Empowerment of Young Migrant Women in Professorial Recruitment in Rural Areas
Girls from migrant backgrounds who are preparing for a career face significant challenges in Germany due to multiple educational disadvantages, particularly in rural areas. This is where the PowerMii project comes in: through collaboration between academia, school social workers and vocational colleges, innovative teaching modules are being developed for empowerment research groups.
Current data shows that migration is associated with significant disadvantages in terms of educational equality and social participation. Girls and women with a migration background in rural areas are particularly affected by this. Due to their gender, they often experience an intersectional overlay of fewer opportunities in life, (educational) exclusion and discrimination. In addition, female pupils with a migrant background have fewer opportunities to find qualified vocational training. As a result, they are significantly overrepresented in vocational preparation classes in which educationally disadvantaged young people without school-leaving qualifications complete their compulsory schooling.
The overarching aim of PowerMii is to increase the participation opportunities of girls with a migration background and to break down educational barriers. To this end, female pupils in vocational preparation classes in two federal states (Brandenburg and NRW) are empowered through a research-based, resource-orientated approach to their (educational) biography.
The programme is implemented in real-life laboratory series. In science-practice tandems (university, teachers, school social work), the "Empowerment Research Group" series of lessons is designed using a participatory research approach. This will then be implemented in rural vocational schools and researched and successively optimised with regard to the conditions for success and quality criteria for educational offers to increase opportunities for participation in a nationwide comparison. As a result of the series of lessons, patterns of successful (educational) biography work will be identified and utilised. At the same time, female pupils with a migration background will develop into role models for successful educational pathways. In addition, the findings will be presented in a practical handbook, methodically and didactically prepared and made available to all interested educational stakeholders.
