ArbeiterKind.de

For all those who are the first in their family to study

We encourage students from families with no university experience to be the first in their family to study. In Germany, the likelihood of a child going to university is still determined by the level of education of their parents. According to the 20th Social Survey of the German Student Union (DSW), 77 out of 100 children of academics go on to study. In contrast, only 23 out of 100 children of non-academics go on to study, even though twice as many achieve university entrance qualifications. The financial burden is just one of many reasons that prevent these high school graduates from pursuing a degree.

Education is fundamental to one's own life path. Social background should therefore not determine a person's educational path. The vision of ArbeiterKind.de is to create equal opportunities in this area. In Germany, every child from a non-academic family should have the opportunity to advance their education. With the help of low-threshold, comprehensive peer-to-peer mentoring, ArbeiterKind.de aims to increase the proportion of first-generation students at universities and, at the same time, reduce the number of dropouts.

How we support:

The reason why students from non-academic families are underrepresented at German universities is not because they lack talent. Rather, it is because they lack role models in their family environment. Access to the necessary information is much more difficult for them. ArbeiterKind.de addresses this challenge by providing comprehensive, diverse, and easily accessible support for schoolchildren, students, and parents:

• Personal support from around 6,000 volunteers in 80 local groups with open meetings, consultation hours, and individual mentoring services

• Exchange of experiences on financing studies and cooperation with scholarship organizations regarding scholarships

• Information events in schools where first-generation academics talk about their own educational history, as well as information stands at universities and education fairs

• Information hotline for school pupils, students, and parents four days a week

• Information portal: www.arbeiterkind.de

• Own social network at http://netzwerk.arbeiterkind.de