“I am a woman and I study mechanical engineering”

In winter semester 2015-16, approximately 8% of students in the degree programmes Electronics B.Sc., Mechanical Engineering B.Sc. and M.Sc., as well as Mechatronic Systems Engineering B.Sc. in the Faculty of Technology and Bionics were female. In comparison, at the same time the percentage of female students in the engineering department of the University of Duisburg-Essen was approximately 24%.

This problem is known and, understandably, cannot be solved entirely for a variety of reasons. Nevertheless, Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences has taken steps to address the issue, including new advising services and frequent visits to related expos and fairs. Visits to schools and expos/fairs have since been assumed by the Student Advisory Service. However, our previous experience has shown that public appearances are generally more effective if students use them to speak about their own experiences at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences. This also applies to events on campus. On Open Campus Day, for example, members of the various Faculty Student Representatives stand ready to speak with visitors as both students and official representatives of the University.

This topic was further explored in a project titled “I am a woman and I study mechanical engineering”. As part of the project, a student (Phyllis Ndugire, Mechanical Engineering M.Sc.) was hired as a student assistant and tasked with accompanying the Student Advisory Service to public events and schools to speak about her experiences. Together with Ms Bracht-Nienhaber of ZDI Clever MINT, Ms Ndugire also developed a new event, “Be a Student for One Day”, as part of the state-wide Girls Day, and this new event has been offered multiple times since.

Building upon these ideas, Ms Ndugire was also going to develop a presentation titled “I am a woman and I study mechanical engineering. And you?” The presentation was intended to give insight into engineering as a study path and be based on the experiences and views of currently-enrolled students. After a short while working on the presentation, however, she quickly came to the conclusion that a short film would be more appropriate.

The final product was the film “Girls & Engineering at HSRW”, which was produced by Axel Pfleger (student, Science Communication & Bionics) who, in collaboration with Ms Ndugire, wrote and directed the film. Johanna Verholen (student, Mechanical Engineering B.Sc.) starred in the lead role.