January 17, 2024. Whether IT experts or engineers – skilled workers in the so-called STEM professions are in demand. Despite the good prospects on the job market, women are still less likely to choose to study a STEM subject than men. However, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the proportion of women among first-semester STEM students has increased: While it was 31% in 2002, it was already 35% in 2022.
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There are major differences between the various STEM subjects: The highest proportion of women in 2022 was in interior design (87%), the lowest in automotive engineering (8%). In computer science, the proportion of women among first-year students in their first semester was just under 23%.
In general, more women than men start a degree course: the proportion of women among all students in their first semester at university in the 2022 academic year was a good 52%.
In the 2022 academic year, a good 305,200 first-year students in their first semester chose a STEM subject. This was 0.6% less than in the previous year. However, the decline in these subjects was lower than for first-year students as a whole: in 2022, the number of first-year students was 2.4% lower than in the previous year at 795,900. The proportion of those opting for STEM subjects in their first semester has thus risen slightly: in 2022, it was 38.3%, compared to 37.7% in the previous year.
The number of first-year students (first semester) in STEM subjects has been declining since 2018. In the 2017 academic year, 351,400 people in their first semester opted for STEM subjects.
The continued decline in the number of first-year students overall is also reflected in the number of all students in STEM subjects: at 1,078,000 students in the winter semester 2022/2023, it was 1.2% lower than in the previous winter semester and 2.2% lower than in the winter semester 2020/2021.
70% more newly concluded training contracts for IT specialists than ten years ago
Not only a degree course, but also vocational training can qualify you for a job in the STEM sector. For example, training to become an IT specialist has seen a significant increase. The number of new training contracts concluded in this occupation has risen by 70% from 10,300 in 2012 to 17,600 in 2022. This makes it one of the occupations with the highest number of new training contracts in the dual training system. In 2022, it was ranked 5th overall, 2nd for men and 24th for women. The proportion of women has risen further: from 8.8% in 2021 to 9.3% in 2022.
In total, across all training years, 44,400 men and women were training for this occupation in 2022. In 2012, there were still 26,000 trainees.
The results on students and examinations at universities in Germany are taken from official higher education statistics. In order to also record subject changes, the figures for students in their first semester were predominantly used here. These figures are significantly higher than those of first-year students in the first semester of higher education, which often appear in other publications.
Study years for first-year students are made up of the respective summer semester and the following winter semester (SJ 2022 = SS 2022 + WS 2022/2023).
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Graphic: Federal Statistical Office
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