In view of a lack of skilled workers, which is repeatedly lamented, the economy is desperately looking for experts in the fields of mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology (MINT). But things are currently looking bad for young people: In the academic year 2021, only around 307,000 students in the first semester chose a subject from this group, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Monday. That was 6.5 percent less than in the previous year.
The Federal Statistical Office explains the decline partly because the number of first-year students has been falling overall since 2019: in 2021 it was 4 percent below the figure for the previous year. At the same time, the number of 17 to 22-year-olds in Germany has decreased overall, for example due to the low birth rate. In addition, fewer foreigners came to Germany to study as a result of the corona pandemic. But even if you take all these aspects into account, the proportion of those who are new to STEM subjects is still falling: in 2021 it was 37.7 percent, while it was 40.5 percent at its peak in 2015.
For jobs and job offers in the IT industry, see also the job market on heise online:
proportion of women increased
The technical courses are still a long way from gender parity. Women are still less likely to opt for a university degree in STEM subjects than men. Over the years, however, the proportion of women among newcomers has slowly increased, according to the statistics office: while it was 30.8 percent in 2001, twenty years later it was 34.5 percent – a record. However, the preferences are very different here: the highest proportion of women in 2021 was in interior design (88.2 percent), and the lowest in steel construction (2.2 percent). In computer science, the proportion of women among the newly enrolled students was 21.8 percent.
According to studies, clichés like that of the nerd often keep women from studying computer science. Overall, more women than men began university education: the proportion of women among all students in the first semester in the 2021 academic year was 52.4 percent. The number of students in all subjects combined in the 2021/22 winter semester rose by almost 0.1 percent compared to the same period last year. However, just over a million of them were studying in the STEM field. That is one percent less than in the 2020/21 winter semester, when the previous peak of 1.1 million students was reached.
Germany leading in the EU
For STEM degrees Germany, on the other hand, is even better off in an EU comparison: According to the EU statistics agency Eurostat, 36 percent of all bachelor’s and equivalent degrees and 35 percent of all master’s and equivalent degrees in 2020 were in a STEM subject. This was the highest proportion in the EU. In terms of the proportion of women among the graduates, however, Germany brought up the rear. “The declining number of students in the MINT professions endangers innovative strength in Germany and thus competitiveness and sustainable prosperity,” commented Axel Plünnecke from the Cologne Institute for Economic Research (IW). There is currently a shortage of around 140,000 engineers and computer scientists in Germany, with demand increasing. In autumn, the IW indicated the gap in the entire STEM sector at 326,100 skilled workers.
(olb)
