Aachen Talent Scouting

RWTH believes it has a responsibility to actively promote equal opportunities in education and to assist prospective students in overcoming any barriers to university access. When it comes to student enrollments, there are clear gender-specific differences as well as differences in social or geographical backgrounds. These differences play an important role in a person’s decision for or against a particular degree program and have an impact on their adjustment to university life. RWTH believes that it is the responsibility of a sustainable university to identify these target group-specific hurdles and offer the individuals affected the opportunity to embark on a university course of study despite these challenges. For this reason, in collaboration with FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences, RWTH has initiated a talent-scouting program that spans the entire state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Following a pilot phase from 2017 to 2020, this measure has been continued by the RWTH Student Advice Centre since 2021.

The aim is to encourage gifted young people to take up university studies in order to increase the proportion of students from structurally disadvantaged groups: Families with no college experience, families with a migration background, or those from rural areas with a low proportion of university graduates. School students from these target groups are provided with tailored advice and support from the talent scouts on a long-term basis.
The talent scouting activities are continually evaluated by the Berlin Social Science Center. In Aachen, the project was accompanied by research conducted by RWTH’s Gender and Diversity in Engineering group and evaluated by the end of 2020. This quantitative-qualitative research approach makes it possible to analyze the relationship between the individual living situations of the talents, their academic career, and their participation in the talent scouting program. This helps to ensure a regular process analysis and evaluation of the project.