Education for Technical Communicators in Germany

When tekom was established in 1978, education for technical communicators did not exist in Germany. Therefore one of tekom´s main objectives since its foundation was to set up and promote education in the field of technical communication. After all, the improvement of product quality depends largely on the quality of the education of those responsible for the products. By now, a number of universities offer programs in these fields.

Beuttenmüller, Brigitte. TC-FORUM (1998). Articles>Education>Regional>Germany

German Academic Programs In Technical Communication    

While research in international technical communication has flourished during the last 10 years, there has been little published on technical communication programs outside the United States. This article addresses this need by describing 12 representative academic technical communication programs in Germany, including Germany's first master's degree program. While there are no statistics on the number of technical communicators working in Germany, tekom (Gesellschaft für technische Kommunikation), the German professional society for technical communication, estimates roughly 4,400 members. While German academic programs in technical communication share many features with their counterparts in the United States, German academic programs do stress internships, foreign language study, and study abroad exchange programs more than technical communication programs in the United States.

Smith, Herb J. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2004). Articles>Education>Regional>Germany