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Why is it that so few women still aspire to technical professions? A thesis deals with this question. Photo (c)Siemens.
Eisenstadt, April 8 2025 : How can girls and young women be encouraged to take up technical professions? Numerous campaigns from industry and business in Austria are aimed at equalising the great imbalance, at least to some extent. However, they have been crowned with little success for years. In the field of electrical engineering and electronics, the number of female apprentices rose from 2.38% in 2005 to only 8% in 2023. As an employee in apprentice recruiting at Siemens AG Austria, Sabine Piry decided to get to the bottom of this issue in her bachelor's thesis from the Information, Media & Communication degree programme at the Burgenland University of Applied Sciences.
She analysed the work situation of girls and young women in technical apprenticeships in Austria. She focussed on various factors that influence gender inequality in this area.
In my job, I see every day how few girls apply for technical apprenticeships. I wanted to look into the reasons for this and conducted interviews with female apprentices, trainers, a father and a careers guidance teacher.
Sabine Piry, graduate of the Burgenland University of Applied Sciences
Her conclusion: the point at which vocational training starts in schools is far too late and social media campaigns have little effect. For her work, the graduate was awarded first place (1,500 euros) as part of the scholarship for equal opportunities from the state of Burgenland.
The classic pink baby bodysuit, the doll instead of the Lego under the Christmas tree. Girls are permanently moulded by the gender stereotypes of their families. The generation of parents who grew up with these stereotypes themselves pass them on. "However, parents' impressions of the professional world are outdated. The often assumed harsh tone on the construction site hardly exists anymore. The technical job profile is changing dramatically," says the graduate.
The results of the bachelor's thesis show that the influence of the media plays a comparatively minor role in the process of young people choosing a career.
Companies and organisations are making great efforts to reach young girls with attractive content. Unfortunately, with little success. Anyone who has grown up with gender stereotypes for fourteen years or more is less receptive to this content.
Sabine Piry, winner of the Scholarship for Equal Opportunities of the Province of Burgenland
Even schools rarely manage to educate girls and make technical apprenticeships appealing to them. The reason? In Austria, careers guidance takes place in the eighth grade and varies in intensity from school to school and from teacher to teacher. Sabine Piry's findings: "Unfortunately, it is too late to deal with the topic for the first time in the eighth grade. More importance should already be attached to the topic in kindergartens and primary schools."
Due to a lack of practical insights and the absence of female role models, girls' interest in technical professions often remains undiscovered.
The results of the study show the urgent need to take comprehensive and early support measures in order to attract more girls to technical professions. "A social rethink and targeted, accompanying measures are needed to overcome the existing barriers and give girls the opportunity to fully realise their potential in technical professions," Piry pleads. Parents and teachers play a key role and should be more involved in the career guidance process in order to specifically encourage girls. It would also make sense to break down work culture barriers by offering companies more flexible working conditions and targeted support measures for women in technical professions.
Sustainable change can only be achieved through a combination of personal support, practical experience and an open social attitude. A combination of these approaches can not only increase the proportion of women in technical professions, but also reduce the shortage of skilled labour.
Bachelor's degree course - 6 semesters - Information Management; Academic degree: Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences - BA; Organisational form: Full-time (Mon - Fri) or part-time (usually every fortnight Friday 14.00 to 21.00 and Saturday from 8.30 to 17.15 hrs, plus two attendance blocks per semester Thu - Sat all day), 30 % distance learning in the part-time variant; Study places: 50; Place of study: 7000 Eisenstadt, Campus 1; Language of instruction: German (individual courses can also be held in English); Tuition fees: none
Burgenland University of Applied Sciences offers a wide range of technical degree programmes. At the Pinkafeld location, interested students can choose from the Bachelor's degree programmes in Energy and Environmental Management, Building and Energy Technology, Software Engineering and Connected Systems as well as Applied Electronics and Photonics, while the Eisenstadt location offers the degree programmes IT Infrastructure Management and Business Informatics. Numerous Master's degree programmes round off the offer. It is still possible to register for remaining places on Bachelor's degree programmes and the registration deadline for Master's degree programmes is 31 May.
Information and registration at www.hochschule-burgenland.at.
Enquiry notes:
Mag.a Christiane Staab │ Marketing and Communication │ University of Applied Sciences Burgenland GmbH │ Tel: +43 (0)5 7705 3537 │ E-Mail: christiane.staab(at)hochschule-burgenland.at
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