Company Name: Evonik Specialty Chemicals (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.
Project Name：Grow Beyond Yourself
Award Category: CSR
Evonik’s " Grow Beyond Yourself" program was initiated and carried out in China and India in 2023. In China, the program aims to enhance career competence and soft skills of female chemical engineering students in vocational colleges, thus to support the next generation of chemical professionals and build a robust local talent pipeline, as well as create value for the industry and society. The program was kicked off in March 2023 and successfully concluded with a summer camp in Shanghai on August 25. For implementation, Evonik cooperated with Yiyou Youth Center, a social organization for youth development.
The five-month program took place at seven vocational colleges in Shanghai, Zhenjiang, Nanping, Nanning, Qingdao, Rizhao, Changchun, Jilin. It offered a variety of learning opportunities, including online learning courses covered both chemistry knowledge and skills for career development, open lectures about women empowerment, and offline plant visits and school visits, etc. In addition, an innovation contest themed on “Chemical plant in the city” was organized, which invited students to generate ideas on future chemical plants and their operation. The students came up with creative concepts for various topics, such as low-carbon technologies, digitalized operation, and community engagement. Evonik experts offered one-month mentoring for the finalists.
The program attracted around 560 students to participate directly and influenced more than 80,000 students via its online courses and promotion. Internally, 70 employee volunteers participated in the program.
China has placed a great emphasis on highly skilled talents, giving full play to vocational schools with policy support. Encouraging college-enterprise cooperation is among one of the policies. With the "Grow beyond Yourself" program, Evonik aims to set a college-enterprise cooperation model. It also highlights the company’s commitment to diversity, supporting youth development and STEM education, with an emphasis on female students.
