Hall of Femmes

(1) What I love about my current job is...
...that I get to work on facilitating transformative learning for individuals and to initiate, develop, implement and evaluate these processes in different educational contexts (e.g. business studies classes, vocational business training and educational development in higher education).

(2) I’ve long been passionate about...
...I’m fascinated by the fact that people can intentionally change and learn from experience through reflection; they cannot only expand their cognitive map, skill set and attitudes, but also change themselves physically and in terms of their fundamental beliefs.

(3) One of the highlights of my career so far has been...
...the development of the educational concept for a new university Learning Centre (SQUARE). The concept was translated into a physical building by the architect: From ideas to action... and the fact that this social and physical learning architecture is now actually perceptible, tangible.

(4) People and career paths of others that encouraged to take up my professorship helped me by...
...My doctoral supervisor Professor Peter F. E. Sloane in particular encouraged me at various points along my path, in his own personal way. He pointed me in the right direction of initiatives and development opportunities – all potential “doors” – and acknowledged and trusted that I’d make the right decisions for myself... Thank you, Peter!

(5) When I look back on my career so far, I’d say that what has particularly shaped me has been...
...the fact that I was constantly confronted with various junctures and crossovers along my professional learning path: my family’s manual background and my own professional academic route; business and economics and educational science; vocational education and higher education, Germany and Switzerland...

(6) I’d advise any young women wishing to pursue a career similar to mine to...
...try and work out what excites and motivates you, what you’re passionate about, i.e. reflect on what personal success means for you. I’d also advise them to be very open to development opportunities that may at first glance not appear to be a perfect fit for them.

(7) I try to inspire young women for my discipline and passion(s) by...
...I try to inspire young women in particular for a career in business education by showing them where there is scope for action and their options for shaping this. My approach to ensuring that this is effective is to specifically design and reflect on individual experiences in order to provide “hands-on experiences” or “experimental opportunities”. Only in these “safe environments” can women – but also men – develop beyond their existing personal boundaries.

(8) I associate my time at Paderborn University with...
...a time of contrasts: For me, it was a big move from student to employee, from Bavaria to East-Westphalia, from diploma course to modularised academic system, from student assistant to doctoral student. This opened up a lot of new perspectives for me, changed things I hadn’t questioned before and made me realise that I could actually transform these things into opportunities that I had influence over, which made my overall area of influence bigger and more effective. I associate my time at Paderborn University with my roots in business education and, above all, the fantastic personal and professional support from my doctoral supervisor and the entire Business Education team.
However, I also remember how university regulations sometimes got in the way of progress...

(9) For the next 50 years, I wish Paderborn University...
...The future for universities is both exciting and challenging. I hope that Paderborn University is conscious of its tradition as a “reform” university and will be consequently able to overcome traditional structures more quickly than others. I think that universities will play a much bigger role in enabling individual and collective transformation in the future. This is not something that can be taught. It requires the provision of space and opportunities for experience and reflection. I hope that Paderborn University will have the courage to take alternative paths here.