Evonik launches 2024 “Grow beyond yourself” program to promote college-enterprise cooperation in vocational education  

• Supporting career development of female chemical engineering students in vocational colleges
• New speech contest to strengthen presentation skills of students

Evonik today announces that the “Grow beyond yourself” program is back to China. The program, in collaboration with Yiyou Youth Center, a social organization for youth development, aims to support career development among female students majoring in chemical engineering in vocational colleges. This year, in addition to the learning courses and offline activities, the program will launch a speech contest to emphasize students’ public-speaking skills.

Vocational education lays foundation to highly skilled talent pipelines and industry upgrade. China is now promoting college-enterprise cooperation in vocational education, so as to better support industry needs.

To empower female chemical engineering students and improve the gender diversity in the chemical industry, Evonik launched the "Grow beyond yourself" program in China first in 2023. Around 560 students participated in last year’s program directly. Furthermore, the program also reached a wider audience with online courses and lectures, generating over 14,000 views.

This year, the program will continue to offer various learning opportunities, including online courses, open lectures, offline plant visits and the summer camp. An idea contest will also be organized under the theme of “WE GO BEYOND FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE”, inviting students to generate ideas about a sustainable future around topics of plastics recycling, new energy vehicles and bio-based materials.

Based on feedback from last year, the program will launch a special video challenge that encourages students to express themselves freely and creatively on social media. By sharing their stories and thoughts, students will have the opportunity to develop their presentation skills and showcase their unique viewpoint.

“Through the ‘Grow beyond yourself’ program, we want to play a leading role in cultivating highly skilled and diverse talents for the Chinese chemical industry,” remarked by Fuliang Xia, president of Evonik Greater China. “We will continue to share our expertise, hence, embracing our corporate social responsibility and facilitating college-enterprise cooperation in vocational education.”

The program will take place at seven vocational colleges in Shanghai, Zhenjiang, Nanping, Nanning, Qingdao, Rizhao, Changchun and Jilin this year, and will extend its reach to more schools through online courses.