Women in Tech e. V.

Women in Tech e. V. is a non-profit association that has set itself the goal of attracting women and girls to technical professions and degree programmes and supporting them. The association’s basic premise is that technology is shaped by all genders. Women in Tech e. V. is committed to greater diversity and increased visibility for under-represented groups in the technology sector. To enable targeted and easier exchange between women in the technology sector, Women in Tech e. V. is building a network of companies, educational institutions and other organisations.

History and founding

Thinking in terms of role stereotypes, the lack of female role models and the absence of a supportive environment mean that the majority of the female population stays away from technical professions and degree programmes. Owing to the dominance of the male gender in the technology sector, innovative solutions and ideas that come from women are valued less or not recognised at all.

As many as 30 % of female tech and science talents are already lost during their school years.¹ The proportion of women in technical professions in Germany, Austria and Switzerland is around 20 %.² The proportion of women in technical research and development was 18 % in 2023.³ In 2018, for example, Bulgaria had a proportion of women in the IT sector of 30.3 %, while in Germany only 16.6 % of those working in the IT sector at that time were women.⁴

For many years, the IT sector has suffered from a shortage of qualified workers. Highly regarded specialists are lacking to fill positions. This gap can be closed by creating diversity and thus by making under-represented groups visible.⁵ Above all, for Germany as a location for research and innovation, it is indispensable to support women in technology and science.

With the aim of contributing to greater diversity in technology and making women generally more visible in scientific fields, Women in Tech e. V. was founded in Karlsruhe on 19 August 2019.⁶ The three founding members were the web developer Regina Gschladt, Lucia Hartig and Marie Hanel.⁷ ⁸ ⁹

Areas of work, services, content and their historical development

With the help of a widely ramified network of companies, educational institutions and other organisations, the association is building a digital database that serves to collect information about women in various fields of research and work. Innovative women can not only network with one another, but also present themselves and their work in short video portraits. In addition, Women in Tech e. V. offers female experts the opportunity to publish their own blog posts or to take part in interviews, which are published on the association’s website. Many women are also available as mentors.

Alongside the database of female experts, the association organises local and digital events on the topic of “Women in Tech” and draws attention to external events concerning women and technology that are thus not tied to the association.

To encourage exchange within the association, Women in Tech e. V. holds a so-called WiT Lounge every two to three months. The WiT Lounge is a digital get-together of various members of the association under the motto “tech / talk / transform”. These meetings serve not only to discuss relevant “Women in Tech” topics, but also to allow members to get to know one another and, where appropriate, advise each other.¹⁰ The content is shared on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and in the association’s own online newsletter. Women in Tech e. V. also offers various career coaching sessions, programming courses and further training. To this end, the association compiles a selection of further training opportunities on topics such as programming and hardware development on its website. With the help of this broad and easily accessible network of further training opportunities, Women in Tech e. V. aims above all to make it easier for female career changers to enter a technical profession.¹¹

Networks and cooperation

Women in Tech e. V. works closely with other platforms such as the Bündnis für Frauen in MINT-Berufen (Alliance for Women in STEM Professions), ITgirls and She Drives Energy.

Women in Tech e. V. is also in exchange with other support associations such as #thenewITgirls, which likewise support women in technology.

Its educational partners include the Coding Schule, GoVersity, Code Labs Academy and Women AI Academy.

Organisational structure/funding

Women in Tech e. V. operates on a non-profit basis and does not pursue any commercial purposes of its own.¹²

Its supporting members include the IT companies milk + honey, plusline, ianus simulation, Jamit Labs as well as eight further supporting members.¹³

The association’s bodies are the advisory board, the executive board and the general meeting of members. The executive board consists of Güncem Campagna, Julia Bütow and Wiebke Raho (as of 2024). To relieve the executive board, four teams have been formed: Cooperations & Funding, responsible for company and cooperation enquiries, contact persons for partners, corporate and supporting members, and interface to the consulting services (diversity, employer branding, recruitment of skilled workers); Marketing & Communications, responsible for social media, press enquiries, the website and the organisation of digital and local events; Jobs & Skills, responsible for STEM career orientation services, further training opportunities and workshops; Mentoring, which designs the mentoring programme.¹⁴

The association has over 650 members (as of 2024).¹⁵ Anyone interested can become a member of the association or a supporting or corporate member.

