The POWERst project aims at creating a more inclusive higher education for first-generation students. To achieve it, it focuses not only on empowering the students, but also offering tools for teaching and other university staff. In the past months, the project held two capacity building activities, one for students in Stuttgart and a second one targeting staff in Amsterdam. They gathered professionals and young people coming from three countries (Germany, the Netherlands and France).
In February, the University of Stuttgart hosted first-generation students from France, Germany, the Netherlands for the 2nd POWERst Spring School. The workshops were centred on career entry opportunities. The goal was to provide the participants with an overview of possible career paths after graduation, to support them in taking the step into professional life, and to give them the opportunity to network with each other as well as with doctoral students and alumni from a variety of disciplines.
In April, university staff met in Amsterdam to learn new strategies on how to make the higher education environment more inclusive regarding the social background of the students. Several workshops were held on existing initiatives and best practices offered by the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The teaching and administrative university staff learned about the Mixed Classroom Educational Model, career services offered by the Faculty of Medicine and initiatives from the international office for a more inclusive higher education and to support the first-generation students.
The international exchanges of students and staff provide invaluable input for the toolbox and policy recommendations that are being developed in the frame of the project!
