University of Bamberg wins 2018 Minerva Informatics Equality Award
The winner of the third edition of the Minerva Informatics Equality Award is the Faculty of Information Systems and Applied Computer Sciences at the University of Bamberg, Germany,
for their contribution to the enrolment and retention of female students in Computer Science programs.
The Minerva Award, organised by Informatics Europe and sponsored by Google, was presented at a special ceremony held in Gothenburg, Sweden, during the 2018 European Computer Science Summit. Prof. Ute Schmid, Dean of the Faculty of Information Systems and Applied Computer Sciences and Representative of Women' Equal Opportunities from 2004 to 2017, now Vice Representative and Prof. Daniela Nicklas, Dean of Studies of the Faculty and also Vice Representative of Women' Equal Opportunities, received the prize on behalf of their Faculty and presented the scope and impact of their actions.
“The Minerva Award is a wonderful incentive to continue our work”, says Prof. Ute Schmid. “Fourteen years ago, the percentage of female students in our Faculty was below 15 percent. In consequence, I initiated a bundle of actions that among other outcomes allowed girls to recognize their talent and interest in Computer Science. As a result, the share of female students reached the 30 percent mark for the first time in 2014, since then female participation remains growing. Receiving this Award will help our Faculty to be recognized as an organisation with a very strong dedication to support female students in Computer Science. The prize will help us to consolidate our measures for recruiting and to expand our measures for supporting female students”.
“We have the fortunate situation where the faculty has strongly supported all our activities. Many colleagues have been offering workshops on a regular basis. Furthermore, many staff members have contributed to our activities, most notably Sanne Grabisch, Tanja Fiehl, Silvia Förtsch, Hannah Deininger, Sonja Grünauer, Bettina Finzel and Anja Gärtig-Daugs”, say Ute Schmid and Daniela Nicklas. Prof. Daniela Nicklas explains: “Our gender equality measures have also a high impact on our visibility and on the study situation in general. We attract more students from both genders, who appreciate the cooperative learning environment. According to the current CHE University ranking, this makes Bamberg one of the top sites for Computer Science and Information Systems in Germany”.
The actions implemented at the Faculty of Information Systems and Applied Computer Science include hands-on workshops for different age groups, allowing girls to recognize their talent and interest in Computer Science and a mentoring program bringing together high school students and students of the Faculty. In parallel, different networking activities for female students have been established such as excursions to companies, network meetings, a forum and a mailing list. Practical measures are complemented by research projects, such as a three-year survey of motivation, satisfaction, and academic self-assessment of students and graduates. As a result of these actions the number of female students enrolled in Computer Science programs at the Faculty has been continuously growing.
Prof. Panagiota Fatourou (University of Crete and FORTH), Chair of the 2018 Minerva Award Committee explains: “The excellent efforts of the Faculty of Information Systems and Applied Computer Sciences at the University of Bamberg for encouraging female students to enrol in Computer Science programs and retaining them are to be praised. They have led to impressive improvements in gender enrolment trends which have been proved to be unceasing and long-term, setting a new record in Germany. The Minerva Informatics Equality Award Committee has been impressed by the richness and maturity of the comprehensive action plan of the Bamberg project, which targets all levels of education, and addresses, in addition to recruitment and retention, the continuous improvement of the programme itself. The Committee also recognizes that the achieved gender ratios is a victory of a long-term battle, and acknowledges the sustainability of the results. We congratulate the Bamberg project for its ambitious goals and its profound achievements”. “We received a number of excellent applications and the Committee had a difficult task in selecting only one winner. Two other institutions that applied this year received honourable mention from the evaluation committee - CS4All - A Gender Balance Initiative from the School of Computing, Dublin Institute of Technology and - The Girl Project Ada at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology”, commentsProf. Fatourou. “Both are investing precious resources to attract more female students and having excellent results on creating more diverse undergraduate studies in Computer Science”.
The Minerva Award is sponsored by Google and carries a prize of 5,000 Euros. The grant is to be used for further work on promoting gender equality.
“Google is proud to support the Minerva Informatics Equality Award and congratulates the winners on their achievement”, declares Beate List, Google Research Programs Manager. “We believe it’s important to encourage female students to enrol in Computer Science programs and celebrate initiatives like those at the University of Bamberg that have a measurable impact on converting talented students into the next generation of female computer scientists. Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful, and our approach to Computer Science is an extension of that mission. We are committed to increasing CS opportunities for all - regardless of gender, ethnicity, geography, or socio-economic level - and aim to inspire people everywhere not just to use technology, but to create it”. For more information, visit g.co/csedu.
About the Minerva Informatics Equality Award
The Minerva Informatics Equality Award, organised by Informatics Europe and sponsored by Google, recognizes best practices in Departments or Faculties of European Universities and Research Labs that encourage and support the careers of women in Informatics research and education. On a three-year cycle, the award focuses each year on a different stage of the career pipeline: developing the careers of female faculty; supporting the transition for PhD and postdoctoral researchers into faculty positions; and encouraging female students to enrol in Computer Science/Informatics programmes and retaining them. The winners are selected by a prominent team of international experts in an evaluation process that run each year from May to August.
For more information, visit Minerva Informatics Equality Award
For more information, visit Women in Informatics Research and Education
About Informatics Europe
Informatics Europe represents the academic and research community in Informatics (or Computer Science) in Europe. Bringing together university departments and research laboratories, it creates a strong voice to safeguard and shape quality research and education in Informatics. With around 130 member institutions across 31 countries, Informatics Europe promotes common positions and acts on common priorities. Visit www.informatics-europe.org to learn more.