Girls’ Day and Boys’ Day: supporting young people with career choices without stereotypes

Traditional gender roles can be difficult to overcome. There are still numerous occupational fields in Germany in which both women and men are significantly underrepresented. Too few men work in nursing, for example, while there aren’t enough women in technical roles.

17 Mar 2025 | Press release no.13

Girls’ Day and Boys’ Day on 3rd April offer young people a day in which to learn all about occupations in which men and women are in the minority. This supports school pupils in choosing a career free from stereotypes and provides them with valuable insights into the world of work.

This year, numerous employers throughout Germany are joining the programme and opening their doors to young people. On the websites www.girls-day.de and www.boys-day.de, girls and boys can find all the offerings available in their region in the respective search field. The events that are available are aimed at pupils in the 5th grade and over. As of mid-March, nearly 21,600 events with more than 162,900 places were available, including approximately 6,700 taster days that are also barrier free.

Companies and institutions are able to list their offers for young people free of charge on the two portals. This allows them to spark the interest of the school pupils in the careers and jobs that are available and to introduce themselves as employers. The experiences gained in recent years have shown that the contacts forged in this way often lead to apprenticeships in the future. Taking part in Girls’ Day and Boys’ Day is therefore a valuable opportunity for companies to present themselves and their entry-level opportunities to potential young talents.

Parents can also attend the event days, and teachers can incorporate Girls’ Day and Boys’ Day into their lessons. Numerous materials on the topic of stereotype-free career choices are available on the websites for both event days.

The federal employment agencies, Jobcenters and youth employment agencies are supporting the nationwide events on the event days together with numerous other partners.

Federal Employment Agency to work with partners on the event day

As an employer, the Federal Employment Agency is also committed to promoting career choices that are guided by applicants’ strengths and interests – and not traditional gender roles.

On Girls’ Day for example, at some federal employment agencies, girls and young women can learn about the inner workings of a computer and design their own website. They can also learn about entry-level career opportunities in the BA’s IT department. On Boys’ Day, some federal employment agencies will introduce boys and young men to the career profile and training as a Specialist in Labour Market Services and present the courses available at the Federal Employment Agency’s accredited college, the University of Applied Labour Studies.

School pupils who are interested in taking part in the event day will need a dispensation to attend events that take place during school hours. For this purpose, a form is available to download on the two websites for the event days.