What motivates young people to engage with modern technologies in their free time? The MINT-LinK collaborative project now provides answers to this question in its first results report from the STEM Center in Hirschaid. In a collaboration between the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) and Otto Friedrich University of Bamberg, the research shows which young people are taking advantage of the STEM Center’s programs and how they learned about them. The report also provides insight into what motivates young talents between the ages of 12 and 18 to engage with programming, robotics, or game development, and what areas could still be improved.
What sets the STEM Center apart is the internationally proven “TUMO Program”: There are no grades and no fixed curriculum. The young people decide for themselves which topics they want to explore—such as game development, robotics, or graphic design.
The report confirms that the Hirschaid STEM Center provides an environment conducive to motivation and learning: Participants report a strong sense of autonomy and competence, as well as a strong feeling of social connectedness. It is particularly clear that participation is driven primarily by an interest in modern technologies and a desire to expand one’s own digital skills—social factors such as the surrounding environment play a comparatively minor role. Game development and programming, in particular, are very popular among participants.
Challenges: Gender Equity and Accessibility
Despite the positive response, the study also identifies initial areas for action. For example, girls are currently still significantly underrepresented at the STEM Center, accounting for only about 23% of participants. Research shows that, among other things, interacting with female experts helps girls identify more strongly with STEM topics and gain confidence in their own abilities. The report therefore recommends increasing the visibility of female role models to specifically attract more young women and girls to STEM topics.
Another key issue in rural areas is mobility. While more than a third of young people use public transportation, the majority are still driven to town centers by car. This underscores how important good transportation connections are for access to extracurricular educational opportunities.
A Scientific Foundation for Tomorrow’s STEM Education
The project, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth (BMBFSFJ), will conduct further surveys to examine the long-term success factors of non-formal learning concepts. The goal is to use this data to develop concrete recommendations for action that will benefit not only the STEM Center in Hirschaid but the entire STEM education landscape.
To projekt page
To the report (PDF in German)
Original publication:
Heder, K., Weiss, E.-M., Bircan, B., Yu, M., Schmid, U., & Wolter, I. (2026). Projekt MINT-LinK: Motive zur Teilnahme an und Zugangswege zu den Angeboten des MINT-Zentrums Hirschaid. https://doi.org/10.5157/MINT-LinK:Bericht:01