Digitalisation As An Opportunity For Women In STEM : Researching The Nexus Of School, University And Labour Market

In Germany, women are still dramatically underrepresented in the fields of STEM, especially in engineering: less than 25 percent of engineering students are female. Correspondingly underrepresented are women in engineering positions, too. Research has shown that diversity in the work force is crucial to develop successful solutions for a complex and sustainability-oriented world. Therefore, our ongoing research project (01FP22M01), funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), focusses on the underrepresentation of women in STEM, especially in mechanical and plant engineering. Using mixed methods of qualitative interviews and quantitative online surveys with female pupils, students and employees, as well as industry representatives, to create a comprehensive and multi-perspective picture of the conditions of engineering education and jobs. Thus, we can show what enables or hinders the recruitment, networking and initiative of women in engineering. This practice paper therefore highlights the environment of engineering education and professional formation along the life course and the application of educational concepts in the light of digitalisation. However, because the research project is currently at the stage of implementing the survey and interviews, first empirical results are not yet available. Therefore, this paper will present the research project’s background, the methodological approach and nonetheless focus on digitalisation and conceputalises how to shed light on the use of digital technologies in engineering education and professional development throughout careers

Digitalisation As An Opportunity For Women In STEM: Researching The Nexus Of School, University And Labour Market

In Germany, women are still dramatically underrepresented in the fields of STEM, especially in engineering: less than 25 percent of engineering students are female. Correspondingly underrepresented are women in engineering positions, too. Research has shown that diversity in the work force is crucial to develop successful solutions for a complex and sustainability-oriented world. Therefore, our ongoing research project (01FP22M01), funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), focusses on the underrepresentation of women in STEM, especially in mechanical and plant engineering. Using mixed methods of qualitative interviews and quantitative online surveys with female pupils, students and employees, as well as industry representatives, to create a comprehensive and multi-perspective picture of the conditions of engineering education and jobs. Thus, we can show what enables or hinders the recruitment, networking and initiative of women in engineering. This practice paper therefore highlights the environment of engineering education and professional formation along the life course and the application of educational concepts in the light of digitalisation. However, because the research project is currently at the stage of implementing the survey and interviews, first empirical results are not yet available. Therefore, this paper will present the research project’s background, the methodological approach and nonetheless focus on digitalisation and conceputalises how to shed light on the use of digital technologies in engineering education and professional development throughout careers

The contribution of Swiss scientists to the assessment of energy metabolism

Although Switzerland is considered a small country, it has its share in discoveries, inventions and developments for the assessment of energy metabolism. This includes seminal contributions to respiratory and metabolic physiology and to devices for measuring energy expenditure by direct and indirect calorimetry in vivo in humans and small animals (as well as in vitro in organs/tissues), for the purpose of evaluating the basic nutritional requirements. A strong momentum came during World War II when it was necessary to evaluate the energy requirements of soldiers protecting the country by assessing their energy expenditure, as well as to determine the nutritional needs of the Swiss civil population in time of war when food rationing was necessary to ensure national neutrality and independence. A further impetus came in the 1970s at the start of the obesity epidemics, toward a better understanding of the metabolic basis of obesity, ranging from the development of whole-body concepts to molecular mechanisms. In a trip down memory lane, this review focuses on some of the earlier leading Swiss scientists who have contributed to a better understanding of the field

Engineers' Parenting

Der Ingenieurberuf gilt gemeinhin als traditionell, besonders bezogen auf die Zuschreibung von Geschlechterrollen hinsichtlich Karriere, Familie und Elternschaft. Auf Basis aktueller Forschungsliteratur werden anhand von biographischen Interviews mit Ingenieurinnen und Ingenieuren in dieser Dissertation die Konstruktionsprozesse in Bezug auf die spezifische Berufskultur der Ingenieurwissenschaften und ihrem Fachhabitus nachgezeichnet und erläutert.The engineer profession is suspected to be traditional especially with regards to the attribution of gender roles concerning career, family and parenthood. Based upon current research and by means of biographical interviews with engineers of both genders, this doctoral thesis investigates the processes of the constructing parenthood. Thereunto these are retraced and explicated against the background of the specific professional culture and the professional habitus of the engineering sciences

Improved leptin sensitivity as a potential candidate responsible for the spontaneous food restriction of the Lou/C rat.

The Lou/C rat, an inbred strain of Wistar origin, was described as a model of resistance to age- and diet-induced obesity. Although such a resistance involves many metabolic parameters described in our previous studies, Lou/C rats also exhibit a spontaneous food restriction due to decreased food consumption during the nocturnal period. We then attempted to delineate the leptin sensitivity and mechanisms implicated in this strain, using different protocols of acute central and peripheral leptin administration. A first analysis of the meal patterns revealed that Lou/C rats eat smaller meals, without any change in meal number compared to age-matched Wistar animals. Although the expression of the recognized leptin transporters (leptin receptors and megalin) measured in the choroid plexus was normal in Lou/C rats, the decreased triglyceridemia observed in these animals is compatible with an increased leptin transport across the blood brain barrier. Improved hypothalamic leptin signaling in Lou/C rats was also suggested by the higher pSTAT3/STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 3) ratio observed following acute peripheral leptin administration, as well as by the lower hypothalamic mRNA expression of the suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3), known to downregulate leptin signaling. To conclude, spontaneous hypophagia of Lou/C rats appears to be related to improved leptin sensitivity. The main mechanism underlying such a phenomenon consists in improved leptin signaling through the Ob-Rb leptin receptor isoform, which seems to consequently lead to overexpression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH)