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International Women's Day highlights both women's achievements and ongoing efforts toward global gender equality. Gender disparities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) affect a country's innovation and ability to tackle global challenges. Therefore, recent national education policies have looked for ways to promote gender equality, particularly in the STEM subjects. One problem is that teaching materials often lack female representation and recognition of female achievements and contributions to STEM subjects, affecting how female students perceive science. The study examines how female students aged 15 to 18 are impacted by gender disparity in their physics teaching materials and what importance they place on female role models. It encompasses 20 group interviews with female students (n = 80) in Switzerland, which were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results show that, aside from Marie Curie, female scientists are largely unknown to female students, contributing to the perception of physics as a male domain. Female role models are crucial for fostering interest, motivation, and self-esteem in STEM subjects. However, internalized gender stereotypes and fears of negative reactions from male peers counter the demand for greater visibility of female scientists. Despite these challenges, most female students advocate for more female role models in STEM to inspire future generations of female students to pursue a STEM career and foster positive social change.

This paper investigates how lecturers’ connectedness with students affected their experience of online teaching during the first COVID-19 lockdown in the UK and Switzerland. We examined how this connectedness predicted lecturers’ self-efficacy in online teaching. This was in addition to other social context variables (connectedness with colleagues and perceived support from the university) and their previous experience with digital tools. The shift to online teaching in the lockdown period abruptly removed any in-person contact between lecturers and their students. Lecturers’ self-efficacy in online teaching is crucial to student motivation, achievement, and the lecturer's own teaching experience. Likewise, lecturers’ connectedness with students and colleagues has been identified as a key factor in learning. Consequently, this study explored how different forms of connectedness predicted lecturers’ self-efficacy in the new teaching environment. A total of 252 lecturers from UK and Swiss universities completed an online survey about their teaching experiences before and during the COVID-19 lockdown. Multiple regressions were used to predict lecturers’ online teaching self-efficacy. The results revealed that connectedness with students was a significant and positive predictor of online teaching self-efficacy. However, connectedness with colleagues and perceived support from the university did not. The perception that digital tools enhanced teaching prior to the lockdown was a significant predictor only for the UK lecturers, but not for the Swiss ones. These findings point towards lecturers’ connectedness with their students being a pathway to success in online teaching.

PDT using PSs based on polycationic derivatives of synthetic bacteriochlorin against Lewis lung carcinoma provides effective inhibition of tumor growth with an increase in the lifespan and survival of mice in the group. PDT with polycationic photosensitizers destroys CSCs and tumor neovascularization, and activates the desmoplastic reaction. These results open up new opportunities for increasing the effectiveness of treatment and reducing the incidence of relapses and metastases after PDT.

The transmission of human values to primary school pupils is key, which is acknowledged in curricula in a variety of cultural contexts worldwide. The present study presents data from the multicultural and multilingual region of Bolzano in Northern Italy (n = 422 pupils in k = 30 classrooms). In addition to class teachers’ values as predictors of their pupils’ values we investigated whether teachers’ acculturation orientations would strengthen the relationship between teachers’ and children’s values, thereby acting as moderators. We focused on the opposing acculturation orientations of integration-transformation versus exclusion. A multilevel analysis showed that teachers’ conservation values (tradition, conformity, and security) significantly predicted their pupils’ conservation values, and that teachers’ openness to change values (self-direction, stimulation, and hedonism) significantly predicted their pupils’ openness to change values. This indicates successful value transmission in the classroom. Teachers’ self-transcendence (benevolence and universalism) and self-enhancement (achievement and power) values did not significantly predict pupils’ values. As expected, teachers’ acculturation orientations were related to their values, but they did not play a role in predicting pupils’ values. Implications for value transmission in the school context and for acculturation research are discussed.

There has been little research on the relationships between children’s personal values and the behaviors that express such values in the school context. In the present study, we examined for the first time with children at this young age, the relations between values and their value-related behaviors, i.e., supportive, disciplined, learning-oriented, and achievement-oriented, in the primary school context. The sample consisted of 952 primary school children (51.5% boys; Mage = 7.93; SD = 0.35). Data used in this study were collected in 2022 in Switzerland. A multilevel analysis confirmed the hypothesis that systematic relationships between values and teacher-rated behaviors can be demonstrated with young children. However, gender was the strongest predictor of teacher-rated children’s classroom behaviors. The results highlight the significance of understanding children’s value-behavior relations, teachers’ possible gender stereotypes of children’s behaviors, and its practical importance in the school context.

Serious Games for children and adolescents with disabilities can enhance their learning and respond to their needs in an inclusive educational setting. The aim of this systematic review is to analyze the potential of Serious Games for children and young people with disabilities, thereby providing an overview of effective Serious Games for schools and practitioners in the field of inclusive education. For this purpose, a systematic review of empirical literature found in the database Education Resources Information Centre (ERIC) was conducted, applying a qualitative content analysis. Findings from the 21 reviewed quantitative and qualitative studies indicate that Serious Games provide effective support for achieving learning objectives in certain school subjects and facilitate optimal conditions for learning. We found that Serious Games have strong potential and can make an important contribution to the inclusion of children and adolescents with disabilities in school

Junge Menschen aus sozial benachteiligten Familien mit oder ohne Migrationshintergrund werden mit ungleichen Bildungsgelegenheiten auf dem Weg in die tertiäre Bildung konfrontiert. Diese Studie analysiert Hindernisse, die aus Bildungsnachteilen resultieren können, und Ressourcen, die zu Bildungserfolg führen können. Die Studie basiert auf der qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse von Interviews mit Bildungsaufsteigern und -aufsteigerinnen aus benachteiligten Milieus. Zusammenfassend zeigen die Ergebnisse, dass gute Beziehungen und soziale Unterstützung durch Eltern, Lehrpersonen sowie Mitschülerinnen und Mitschüler die Chance auf einen Bildungsaufstieg sowohl von einheimischen als auch von Personen mit Migrationshintergrund aus benachteiligten Milieus wesentlich begünstigen.

Abstract The hyperbolic materials are strongly anisotropic media with a permittivity/permeability tensor having diagonal components of different sign. They combine the properties of dielectric and metal-like media and are described with hyperbolic isofrequency surfaces in wave-vector space. Such media may support unusual effects like negative refraction, near-field radiation enhancement and nanoscale light confinement. They were demonstrated mainly for microwave and infrared frequency ranges on the basis of metamaterials and natural anisotropic materials correspondingly. For the terahertz region, the tunable hyperbolic media were demonstrated only theoretically. This paper is dedicated to the first experimental demonstration of an optically tunable terahertz hyperbolic medium in 0.2–1.0 THz frequency range. The negative phase shift of a THz wave transmitted through the structure consisting of 40 nm (in relation to THz wave transmitted through substrate) to 120 nm bismuth film (in relation to both THz waves transmitted through substrate and air) on 21 µm mica substrate is shown. The optical switching of topological transition between elliptic and hyperbolic isofrequency contours is demonstrated for the effective structure consisting of 40 nm Bi on mica. For the case of 120 nm Bi on mica, the effective permittivity is only hyperbolic in the studied range. It is shown that the in-plane component of the effective permittivity tensor may be positive or negative depending on the frequency of THz radiation and continuous-wave optical pumping power (with a wavelength of 980 nm), while the orthogonal one is always positive. The proposed optically tunable structure may be useful for application in various fields of the modern terahertz photonics.

The paper deals with the investigation of theoretical and practical issues on the organization and management of EFL peer learning. Lack of understanding of the mechanism of peer learning as a system of relationships and interactions hinders creating the conditions for effective education. The study aims to identify and systematize the key components of interactive learning of the English language, substantiate their significance in modeling peer learning. The scientific approach to the analysis of the concept "interactive learning" is applied. The systematic approach to the synthesis of the components of interactive peer learning is used as a basis for educational modeling. As a result, the components of interactive learning were identified and systematized in the form of peer learning principles, including student activity; educational material selected in compliance with student's knowledge; cyclical stages of a learning process; teacher's preparatory work; classroom peer tutoring. The principles were integrated into a dynamic model of peer learning whose driving factors are learning objectives, content, participants, design and management, control and assessment. The model ensures maximum student involvement in a learning process, increases motivation, develops language proficiency, manages activities and leads to efficient results.

In spring 2020, the proliferation of the COVID-19 virus and the imposition of subsequent lockdowns across the globe demanded that university institutions undertake an emergency transition toward online teaching [...]

Maternal diet and obesity (MO) may influence taste preferences and increase the susceptibility to obesity in offspring, but the impact of MO per se to these influences is poorly understood. We evaluated the influence of MO on food choice and susceptibility to obesity in offspring when mothers consumed a standard diet (SD). Mice with the Lethal yellow mutation (Ay/a) develop obesity consuming an SD. Metabolic parameters were assessed in pregnant and lactating Ay/a (obesity) and a/a (control) mothers. Metabolic response to the consumption of a sweet–fat diet (SFD: SD, lard, and sweet biscuits) and the choice of components of this diet were evaluated in their male and female offspring. Compared to control mothers, pregnant obese mothers had higher levels of insulin, leptin, and FGF21. MO increased food intake and liver expression of lipogenesis genes in male offspring consuming the SD. SFD consumption caused obesity development and insulin resistance, increased liver expression of glycolytic and lipogenesis genes, and affected hypothalamic expression of anorexigenic and orexigenic genes. In offspring of both sexes, MO had no effect on food choice and metabolic response to SFD intake. Therefore, when obese mothers consume a balanced diet, MO does not affect food choice and development of diet-induced obesity in offspring.

The transmission of human values plays a key role in the educational landscape around the world (Matthes, 2014; Beck, 1990; Halstead, 1996), and educational frameworks (c.f. OECD, 2019; Council of Europe, 2016) as well as national school curricula (c.f. National Curriculum, Ofsted, 2018; Lehrplan 21, D-EDK, 2016) are based on values that are considered important. However, empirical research into how values are structurally reflected in school curricula and how these values are perceived in the school environment by teachers is very limited. This mixed-methods study is the first of its kind to provide findings based on data from Switzerland, where a new comprehensive curriculum has recently been introduced. Schwartz's theory of basic human values (1992), the most widely researched values framework, serves as its conceptual framework. A Qualitative Content Analysis of the Swiss educational curriculum (Lehrplan 21, D-EDK, 2016) revealed a wealth of references to values, with a focus on values belonging to Schwartz’ higher order values Openness to Change (Basic values: Self-Direction and Stimulation), Conservation (Tradition, Conformity and Security) and Self-Transcendence (Benevolence and Universalism). On the other hand, values belonging to the higher order value of Self-Enhancement (Power and Achievement) did not play an important role in the investigated curriculum. In a complementary quantitative study, the value statements from the Swiss educational curriculum were embedded in a questionnaire, which 108 (102 female (94.4%), 6 male (5.6%)) primary school teachers completed with regard to how they perceive the value-oriented curricular contents in their school environment. Multidimensional Scaling revealed that teachers’ perception of value-oriented curricular contents in their school environment was structured alongside Schwartz's motivational continuum of values, with values of Openness to Change being opposed to values of Conservation, and values of Self-Transcendence being opposed to values of Self-Enhancement.

This study investigates the effectiveness of the serious game like2be, which has been developed to support the individual career orientation process of adolescents by broadening their occupational horizon. In this paper, we present results from an intervention study with n = 809 adolescents in Swiss schools at the lower secondary education level. To analyze the extent to which cognitive, affective, and motivational factors are stimulated and what influence they have on expanding knowledge about occupations (measured learning outcome), we applied confirmatory factor analysis, multiple linear regression, and a structural equation model. The results indicate that the stimulation of cognitive processes through serious gaming has a statistically significant impact on learning outcome, although such factors as enjoyment, flow experience, or self-perceived benefits in playing like2be did not significantly impact gain in knowledge about occupations.

Values are the trans-situational goals guiding human attitudes and behavior (Schwartz, 1992). As early socialization agents, teachers have a responsibility to promote democratic values of citizenship to create an inclusive, fair, and sustainable society, necessary for individual and collective well-being (OECD, 2019). By facilitating social and cognitive development through social interactions, the school setting helps spark curiosity, leading to reflection and adaptation. Across the curriculum, teachers use strategies like imitation, modelling, priming, and discussion to help children make sense of the world (Makarova et al., 2024; Oeschger et al., 2022). Yet little empirical evidence exists to support how teachers achieve this. The present study gives voice to educators through the personal experiences of ten UK primary school teachers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, lasting between 50 and 90 min. Data was analyzed in two stages: First, a deductive structuring content analysis identified how values of self-transcendence versus self-enhancement and openness to change versus conservation, as defined in Schwartz's (1992) model, were reflected in the interview data. Second, an inductive thematic analysis yielded the following themes: mechanisms of value transmission; implicit vs explicit instruction of values; values that are most difficult to teach; value transmission through taught lessons; the role of collective worship and cultural days; opportunities for value transmission in the wider school environment; and the role that a school culture and ethos play in the transmission of values. This study supports the view that values are promoted through a variety of methods and across all areas of the school environment.

Values education within the school context is, among other elements, shaped by a value-related school climate as well as teachers' value-related educational goals. This longitudinal study investigated the interplay between these two elements over fifteen months, starting in March 2021, and including four points of measurement (t1 - t4). The sample consisted of 118 primary school teachers (years 1 and 2) from primary schools in Switzerland. Teachers' value-related educational goals were measured with the "Portrait Values Questionnaire," and teachers' perception of their school climate was measured with the "12-Item School Climate Measure Scale." "Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Models" along with "Multiple Imputation" for missing data were used to investigate the reciprocal relationships along the four dimensions of value-related educational goals represented by Schwartz's "Higher-Order Value Types: Openness to Change, Conservation, Self-Enhancement, and Self-Transcendence" and their corresponding dimensions of a perceived value-related school climate of "Innovation, Stability, Performance, and Support." For the dimensions "Innovation and Openness to Change," the analyses revealed that the perceived value-related school climate of Innovation predicted teachers' value-related educational goals of "Openness to Change" significantly from t1 to t2, while an effect in the opposite direction from t2 to t3 and from t3 to t4 was found. For the dimension "Stability and Conservation," the analyses revealed that the perceived value-related school climate of "Stability" predicted teachers' value-related educational goals of "Conservation" from t3 to t4. These findings are discussed in light of the dynamic processes of values education within the school environment as well as in the context of environmental and societal developments.

The lockdown of higher education institutions in the European spring semester 2020 required an emergency migration to online teaching. Although support was offered to lecturers, the necessity to adapt to the situation remained in charge of them. This particular situation offers the opportunity to better understand the complexity of the challenge faced by the teachers and the possible evolution of their relationship to digital education. The main goal of this paper is to highlight the teachers’ first reactions, their priorities, and any changes in their relationship to educational technologies. Lecturers and teachers from three universities (N= 616) from the Upper Rhine region in Switzerland and France completed an online survey just after the spring 2020 lockdown. The questionnaire asked them about their practices and their feelings over three periods: before the lockdown, the period of switching to online lessons, and after lockdown. The first results show the effects produced by this massive use of online education and first and foremost the need to maintain the relationship with the students. They also suggest that the pandemic has improved the acceptability of online education, without ensuring its sustainable adoption.

The switch to emergency remote teaching (ERT) due to the first COVID-19 lockdown demanded a lot from university lecturers yet did not pose the same challenge to all of them. This study sought to explain differences among lecturers (n = 796) from universities in France, Germany, Switzerland, and the UK in their use of educational technology for teaching, institutional support, and personal factors. Guided by the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), lecturers’ behavior (educational technology use), environment (institutional support), and personal factors (ERT self-efficacy, continuance intentions, and demographics) were examined. Latent class analysis was employed to identify different types of lecturers in view of educational technology use, while multinomial regression and Wald chi-square test were used to distinguish classes. The largest latent class were Presenters (45.6%), who focused on content delivery, followed by Strivers (22.1%), who strived for social interaction, Routineers (19.6%), who were ready for online teaching, and Evaders (12.7%), who evaded using technology for educational purposes. Both personal factors and perceived institutional support explained class membership significantly. Accordingly, Evaders were older, less experienced, and rarely perceived institutional support as useful. Routineers, the Evaders’ counterparts, felt most self-efficient in ERT and held the highest continuance intentions for educational technology use. This research suggests that universities engage lecturers in evidence-based professional development that seeks shared visions of digital transformation, networks and communities, and design-based research.

Math has a strong gender-related image, even among teachers. As teachers hold beliefs about their work, their role, their subject, and their students, they shape girls’ and boys’ mathematical beliefs and attitudes. Research during the past 20 years has shown that teachers’ gender beliefs about mathematics significantly favor boys, thereby reinforcing girls’ low math ability self-concept. Still, there is a lack of studies that examine teachers’ gender-related beliefs based on their underlying assumptions. Our study provides the first empirical evidence of the relationship between general gender stereotypes and math stereotypes. To this end, we used partial correlation and MANCOVA to analyze data from an online survey in 2019/2020 conducted in Switzerland (195 women, 80 men) as part of a cross-cultural comparison study. We therefore created a differentiated profile of prospective teachers by examining their beliefs about their self-image, their image of men and women in society, their essentialist and gender role ideology beliefs, and their math stereotypes. Then, we linked prospective teachers’ beliefs about gender (based on 48 characteristics) to their beliefs about mathematics and about girls’ and boys’ competencies in math. The extensive analysis provides knowledge about prospective teachers and is particularly important for teacher education.

Despite existing educational inequalities, the literature provides hardly any empirically validated insights into the school success pathways of migrants [...]

FGF21 is a promising candidate for treating obesity, diabetes, and NAFLD; however, some of its pharmacological effects are sex-specific in mice with the Ay mutation that evokes melanocortin receptor 4 blockade, obesity, and hepatosteatosis. This suggests that the ability of FGF21 to correct melanocortin obesity may depend on sex. This study compares FGF21 action on food intake, locomotor activity, gene expression, metabolic characteristics, and liver state in obese Ay males and females. Ay mice were administered FGF21 for seven days, and metabolic parameters and gene expression in different tissues were assessed. Placebo-treated females were more obese than males and had lower levels of blood insulin and liver triglycerides, and higher expression of genes for insulin signaling in the liver, white adipose tissue (WAT) and muscles, and pro-inflammatory cytokines in the liver. FGF21 administration did not affect body weight, and increased food intake, locomotor activity, expression of Fgf21 and Ucp1 in brown fat and genes related to lipolysis and insulin action in WAT regardless of sex; however, it decreased hyperinsulinemia and hepatic lipid accumulation and increased muscle expression of Cpt1 and Irs1 only in males. Thus, FGF21’s beneficial effects on metabolic disorders associated with melanocortin obesity are more pronounced in males.

The preference for high-calorie foods depends on sex and contributes to obesity development. Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) beneficially affects taste preferences and obesity, but its action has mainly been studied in males. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of FGF21 on food preferences and glucose and lipid metabolism in C57Bl/6J male and female mice with diet-induced obesity. Mice were injected with FGF21 or vehicle for 7 days. Body weight, choice between standard (SD) and high-fat (HFD) diets, blood parameters, and gene expression in white (WAT) and brown (BAT) adipose tissues, liver, muscles, and the hypothalamus were assessed. Compared to males, females had a greater preference for HFD; less WAT; lower levels of cholesterol, glucose, and insulin; and higher expression of Fgf21, Insr, Ppara, Pgc1, Acca and Accb in the liver and Dio2 in BAT. FGF21 administration decreased adiposity; blood levels of cholesterol, glucose, and insulin; hypothalamic Agrp expression, increased SD intake, decreased HFD intake independently of sex, and increased WAT expression of Pparg, Lpl and Lipe only in females. Thus, FGF21 administration beneficially affected mice of both sexes despite obesity-associated sex differences in metabolic characteristics, and it induced female-specific activation of gene expression in WAT.

Studies have repeatedly reported that math and science are perceived as male domains, and scientists as predominantly male. However, the impact of the gender image of school science subjects on young people's career choice has not yet been analyzed. This paper investigates the impact of the masculinity image of three school subjects—chemistry, mathematics, and physics—on secondary students' career aspirations in STEM fields. The data originated from a cross-sectional study among 1'364 Swiss secondary school students who were close to obtaining their matriculation diploma. By means of a standardized survey, data on students' perception of masculinity of science school subjects were collected using semantic differentials. The results indicate that for both sexes, math has the strongest masculinity attribution, followed by physics as second, and, finally, chemistry with the lowest masculinity attribution. With respect to gender differences, our findings have shown that among female students, the attribution of masculinity to the three school subjects does not differ significantly, meaning that female students rated all subjects similarly strongly as masculine. Within the group of male students however, the attribution of masculinity to math compared to chemistry and physics differs significantly, whereas the attribution of masculinity to chemistry and physics does not. Our findings also suggest that gender-science stereotypes of math and science can potentially influence young women's and men's aspirations to enroll in a STEM major at university by showing that a less pronounced masculine image of science has the potential to increase the likelihood of STEM career aspirations. Finally, the paper discusses ways of changing the image of math and science in the context of secondary education in order to overcome the disparities between females and males in STEM.

Der Beitrag analysiert Studienpräferenzen von deutschschweizerischen Gymnasiastinnen und Gymnasiasten. Im Zentrum steht die Frage, aus welchen Gründen zukünftige Studierende ein Studium im Bereich der Mathematik, Informatik, Naturwissenschaft und Technik (MINT) (ab-)wählen. Dabei werden sowohl individuelle als auch kontextuelle Einflussfaktoren fokussiert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass das Geschlecht der Jugendlichen sowie ihr Interesse und ihre Leistungen in den Fächern Mathematik, Physik und Chemie die grösste Vorhersagekraft für eine MINT-Studienwahl haben. Darüberhinaus fungieren intrinsische Studienwahlmotive der Gymnasiastinnen und Gymnasiasten als wesentliche Determinanten für die Wahl oder Abwahl eines MINT-Studiums.

New data characterizing the hydrophysical features (water temperature), water quality (water transparency, dissolved oxygen, and number of saprophytic bacteria), trophic status (chlorophyll a), and impact of the catchment (water color) of Lake Onego ecosystem wereobtained in August 2017. The vertical profiles of these parameters along lake transects from northwestern polluted near-shore areas receiving river runoff (Petrozavodskaya,Kondopozhskaya bays) to the southern tip of the lake are shown. The results of the surveysshow that the central and southern parts of Onego Lake are still characterized byhigh water quality and oligotrophic state. The epilimnion was about 10 m thick, the watertemperature of this layer did not exceed 14.8–16.7 °C. The thermocline in the deepwaterpart of the lake was located at a depth of 10–20 m. The transparency of the waterin pelagic parts of the lake reached 3.5–4.0 m, water color was 23–31 degrees on Pt-Coscale, oxygen saturation of the water was 87–92 %, chlorophyll a concentration in the photic layer did not exceed 3.2 μg/l, and saprophytic bacterioplankton numbers were within n∙102 CFU/ml. A significant reduction in water color and abundance of saprophytic bacteria, and an increase in dissolved oxygen concentrations were observed along the transect from Petrozavodskaya and Kondopozhskaya bays towards the pelagic part of the lake. This confirms that natural (humic substances) and anthropogenic (municipal and industrial wastewaters) allochthonous organic matter is effectively transformed in the bays. The abundances of saprophytic bacteria, the oxygen saturation of water, and the concentration of chlorophyll a in some areas of the lake were slightly lower than in previous decades. Water color, on the contrary, showed a tendency for an increase.

The quantitative growth and spatial dynamics of major ecotrophic groups of heterotrophic bacterioplankton in rivers Lososinka and Neglinka in Petrozavodsk(oligocarbophilic, saprophytic, phenol-resistant, hydrocarbon oxidizing, and total coliform) are shown. The effect of the hydrometeorological factor on the investigated groups of bacterioplankton was considered. Water pollution by labile organic matter, including fecal organic matter and oil products was indicated by the level of development of indicator groups of heterotrophic bacteria. The river water was classified into the β-, α-mesosaprobic class with signs of pollution and eutrophication in the studied period. The abundance of potentially pathogenic microorganisms in the water of these urban rivers excluded the possibility of their recreational use. The bioassay showed that water in the urban rivers had no toxic effect on standard test objects – the crustacean Ceriodaphnia affinis.

Choosing a career is an important biographical event for adolescents. Toward the end of compulsory education, they must decide which career path they want to pursue. The serious game like2be was developed to support adolescents in this individual career choice process. In a quasi-experimental intervention study with 809 adolescents, like2be was evaluated for its effectiveness in career choice classes at the lower secondary level. In addition, a teaching concept for the application of the serious game which included additional teaching materials was analyzed. The data show that like2be is an effective medium for broadening personal career choice horizons, especially when it is pedagogically well-founded and integrated into career choice classes. Although the effectiveness of like2be in stimulating intensive reflection on one's own vocational aptitude or a gender-sensitive attitude towards occupations is limited, the present study shows that like2be has major potential for supporting the process of career choice among adolescents.