Ending of a MinTU-year: well-deserved certificates, fascinating experiments, exciting STEM insights and anticipation for the next round of projects

Although roughly the same number of women as men study at TU Dortmund University, they are still distributed across the degree programs in a gender-stereotypical manner. For example, just a quarter of teacher training students at TU Dortmund University are men. At the same time, there are still fewer women opting for technical degree courses, such as mechanical engineering or electrical engineering/information technology. One reason for this is the lack of role models.

However, the mentors, who are themselves students of one of the STEM subjects at TU Dortmund University, prove that there are role models. They explain to the mentees - schoolgirls aged between 12 and 14 - what it means to study in a STEM field. Jill Timmreck also emphasized that "STEM is actually everywhere and we want to show you that at MinTU!"

Over the course of the year, the girls who took part in the program learned about the various STEM subjects in several workshops together with their mentors: In mechanical engineering, they programmed a robot and in chemistry, they made their own peppermint candies. "That was really cool and delicious," said one girl at the closing event, holding up the peppermint sweets she had brought with her. A mother added: "Every time, a totally enthusiastic and happy child came home and told me about things I didn't understand myself."

During their MinTU participation, the girls not only learned about subjects, but also discovered student life: "We visited a shared flat and made pizza! And we all went on a picnic together in the park," said one mentee enthusiastically. The mentors answered questions such as: "Do you really go to the canteen with your friends every day? What is a semester anyway? What does lecture-free time mean? And what does a university timetable look like? The students made new friends at private mentoring meetings. "We grew into a real group," said one MinTU participant.

But it wasn't just friendships that developed, but also plans for future career choices. "I can really imagine studying biology," said one participant. And another would like to apply for the program again next year.

One of the highlights of the event was the "Science is fun" show, which, as every year, was presented by science editor Joachim Hecker. In addition to sparkler and elephant toothpaste experiments, Hecker transformed an 11-year-old girl into a real cyborg for a few minutes: connected to electrodes, she controlled a gripper arm connected to her by moving her hand. Hecker explained that in the future, people will be able to control prosthetic arms themselves using this technology. One highlight was the moment when the girl controlled her father's hand. "Does he usually do what you want?" asked Hecker jokingly. "No, not at all," she just laughed.

After the science show, the presentation of certificates and a final group photo, participants and parents chatted over drinks and snacks. Last questions were answered and experiences exchanged. Then some said goodbye to a year full of experiences and new friendships, while others looked forward to the coming year with "MinTU - Mädchen in die TU Dortmund".