M(ädchen) IN T(echnik). Determinants of the career choice decision of girls

While research on the STEM sector (mathematics, computer science, natural science, technology) is currently experiencing a boom in women's and gender studies and far beyond, empirical findings on vocational schools in this context are only scarce. The project emerged from a cooperation with the Max-Eyth-Schule, a technical vocational school in Kassel, which offers training in STEM subjects at various types of school (vocational school, vocational preparation year, basic vocational training year, technical secondary school, vocational high school) and has already initiated a number of projects with the aim of attracting more young women to the STEM field (e.g., participation in the annual Girls Day). The project examines the question: What determinants influence girls' career choice decisions for STEM professions? For this purpose, data were collected from girls in two vocational schools in Kassel, on the one hand girls at the Max Eyth School who aspire to a career in the STEM field (N=103), and on the other hand girls at the Elisabeth Knipping School who aspire to a career in the social field (N=128). Using a standardized questionnaire, the girls were asked about the professions and gender-stereotypical attitudes of their parents, their favourite subjects and their grades at general school, the gender of their teachers in the STEM subjects, their technical socialization and their technical self-concept, as well as their attitudes and expectations regarding their desired profession. Logistic regression models are used to analyze the influences of these predictors on the career choice decision ("STEM girls" of the Max Eyth School vs. "SOCIAL VOCATION girls" of the Elisabeth Knipping School). In the module work for this project, it was shown that, among other things, the favorite subject physics and the technical self-concept significantly predict whether an education in a STEM occupation will be pursued or completed. Parental gender stereotypes have no direct influence but do have an effect on the girls' technical self-concept.