Equality in M-V: Women's power for innovation and success!

Equality in M-V: Women's power for innovation and success!

Today, on June 21, 2025, numerous committed women gathered in the Lübeck Congress Center for the 4th DGB district women's conference under the motto "Added value equality". Equal Opportunities Minister Jacqueline Bernhardt emphasized the importance of the same possibilities for all people in her opening speech in order to be able to develop their skills and achieve their goals. So she explained that renowned studies BMAS would have proven that various teams are not only more innovative, but also more productive. However, the question arises: Why are less than 25 percent of management positions in companies occupied by women?

As the minister stated, women represent half of society, and it is high time to fully use their potential instead of wasting it through discrimination. This is also supported by the red-red state government of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, which has anchored equality as the central point of its political agenda. A clear step in this direction was the explanation of Women's Day on March 8, 2023 for a holiday in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

initiatives against injustice

Another topic that was addressed at the conference is the insufficient representation of women in the Bundestag. With only 32.4 percent, the proportion is still far from equality. In order to counteract this, the state government also supports mentoring programs for women who are funded by the European Social Fund Plus.

equal opportunities from the start to promote

An important goal is to promote gender-sensitive professional and study election behavior. For this purpose, the project "Gendersable Professional Orientation 'Box'" is launched. These initiatives are in accordance with the programs of the Federal Government, the gender-friendly professional orientation and counseling through various programs such as Girls’Day or cliché. These are intended to ensure that young people choose professions according to their strengths and interests, regardless of gender clichés.

Speaking of Girls’Day: This takes place annually on the fourth Thursday in April and gives girls from the fifth grade an insight into areas such as technology, natural sciences and IT, where they are often underrepresented. For example, over 70 percent of the girls could only choose 20 out of around 350 training courses, which are mostly in women -dominated professions.

A very special focus is on the YouCodegirls initiative, which creates an online platform for girls and young women on the subject of coding in order to promote clichés. Once again, the future is in a gender and inclusive professional orientation.

Finally, Minister Bernhardt made it clear that equality is a long -term process in which every step counts. The foundation stone is laid for future successes with an equality policy supporting program that consists of 90 measures, which is to be worked out by the end of the year. The implementation of these measures is planned for 2026. The call for cooperation and active participation is clear: Together we have to tackle to bring about real changes.