Honoured: Gender Equality Award for the project "Baulöwinnen - Freiraum für Bauingenieurinnen" by the Chair of Structural Design, Structural Analysis and Structural Dynamics
von links nach rechts: Sophie Koch, Ariane Dehghan, Prof. Dr. Arndt Goldack, Kristina Kröll, Dr. Alec Singh, Vincent-Frederik Platz; Foto: Hermine Fiedler
Wuppertal, 12.07.2024 – Frauenpower im Bauwesen: Das Projekt „Baulöwinnen – Freiraum für Bauingenieurinnen“ des Lehr- und Forschungsgebiets Tragkonstruktionen Baustatik und Baudynamik unter der Leitung von Prof. Dr.-Ing. Arndt Goldack thematisiert ein aktuelles und dringendes Problem: Der Anteil der Frauen in Führungspositionen im Bauingenieur*innenwesen ist deutlich geringer als der Anteil der Frauen, die ein Studium in diesem Fach erfolgreich abschließen. Diese Initiative ist besonders relevant angesichts der überwiegend männlich dominierten Ausbildung und Beschäftigung im Bauingenieur*innenwesen. 70% der Studierenden, 67,8% des wissenschaftlichen Mittelbaus und 80% der Professor*innen sind männlich. Auch auf dem Arbeitsmarkt sind Frauen unterrepräsentiert, mit einem Anteil von 28% im Bauhauptgewerbe im Jahr 2021 (Eurostat, 2021). Diese Zahlen verdeutlichen den akuten Handlungsbedarf zur Förderung der Gleichstellung in diesem Bereich.
Gleichstellungspreis 2023 für „Baulöwinnen“
On 10 July 2024, the project "Baulöwinnen - Freiraum für Bauingenieurinnen" was awarded the prestigious Gender Equality Prize 2023 by the University of Wuppertal. This recognition underlines the importance and success of the initiative in promoting gender equality in civil engineering.
Focus on women: visibility and empowerment
Under the dedicated leadership of Kristina Kröll, the project team has developed various innovative and interactive formats to not only make women in civil engineering visible, but also to actively promote and empower them. The measures include
Podcasts: experienced female civil engineers report on the structural framework conditions of their professional field and their personal career biographies.
Practical presentations: Female civil engineers share their career paths and provide insights into their everyday professional life at the Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering.
Video sequences: Presentation of the professional practice of female civil engineers in various professional fields.
Workshops: Topics such as stereotyping, equality and empowerment are presented in a practical way for students.
Mentoring programmes: Female students are encouraged at an early stage to develop their talents and expand their career opportunities.
These formats provide a platform where female and male students can interact, learn from each other and develop their talents in a supportive environment.
A step towards the future: didactic innovations
The project team has developed special didactic approaches to anchor these formats sustainably in the university context and make female perspectives in civil engineering accessible. These are intended to prepare female students for their future careers and broaden the image of civil engineering on the one hand, and to offer female students the opportunity to interact with women from the field at an early stage and develop their talents on the other.
"Against all odds - women who build": an exhibition
One highlight of the project is the exhibition "Against all odds - women who build", which can be seen in the foyer of the Haspel Campus (Pauluskirchstraße 7, Wuppertal) until the end of July. This exhibition picks up on the content from the podcasts and videos and places it in a wider social context. It offers a public space for discussions about social structures and ways to achieve equality in the construction industry.
Contact for queries:
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Arndt Goldack, Department of Structural Design and Structural Dynamics, University of Wuppertal, e-mail: goldack@uni-wuppertal.de
Kristina Kröll, Project Manager "Baulöwinnen - Freiraum für Bauingenieurinnen", e-mail: bauloewinnen@uni-wuppertal.de
Together for more equality in civil engineering - because women's power enriches the construction industry
Sources:
Eurostat (2021). Women in science and engineering. ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/edn-20210210-1
