We live in a diverse society that constantly provides new opportunities. Nevertheless, access to these opportunities is still restricted for some. Equal opportunities for women and men is one indicator of the level of development in Germany. Today, the level of education among women is extremely high. Increasing numbers of women are in gainful employment, demonstrating an ambitious drive in the pursuit of their professional development. Nevertheless, they remain underrepresented in executive positions in science and industry. This calls for action.
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A number of initiatives focusing on equal opportunity policies are developing and implementing calls for action. One of the main goals is to tap into the potential of girls and young women to embark on degree courses in professions within MINT subjects (MINT = mathematics, informatics, natural sciences, technology), and to provide them with targeted support as they do so. Moreover, it is important to promote young female scientists to ensure that they make optimal use of their opportunities. In this way, we help to secure the social and economic competitiveness of our country. At the DLR Project Management Agency, we support projects in the ‘Strategies to enforce equal opportunities for women in education and research’ by assisting in the public relations of the projects, supporting the transfer of results and supervising programme evaluations.