Promoting the sustainable labour market integration of international students
Well-trained specialists in the subjects of Mathematics, Computer Science, Natural Sciences and Technology (STEM) are essential for Germany's economic success and future viability. The successful integration of international STEM students into the labour market represents a major opportunity. As part of the "Lighthouses MINTernational" programme, the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft e.V. promotes, networks and supports model regions that develop synergies and exemplary formats for cross-sector cooperation. With “MINTconnect2OWL”, Paderborn University and its partners were able to prevail in the competition and will receive funding totalling 50,000 euros over a period of two years.
The strategic basis of "MINTconnect2OWL" is based on close, long-established cooperation between Paderborn University, regional partner institutions from business, science and administration as well as associations, stakeholders and social insurance organisations in Ostwestfalen-Lippe (OWL). There is also already a well-developed and proven infrastructure thanks to the university's international contacts and collaborations, e.g. through the International Office and the European COLOURS Alliance. "We are pursuing the goal of further intensifying cooperation between the university, business and regional partners. The focus is on measures to improve the networking, qualification and integration of international students into the regional labour market," explains Stefan Schwan, Head of the International Office at Paderborn University. "The decisive factors for the election as a model region were in particular the convincing overall strategy, the clear interlinking of those involved from the university, companies and authorities as well as the high potential of the approach for sustainable impact and supra-regional transferability," says Antonia Kröger, Team Leader STEM Education and Head of the Alliance for STEM Professionals at the Stifterverband.
The "InRegioFIT" project, which is part of the federal government's skilled labour initiative and funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), has created management structures and gathered experience: As a hub between the university, administration and business, information on residence, housing and work comes together here. Thanks to "MINTconnect2OWL", the counselling and onboarding processes can be even more targeted towards subsequent employment in the future. During implementation, the network partners follow a systematic approach along the "student lifecycle", i.e. from the start of studies to sustainable integration into the regional labour market. One of the key implementation elements is the early integration of international students via webinars, practical events and company presentations, for example. In addition, counselling and communication services are bundled in a multilingual digital platform, the "Talent Hub OWL". In addition, Techniker Krankenkasse will be integrated via the chatbot "sayHELLO" to support the digital onboarding of international students with regard to health and insurance issues.
The selection as a model region emphasises the special quality and innovative strength of the network approach in the OWL region. "We are very pleased about the special recognition from the Stifterverband, which shows that we have a good concept for retaining well-trained international STEM students in the OWL region and counteracting the shortage of skilled workers," emphasises Prof. Dr. René Fahr, Vice-President for Transfer and Sustainability at Paderborn University. The core team of "MINTconnect2OWL" consists of Paderborn University with the SICP - Software Innovation Campus Paderborn, OstWestfalenLippe GmbH, the Paderborn Employment Agency, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce Ostwestfalen zu Bielefeld, Techniker Krankenkasse (TK), it's OWL Clustermanagement GmbH, the district of Paderborn, the city of Paderborn and Wirtschaftsförderung Paderborn (WFG).
Further information can be found on the InRegioFIT website.
