As part of our research into the shortage of skilled workers in the electronics industry and research, we conduct interviews with trainees, trainers and students, among others, to get a picture of the current situation.
PLUS: You have completed your Master's degree in teaching with a focus on electrical engineering. Congratulations.
Britta KruseBrittaKruse: Thank you very much. The teaching degree now enables me to work at all vocational schools. I have currently been working at the BS Technik in Rostock for a year and a half and am starting my traineeship. I would like to stay there and teach the theoretical part of all training courses.
In addition to English, you specialize in electrical engineering. How did you get into it?
After leaving school, I decided to study mechanical engineering. I also worked at the Fraunhofer Institute IGP in the field of automation technology. After a while, however, I realized that this wasn't the right course for me. I then thought to myself: "OK, it didn't work out - I'll just do an apprenticeship as a mechatronics engineer." I then went to the company ZF, formerly TRW, in Lage, which manufactures gas generators for airbags. Instead of mechatronics, they suggested I train as an electronics technician for industrial engineering, which I did, and then the teachers asked me if I would like to study and teach myself - here I am eight years later after starting my training.
So electrical engineering was not your intention and not the big dream of your youth ...
Exactly, it just happened. I discovered my love of electrical engineering during my apprenticeship. I like being presented with a problem and finding a solution to it. Troubleshooting when a system malfunctions is very fascinating. I also like developing circuit diagrams myself or making sure that everything works in the automation line.
"I discovered my love of electrical engineering during my apprenticeship"
As a teacher at a vocational school, you will now be teaching electrical engineering yourself. What should you focus on - and what will you focus on?
In automation technology - because that's what excites me the most. It's future-oriented because everything is automated and the logical connections are very easy to visualize. It's a nice combination of theory and practice, especially for trainees, when you can see at the end that the lamp lights up or the motor turns - without having to actively stand next to it and operate the switch yourself.
How did you find the amount of material, complexity and knowledge transfer during your own training?
There was a bit of a lack of depth. You only had about 13 weeks of school per apprenticeship year in which the theory could be taught directly - not exactly a lot. Sometimes the focus wasn't always exactly where you would have liked it to be. However, thanks to the good teacher-student relationship, you got direct help when asked and were able to go through parts of the material again. It was all very well interlinked.
Was there a good balance between theory and practice?
That was fine. I have to say that the company booked a lot of inter-company courses for us. The company couldn't do everything that was in the training regulations. So we bought this in. We then went to a company training center for pneumatics, circuit board basics, metal technology and so on. So there really was a lot of content - but in some places there was also a lack of content.
What do you think needs to be improved in training?
I believe that electronics technicians have to learn a wide range of subjects in operating technology, but that students are not interested in all areas. Of course you have to acquire basic knowledge, but there should be more options for the specialist areas. Otherwise you get the impression that you only learn for the exams and can forget the content afterwards because you won't need it later in the company anyway. The interaction between school and company should therefore be better. Otherwise you first learn how to do something properly at school - and then see that everything works completely differently in the company. And under time pressure! I think that's a problem.
You are the first woman I have asked about her electrical engineering training. How do you think we can get more women interested in this field?
Electrical engineering is not very approachable. For a long time, I had the impression that only extremely intelligent people were considered for it. But the field is broadly diversified. Not everyone needs to know exactly how a smartphone, a large wind turbine or automation systems work. That's why it's important to start preparing for a career much earlier at school. In my case, I tended to do a social internship and then a work placement - but that was it. There were no links to my own career aspirations or ideas.
What could these links be? I think that's a question that everyone is looking for an answer to, because companies sometimes don't see them either.
Companies should really approach schools specifically for certain projects, for example to explain exactly how a wind turbine works, to visit it together or to explain certain things from everyday life to the pupils. There are also too few offers for student internships. Too many companies say: "We don't have the time or capacity."
But there are often 'Girls' Days' organized at schools ...
A single day is not enough to get to know a company. You go there, look at all the departments - that's it. You need direct support to show you different options, or the visit should be longer.
From a macro perspective, what do you think are the main reasons for the shortage of skilled workers in the electronics industry and research?
Above all, of course, demographic change. But employers themselves also pose a problem, especially when it comes to training in electrical engineering - for example, if they don't train apprentices properly or don't treat them well. This leads to them dropping out or taking up other offers. I also see that vocational schools and vocational colleges are at the limit of their capacity. We also have a shortage of qualified teachers. You can't let classes get bigger and bigger. Unfortunately, we often have to say: "It's great that you have trainees - but we can't teach them." The problem with dual training is that everything is interlinked.
Is that why you went into teaching - to get to the root of the problem?
Not actively. It was more my desire to convey to others and overcome this barrier: "Hey guys, it's not quite as complex as you think. We can break it down again and look at it differently." I think that helps people to better understand the complex field of electrical engineering and takes away their fear.
Another question: Do you know any electrical engineering trainees or students who have dropped out of training?
The counter question is rather: Who doesn't know anyone? I myself dropped out of my mechanical engineering degree (Bachelor) and I know many people who have actually dropped out of electrical engineering - for various reasons. In most cases, however, it was because they were tested out or realized that they couldn't meet the requirements of an electrical engineering degree. This is also due to the elitist attitude of some lecturers, who sometimes said: "We only have a 90% failure rate, surely we can increase that?" I've really heard that! I don't think that's how people should treat each other at university, but unfortunately that's still the case. That's also why many people drop out. In my opinion, the subject requirements are not too high. But the exams are extremely strict. Many students are also overburdened by the financing of their studies. They then prefer to drop out and go back to work.
So is the course too complex after all?
At the beginning, yes. The initial modules in the technical courses in particular are sometimes very demanding and always require sorting out.
Did you also find the mechanical engineering course, which you dropped out of, too complex?
I realized that I didn't understand engineering mechanics and reached my limits in thermodynamics. My motivation waned after the second semester. If my fellow students hadn't pulled me along, I would have dropped out even earlier. My first impulse after leaving school was to study something technical. And mechanical engineering sounded more sensible than electrical engineering, because I already knew people who had dropped out. But I got to know engineering at the Fraunhofer Institute and got a completely different impression. In the end, mechanical engineering just wasn't right for me.
But electrical engineering won you over - so everything went well ...
Yes, I think so too.
Links
https://www.bs-technik-rostock.de/
https://www.igp.fraunhofer.de/
