural sciences by taking
part in fascinating experiments. Because of the
positive response of both children and parents, we are
now organising an advanced group. There are plans to
extend the project throughout the region and test it in
cooperation with schools and out-of-school education.
• At the Girls' Day 2003 and 2004, experiment courses were
organised for female students at Berlin’s FU University to
improve experimental skills and boost confidence in their
own abilities.
• The Chemistry Summer School was set up to help 11th and
12th grade girls interested in the natural sciences make
the transition from school to training. The scientific
atmosphere gives the students an insight into professions
involved with natural scientific fields of activity. Initial
results indicate that the concept is an ideal way of promoting
female talent in the natural sciences during the
process of transition from school to university.
• To anchor the natural sciences and technology more firmly
as subjects in school and out-of-school education, we
have developed and successfully tested a further training
concept for educational multipliers.
III. Outlook
To encourage girls to opt for the natural sciences and technology,
there has been a close cooperation within the network
between school and out-of-school education, university
and the job market. We aim to extend this cooperation in
the form of an education agency. In conjunction with the
learning platform, this will publicise and market the educational
programmes and services that have been developed
by the participating partner organisations.
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