In the 27th episode of the Electrical Engineering podcast ‘Current Affairs’, Hannah Heinrich and Ricarda Pätz talk to Olga Friesen about the new empowerMINT programme and the opportunities it makes available to schoolgirls.
Hannah Heinrich studied at Paderborn University and now runs the empowerMINT programme together with Ricarda Pätz. Ricarda came to Paderborn to do her Master’s degree. The name empowerMINT is brand new and replaces the previous name ‘Women Shape the Information Society’ (FgI for short). The programme is aimed primarily at FLINTA* people who are interested in STEM subjects – that is, Mathematics, Computer Science, Natural Sciences and Technology. FLINTA* stands for women, lesbians, inter, non-binary, trans and agender people. However, all-gender initiatives are also on offer for anyone who is interested. For example, there is a brand-new summer university programme, and the nationwide Girls’ and Boys’ Day events are also organised as part of empowerMINT. Through a wide range of initiatives, the aim is to make STEM subjects more accessible, pave the way for decision-making and break down inequalities.
In this episode, Hannah Heinrich and Ricarda Pätz explain what other programmes are on offer, what exactly lies behind them, and the success stories that have emerged as a result. Listen now to the 27th episode of the Electrical Engineering podcast ‘Current Affairs’ wherever podcasts are available or on the institute’s website.
For more information, visit the empowerMINT website here: https://www.uni-paderborn.de/universitaet/empowermint
