In-demand young technology talent

In-demand young technology talent

Workers in the MINT professions of mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology are in great demand throughout Europe. The jobs are well paid, and the demand will continue to increase, as there is an enormous amount of work to be done in shaping digitalization processes in the economy and in social interaction. “If you want to make children and young people fit for the future, you should get them interested in technology as early as possible - especially girls, so that they later have the same opportunities on the job market as boys,” says Catrin Meyringer, managing director of RoboManiac. The company was founded in 2017 with the aim of supporting children and young people in a playful way with future skills relating to MINT. In addition to workshops, semester courses and holiday camps, online programming courses are also offered.

Equal opportunities for boys and girls

The fact is: with the same skills, girls rate themselves worse than boys in the areas of mathematics and technology, and this assessment is often shared by parents. Catrin Meyringer states: “We still have around 30 percent of younger children who are girls, but the older they get, the fewer girls attend the courses.” Even though they enjoy the experiments and programming a lot. "They're also very good at it. You just have to give them the chance to discover technology for themselves," says Meyringer. In RoboManiac's courses, technology and programming are discovered in a playful way. "In the programming courses for children, for example, we control funny learning robots using drawn codes. The older children program games or develop concepts for their own e-business," reports Meyringer. The next online courses at RoboManiac start in January. More information is available at: www.robomaniac.at.