moinschool

Moinschool starts in September to integrate more female students into our community

All good things are worth waiting for! Our new project moinschool starts in September. We have noticed that with our programming courses conferences andMeetups in Hamburg and Munich we reach a lot of motivated women of different age groups, but unfortunately school girls are still underrepresented. Therefore our school project moinschool is starting this school year at the reform school winterhude in Hamburg . 12 weeks long we offer a weekly course, in which the students are introduced playfully to programming. The workshop is combined with a one-day unconsicous bias workshop, to which girls and boys are encouraged to discuss what we have already unconsciously learned and internalized about gender roles even at a young age.

Unconscious Bias Training for schoolgirls - our goal is to turn girls into active creators of the digital future

Our initiative moinschool wants to overcome socially internalized prejudices when choosing a career and turn girls into active creators of the digital future. The initiative starts with a first project in September at the district school Winterhude - Winterhuder Reformschule in Hamburg. The association is supported by the help alliance, the aid organization of the Lufthansa Group.

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 declining (European Commission 2018). The active participation of women in IT could give new impetus to the economy. Digital education is also important in society because “pupils should be able to use digital media confidently and autonomously” (Federal Ministry of Education and Research). (Federal Ministry of Education and Research, 2017). While the Grand Coalition is still making plans with the DigitalPact School, the moinschool initiative is becoming active and is addressing questions of equal opportunities and lack of skilled workers with a three-month programming course for schoolgirls.

Getting girls excited about future jobs

“We observe a general helplessness - both in the challenge of sustainably implementing IT teaching in schools and in the task of increasing girls’ and boys’ interest in ‘atypical’ occupations,” argues moinschool project director Joyce Marlen Paquo. In just four out of 16 federal states, computer science is anchored in the curriculum as a compulsory school subject. As a result, girls are precluded from training or studying in the IT field at an early age without ever having had any practical impressions of the content and diversity of these occupational fields, which are so important for shaping the future (also for society as a whole).

A pilot project at the Winterhud Reform School

With professional know-how, experienced trainers and financial support from the help alliance, the aid organisation of the Lufthansa Group, moinschool starts a first pilot phase at the district school Winterhude - Winterhuder Reformschule in Hamburg in September. As an innovative all-day school, the school is facing the project with great interest, openness and flexibility. “We are looking forward to professional support in expanding our digital educational offering. We are particularly looking forward to the effects of the Unconscious Bias Training”, says full-day coordinator Hendrik Weber. In the coming six months, students 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-awareness, our behaviour and ultimately 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. The laptops for the course will be donated by Lufthansa Industry Solutions. An additional highlight is the visit of female developers, who talk about their personal experiences and the manifold possibilities of training, study and later 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 studio. moinworld will continue to provide support in the background. It is also planned to open the offer to lower grades and other schools.

If you are interested in our school program or have girls who would like to meet like-minded people, please contact us at moin@moinworld.de.

We will keep you informed about the success of the project.

Sinja Ruffra, Joyce Paquo, Milica Bajagic und Anja Schumann