PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Despite significant advances in higher education, women remain underrepresented in STEAM disciplines, particularly in the early stages of study and in the transition to research and professional careers. AIMS addresses this challenge by tackling barriers such as a lack of role models, imposter syndrome, limited access to mentoring, and gaps in mathematical and digital competencies.
Duration: 2025-2028
OBJECTIVES
As the first initiative to combine AI-driven mentoring with a STEAM approach to gender inclusion in higher education, AIMS develops an AI-based mentoring system that provides individualized support for women in STEAM study programmes to achieve the following objectives:
- enhance digital competencies and resilience in higher education,
- promote equal opportunities through gender-sensitive learning pathways,
- integrate STEAM methodologies linking technology, creativity, and ethics,
- establish AI literacy and responsible AI use in higher education teaching.
AIMS develops an AI Mentor based on adaptive learning algorithms and responsible AI frameworks to provide personalized, transparent, and bias-aware mentoring. By integrating arts, design thinking and ethics into STEAM, it establishes a holistic, pedagogically sound and ethically robust mentoring framework for inclusive STEAM education.
TECHNOLOGY
The AI Mentor is based on learning analytics, large language models and adaptive recommender technologies to generate personalized mentoring and learning pathways. It integrates explainable and ethical AI, user profiling, competency tracking and feedback mechanisms, and is implemented as SCORM-compatible modules embedded in existing university learning management systems.
PRACTICAL EXAMPLE
The AI Mentor will be piloted with first-year female STEAM students at partner universities in Türkiye, Germany and Austria, providing personalized study planning, competency development and career guidance. In addition, project results will be implemented through MOOCs and E-Courses integrated into institutional learning management systems and teacher training programmes, supporting AI-based mentoring, STEAM-oriented pedagogy and gender-sensitive teaching practices within regular higher education curricula.
PARTNERS AND PROJECT TEAM:
Coordinator: TUD Dresden University of Technology, Center for Interdisciplinary Digital Sciences (Germany)
Dr. Sandra Hummel (Lead)
Mana-Teresa Donner, MSc MA
Gitanjali Wadhwa, MSc
Syed Hur Abbas, MSc
Middle East Technical University, Center of Applied Ethics (Türkiye)
Prof. Dr. Halil Turan
Dr. Gülizar Karahan Balya
Dr. Büşra Akkökler Karatekeli
Assoc. Prof. Ezgi Pehlivanlı
Dr. Hüseyin Aydın
University of Graz, Competence Center for Higher Education (Austria)
Prof. Dr. Rudolf Egger
Carina Koch, BA
Anneliese Pirs
ASSOCIATED PARTNERS
BILTEMM (Center for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematic Education), Türkiye
SistersLab (Association for Women in Science and Technology), Türkiye
Bildungsportal Saxony (Education Portal Saxony), Germany
Gesellschaft für Medien in der Wissenschaft (GMW; Society for Media in Science), Germany
Orient Express Association, Austria
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Erasmus+ National Agency for Higher Education (German Academic Exchange Service, DAAD). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.