Wittenstein Foundation Co-operates With the University of Würzburg

"Skills shortage: Germany lacks around 326,000 mining experts": With this headline, the newspaper Handelsblatt drew attention to a serious problem in November 2022. There seems to be no improvement in sight: "Fewer and fewer young people are studying mathematics, IT, natural sciences and technology, the so-called STEM subjects," wrote the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on 24 January 2023. A shortage that may soon have an impact not only internationally and throughout Germany, but first and foremost on the economic strength and prosperity of the region.

There is no doubt that Germany has some catching up to do in the STEM sector. The Wittenstein Foundation, together with the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU), now wants to make a contribution to this. The foundation, based in Igersheim/Harthausen in Baden-Württemberg, is providing the university with around one million euros over a period of five years. This will mainly fund two scientific studies investigating extracurricular STEM programmes and their effectiveness in the Würzburg and Main-Tauber regions. Supra-regional and international experience will also be analysed and utilised.

Studies to Identify Success Factors

The two studies are being coordinated by the M!ND Centre at JMU. The Mathematics, Computer Science and Natural Sciences Didactics Centre networks teacher training in the STEM field at JMU and has been an extracurricular STEM learning location in the Würzburg region since it was founded in 2009.

The aim of one study is to determine which STEM education programmes are already available in the region outside of school lessons - from youth technology schools, competitions and student labs to exhibitions, lectures and work placements. Which target group they are aimed at, how they are networked with each other and what they achieve in terms of attracting students and skilled workers are further questions that this study aims to answer.

The second study focuses on the participants of such programmes. In the form of a longitudinal study, young people who have attended one of the numerous STEM events will be followed and regularly surveyed over a period of two years. The researchers hope to find out why young people attend extracurricular STEM programmes, when and why they decide to train or study in this field - or not.

Goal: MINT Model Region

She is therefore also interested in pupils who do not want to study maths, computer science, biology, chemistry or physics beyond their school lessons. They too are to be questioned over a longer period of time about their reasons, their motivation, their attitudes and their decisions. After all, business and science are very interested in how the desire to attend such "extracurricular activities" can be awakened in this group so that they - ideally - become as attractive as the sports club or music school.

Thanks to the financial support of the Wittenstein Foundation, the University of Würzburg can now advertise two doctoral positions for young scientists, whose studies should provide answers to the central question in due course: What needs to be done where to attract more young talent to STEM subjects? The knowledge gained from this should not only be converted into a benefit for the region itself, but also serve as a suitable model for other places as to how the future viability of our society can be ensured through STEM education.

Voices of Those Involved

"The generous support from the Wittenstein Foundation is an emphatic vote of confidence in the quality of our research and an important sign that the university and society are growing together - also with regard to the next generation of skilled workers in the region's companies. We would like to thank the Wittenstein Foundation for this commitment." Prof Dr Paul Pauli, President of Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg

"With our cooperation, we are not only strengthening science education research at the University of Würzburg, but also the entire knowledge region. Together, we want to get more young people interested in science and technology, as this is the only way to ensure innovation, progress and prosperity." Prof Dr Matthias Bode, Vice President of Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg for Innovation and Knowledge Transfer.

"Thanks to the substantial financial support from the Wittenstein Foundation, we can conduct targeted research into the conditions for success in extracurricular STEM education, recognise and exploit development potential for our region in order to raise the status of STEM in society." Prof. Dr Thomas Trefzger, Head of the Mathematics, Information Technology and Science Education Centre (M!ND-Centre) at the University of Würzburg

"For many years, a lot of money has been spent in many places on promoting young STEM talent. The success of these measures is obviously modest at best. We need to drill deeper to find out where the real trigger points are and how the effectiveness can be significantly improved. Together with the University of Würzburg, we want to make progress on the associated research issues and successfully develop our Hohenlohe Franconia region from the outset." Dr Manfred Wittenstein, founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Wittenstein Foundation

"In the University of Würzburg and the M!ND Centre, we have found the ideal partner for our joint research and further development project. We are convinced that we can make a valuable contribution to overcoming a major challenge for us as a region and for society as a whole." Dr Sascha von Berchem, Managing Director of the Wittenstein Foundation