navigation, font size, etc.), one of the most important points was the preparation of information suitable for the considered target group (e.g. pupils). Also providing information in German and English as standard should be considered during the production process.

Paper-based offers could be linked with websites more thoroughly and thus be applied as complementary tools. The possibilities of the Internet are already used frequently, but further development is advisable. The cross-linking of existing information on the Internet can contribute to discovering offers more easily with comparatively reasonable costs.

In the following paragraphs some of the measures that were carried out by the computer science faculty, within the framework of the project, are described in depth.

The pupils’ laboratory. Since the
opening of the pupils’ lab InfoSphere
until October 2013, 144 workshops
about various themes of computer sci-
ence were organized and 1,922 pupils
( 35 percent girls and 65 percent boys)
participated. At the moment, the pu-
pils’ laboratory covers 26 different
modules ranging from half a day to
several day courses, which are offered
for pupils from elementary schools
(third grade) to the level of secondary
school. Students enrolled for teacher
training are involved in the supervi-
sion of the pupils’ laboratory. Thus,
additional multiplicators are gener-
ated as these students become aware
of gender and diversity aspects of their
subject. In addition, InfoSphere is
actively used within the frame of the
project and functions as a test bed for
developing further measures. Promis-
ing approaches, methods, and tools
are identified and tested before they
are integrated afterwards. Examples
include research about computer
graphics (application orientation for
mathematical principles) and graphi-
cal programming (App Inventor).

Transformation of the pre-course.

The computer science pre-course at
RWTH Aachen University used to pro-
vide students with a theoretical intro-
duction to computer science with no
regard to their already existing knowl-
edge. Within the revision process of the
didactical concept of the pre-course,
In order to gain access into the con-
cepts of computer science as easily as
possible, the students begin with a
graphic programming language (MIT
App Inventor) without syntactical ob-
stacles. Subsequently, the learned
contents are linked to the textual pro-
gramming language Java in order to
provide access into the contents of
the following first term. The last two
days of the pre-course are reserved for
a workshop, in which the learned con-
tents can be applied in a practical way.

Altogether 390 students participated at the last iteration of the pre-course, which took place in September 2013. The students were divided into small groups of 20-30 students each. They acquired most of the contents independently, helped by student assistants as well as via peer teaching, if required.

Mentoring program. A second pillar of the introductory study phase consists of the mandatory mentoring program of the computer science faculty at RWTH Aachen University. The primary aims of the program are:

1. Lowering the dropout rate during the introductory study phase.

2. Shortening the period until an

The primary goal of
the project was to
develop and realize a
concept striving for a
sustainable increase
in the proportion of
women in computer
science and other
STEM subjects, as
well as aiming to
reduce dropout rates.