Around 220 students discover TU Dortmund University
As part of Girls*Day and Boys*Day, TU Dortmund University once again gave pupils an insight into degree programs and departments this year. Around 120 girls and 100 boys from the fifth grade onwards took advantage of the offer to get to know TU Dortmund University in workshops. Girls*Day and Boys*Day are known throughout Germany as "Future Days", on which pupils have the opportunity to learn more about professions that are typically assigned to the other gender.
The girls were able to choose from eight different workshops; the boys had a choice of five courses. As Girls*Day and Boys*Day are planned for the long term and the pandemic situation was not foreseeable, the day was held digitally again this year. Girls and boys were welcomed separately in a Zoom meeting by Jill Timmreck, project coordinator from the Equal Opportunities Office. A small survey at the beginning revealed that around 60 percent of the participants had never experienced a Girls*Day or Boys*Day before. According to the results of the survey, the girls wanted to have fun on this day; for the boys, however, the information content was more important than having fun. Overall, the participants were looking forward to the departments and institutions that wanted to present themselves on this day.
A day to try things out
After the welcome, the schoolgirls were able to get a taste of technical and scientific courses such as mechanical engineering, physics or statistics. A workshop on space travel was also offered by the DLR School Lab. The teachers tried to involve the students directly in as many areas as possible in order to overcome the digital distance. For example, the physics department took the students on a tour of their physics laboratory and presented numerous devices. In the workshop "Digital manufacturing: forming technology and 3D printing in the age of industry", the lecturer gave a live demonstration of printing with a 3D printer and explained the technology behind it. The students asked interested questions, e.g. about processes and content or data analysis, as well as about the areas of responsibility in their studies. They contributed themselves and their knowledge at various points. Despite the sometimes complex content, they were able to participate without any problems and made their own comments. In the workshop "From the basement to outer space: computer science beyond nerd clichés", the girls worked in small groups to solve a task on "scheduling". During the discussion, one girl remarked that she didn't know what to say because she didn't know anything about rockets. However, the course instructor motivated the participants: "There are many possible solutions for the tasks. Just give it a try. The day is for trying things out."
The boys attended events in various departments of social and cultural sciences, where they got active and creative. In the Rehabilitation Sciences workshop, the management playfully taught the children what is meant by this term. They talked about life with and without disabilities, sign language and hearing aids. The pupils were open and talked about their own experiences. "My grandma now has a hearing aid," said one boy. There were three tasks in the "My textile day" workshop at the Department of Art and Sports Sciences: Making a mask out of things the boys could find, showing off their favorite outfit and presenting textile items, but not belonging to the collective term clothing. The boys clearly enjoyed the tasks and voluntarily stayed in the meeting longer than planned. At the event organized by the Department of Education, Psychology and Educational Research, the boys learned what the TV show "Verstehen Sie Spaß?" has to do with psychology and watched videos showing psychological studies acted out.
Digital campus tour and Instagram scavenger hunt
The workshop leaders sent the children home from the Zoom meetings with lots of new impressions. For the afternoon, a padlet on the topic of "Get to know the campus" was available for the participants to click through. There were games to get to know the city of Dortmund, a canteen quiz and an Instagram scavenger hunt in which the students had to find out what the various departments had to offer or who from the Art Sciences degree program created the picture of a zebra on the Ferris wheel.
Even if the participants do not yet know what they want to do as a career, the events helped to guide the students along this path. It was an all-round successful day. The organizers are looking forward to being able to offer the next Girls*Day and Boys*Day on 27 April 2023.