• We have more ‘Girls GO Technology’ graduates.
  35 girls graduated from the fifth edition of the Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Poland educational project..
• For five months students from PCKZiU in Jawor, ZSiP in Bolków and the European High School in Legnica were taming technology.
• After five editions, nearly 100 young women from the Jawor region have already gained a competitive advantage among their peers in the labour market through participation in the ‘Girls GO Technology’ project.

The final of the fifth edition of the educational project ‘Girls GO Technology, or girls tame technology’ took place on the premises of the Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Poland plant on 8 March 2023. Students from the Wincenty Witos School Complex in Bolków, the District Centre for Vocational and Continuing Education in Jawor, and the European High School in Legnica received congratulatory certificates and had the opportunity to visit the Mercedes-Benz factory in Jawor. In addition, representatives of Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Poland met with the project participants to introduce them to the topics of Industry 4.0, cyber security, 3D printing, and to support them in creating their first professional CV.

Starting in November 2022, the project participants met once a month for workshops to explore technological topics and hone their soft skills under the guidance of specialists. In this year’s edition, the girls also learnt the basics of entrepreneurship, ‘tamed’ virtual reality and the digitalisation of production, practised public speaking and learnt the secrets of self-presentation. Meetings were held in Jawor, but one of them was an away day, with the participants attending a workshop in Kraków for two days.

Almost 50% of the Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Poland workforce is female. Thanks to a visit to the Mercedes-Benz plant in Jawor, the participants of ‘Girls GO Technology’ saw that what they were learning at the workshop was not theory, but everyday life at the Industry 4.0 plant. A record number of girls took part in this edition. Compared to previous editions, as many as twice as many young women were interested in expanding their knowledge of technology with Mercedes, the first time they had all completed the programme. The girls, have become more confident, courageous and curious about the world. After five editions, nearly 100 young women from the Jawor region have already gained a competitive edge among their peers in the labour market thanks to their participation in ‘Girls GO Technology’.

Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Poland’s education project has been recognised with three awards: in June 2022, ‘Girls Go Technology’ was the winner and runner-up in the ‘Ambassador of Education’ category of the ‘Employer of Tomorrow 2021’ competition Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, and also received an award in the automotive and electromobility sector. In January 2021, it was recognised with a Bronze Clip in the ‘Golden Clips’ poll organised by the Association of Public Relations Companies, and in September 2021, the project won first place in the PR Wings competition, in the corporate PR category.

During the final of the 5th edition of “Girls GO Technology”, the Partners of this year’s edition were present: WSSE “INVEST-PARK”, the Invest in EDU Education Cluster, Randstad Polska, AIDAR Solutions, as well as representatives of the Wrocław Agglomeration Development Agency and the local government office such as Ms Aneta Kucharzyk.

Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Poland also takes care of the programme’s graduates. In November 2022, as part of the ‘Girls GO Technology Academy’, it invited them to a meeting during which they recalled their experiences in the project and told their younger colleagues how their lives had changed for the better. They also took part in workshops to strengthen their attention as conscious employees in the current market.

A survey of female graduates from the four editions showed that two-thirds of the participants, most of whom rated their knowledge of new technologies as ‘low’ before joining the programme, rated it as ‘high’ or even ‘very high’ after the workshops. Many of them want to continue their studies after high school, although they had no plans to do so before.