In tandem for technology
Academically gifted girls explore technical professions under the guidance of experienced mentors in the Swiss Tec Ladies programme of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences. The first phase of the mentoring programme was funded by the Werner Siemens Foundation.
We live in a digital world – which translates as excellent employment prospects for young people in STEM professions (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). However, still today, young women rarely choose these kinds of careers. In Switzerland’s tech industry, the percentage of female apprentices is just eighteen percent, and according to the Federal Statistical Office, the figures are even lower in computer sciences and engineering, at 7.2 and 7.4 percent respectively.
To encourage more young women to pursue a technical profession, the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW) launched Swiss TecLadies – a national mentoring programme for girls aged thirteen to sixteen – in 2017. During each nine-month programme cycle, academically gifted young women work with a mentor and attend workshops and events to gain an impression of the technical world. The Werner Siemens Foundation provided funding for the first five years of the programme.
In demand
Edith Schnapper, manager of youth development at SATW, says the programme is a success: “Swiss TecLadies has become a permanent feature in the promotion of girls in Switzerland, and it plays a key role in fostering women in technical professions.” She adds that the number of girls participating has risen steadily every year: whereas fifty girls – all from German-speaking Switzerland – took part in the first cycle, there are one hundred and twenty mentees from the country’s German-, French and Italian-speaking regions in the current programme.
Fifteen-year-old Fabrina Zeilinger from Mauensee, Lucerne, is one of the young programme alumnae. On a chilly winter morning, she meets her former mentor, Claudia von Scala, in nearby Sursee to talk about their time at Swiss TecLadies.
Workshops and tours
Fabrina explains that she’d already heard about the programme from her teachers at primary school. Because she’s a strong student in most subjects, including technical subjects like mathematics, she applied – and was accepted to the nine-month TecLadies cycle that began in September 2020. Claudia von Scala, who holds a PhD in chemical engineering and works as Technology Manager Sustainable Solutions at Sulzer Chemtech in Winterthur, was assigned to be her mentor.
Von Scala says that she first wanted to get to know Fabrina and learn about her interests and career aspirations. Due to the pandemic, mentee and mentor often met online, via FaceTime. Later, however, the two of them had the chance to go to the Swiss Science Centre Technorama in Winterthur. Fabrina also attended several events – the Swiss TecLadies programme offers a total of over forty workshops and company tours.
“But because my programme took place during the pandemic,” Fabrina says, “all events – on magnetism, for example – were virtual.” To compensate, Fabrina and other girls from her cohort were given the opportunity to attend the events again this year, this time in person. She says the experience has been fantastic, adding that she’s made new friends and learned a lot: “I now have a much better idea of what you actually do in some technical jobs.”
Excellent feedback
Edith Schnapper often receives this kind of positive feedback. “Many girls say that they feel more confident and capable after the programme, that they have fewer reservations about pursuing a STEM career, and that they can imagine working in a technical profession,” she says. Ninety-three percent of all parents also give Swiss TecLadies a high rating.
The mentoring programme obviously has a good reputation among women already employed in STEM professions: nearly 120 women are working with mentees in this year’s cycle, and Schnapper confirms that finding enough mentors is never a problem: “We have more potential mentors than mentees every time we run a programme.”
When Claudia von Scala was a student, no such networking programmes existed. “I was practically the only girl already at the maths and natural science baccalaureate school,” she says. When she later began her career at Sulzer, women were generally “the exception to the rule”. She was also one of Sulzer’s first employees to work part time – due to her family obligations. This has now become very common, von Scala says, adding, “but back then, it drew a lot of attention and I felt I had to be perfect at my job”. Her motivation to be a mentor in the TecLadies programme is because still today, twenty years later, women remain a clear minority in technical professions. “Networks are a good way to support each other, and we can encourage young women to pursue a career in STEM.”
A network for women
Fabrina isn’t yet sure that she’ll choose a technical profession. She also hasn’t decided what she wants to study, as she has many different interests. But she would most definitely recommend the programme to other girls. “My sister, who’s two years younger than me, is thinking about applying,” she says.
Regardless of her later career choice, Fabrina will join the Swiss TecLadies network, which already has nearly 400 members. “We want to stay in touch with all former mentees and to continue to cultivate their interest in technology with our events,” Edith Schnapper explains. It’s an opportunity for past and present mentees to network, support one another and share experiences.
Note:
The next Swiss TecLadies programme will run from September 2024 to June 2025. At least 150 girls will be given the chance to work with a mentor. Applications are now open.
> go to Website