External links

Website of the platform Women in Tech e. V.

Machine translation: This article was translated automatically from the German original.

1
o. A. (2024): Women in Tech: Es gibt noch viel zu tun. In: Swiss IT Magazine, issue 2024/05. Available online at: https://www.itmagazine.ch/artikel/82109/Women_in_Tech_Es_gibt_noch_viel_zu_tun.html (accessed on 16 November 2024). ↩︎
2
o. A. (o. J.): Der Verein. Women in Tech – das sind wir! In: Website of Women in Tech e. V. Available online at: https://www.womenintechev.de/der-verein/ (accessed on 28 October 2024). ↩︎
3
Statistisches Bundesamt (2024): Zahl der Woche. In: Website of the Statistisches Bundesamt, post of 23 April. Available online at: https://www.destatis.de/DE/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/Zahl-der-Woche/2024/PD24_17_p002.html (accessed on 15 December 2024). ↩︎
4
Nier, Hedda (2018): Wie weiblich ist die IT? In: statista, post of 20 March. Available online at: https://de.statista.com/infografik/13283/frauen-in-der-tech-branche/ (accessed on 15 December 2024). ↩︎
5
o. A. (2024): Women in Tech: Es gibt noch viel zu tun. In: Swiss IT Magazine, issue 2024/05. Available online at: https://www.itmagazine.ch/artikel/82109/Women_in_Tech_Es_gibt_noch_viel_zu_tun.html (accessed on 16 November 2024). ↩︎
6
Roth, Michael M. (2019): Gründung von Women in Tech in Karlsruhe. In: Micial Media, post of 20 August. Available online at: https://micialmedia.de/2019/08/gruendung-von-women-in-tech-in-karlsruhe/ (accessed on 16 November 2024). ↩︎
7
Roth, Michael M. (2019): Gründung von Women in Tech in Karlsruhe. In: Micial Media, post of 20 August. Available online at: https://micialmedia.de/2019/08/gruendung-von-women-in-tech-in-karlsruhe/ (accessed on 16 November 2024). ↩︎
8
o. A. (2020): Interview mit Regina Gschladt, Web-Entwicklerin. In: Website of Women in Tech e. V., post of 21 August. Available online at: https://www.womenintechev.de/interview-mit-regina-gschladt/ (accessed on 15 December 2024). ↩︎
9
Jennerjahn, Yvonne (2021): Forderungen aus Potsdam. Hasso-Plattner- Institut will mehr Frauen in der Informatik. In: Tagesspiegel, article of 6 January. Available online at: https://www.tagesspiegel.de/potsdam/landeshauptstadt/hasso-plattner-institut-will-mehr-frauen-in-der-informatik-7959508.html (accessed on 15 December 2024). ↩︎
10
o. A. (o. J.): WiT Lounge. In: Website of Women in Tech e. V. Available online at: https://www.womenintechev.de/mitglieder-austausch/ (accessed on 16 November 2024). ↩︎
11
o. A. (o. J.): Weiterbildungsangebote. In: Website of Women in Tech e. V. Available online at: https://www.womenintechev.de/weiterbildungsangebote/ (accessed on 16 November 2024). ↩︎
12
o. A. (o. J.): Satzung. In: Website of Women in Tech e. V. Available online at: https://www.womenintechev.de/der-verein/satzung/ (accessed on 16 November 2024). ↩︎
13
o. A. (o. J.): Fördermitglieder. In: Website of Women in Tech e. V. Available online at: https://www.womenintechev.de/netzwerk/#foerdermitglieder (accessed on 28 October 2024) ↩︎
14
o. A. (o. J.): Das Team. In: Website of Women in Tech e. V. Available online at: https://www.womenintechev.de/der-verein/das-team/ (accessed on 28 October 2024). ↩︎
15
o. A. (o. J.): Das Team. In: Website of Women in Tech e. V. Available online at: https://www.womenintechev.de/der-verein/das-team/(accessed on 28 October 2024). ↩︎