Hall of Femmes

(1) What I love about my current job is...
...the combination of high-level research and leading an international interdisciplinary team that couldn’t be more diverse in terms of subject specialism, cultural background, age and gender. Every day brings new ideas and surprises with it!

(2) My current job suits me perfectly because...
...it combines science management and research. This is the combination I came to know and love in my role as Manager of the Paderborn Centre for Educational Research and Teacher Training (PLAZ). My team in Oslo comprises researchers from 20 countries with expertise in a wide variety of fields, such as statistics and psychometrics, educational research and sociology, psychology and genetics.

(3) One of the highlights of my career so far has been...
...being appointed a professor at Humboldt University in Berlin at the age of 36. I still remember how unreal it felt. With a Chair at the capital’s university, with its vast international networks, undreamt-of opportunities suddenly opened up for me.

(4) When I look back on my career so far, I’d say that what has particularly shaped me has been...
...my time at Paderborn University. It was my academic, social and political home from 1985 to 2001: first on a teacher training course, including involvement in higher education policy, then with a job in the University Archives, where my main tasks included creating a brochure and organising an exhibition for Paderborn University’s 20th anniversary, and finally, many years’ managing the new Paderborn Centre for Educational Research and Teacher Training (PLAZ), which was set up as an interdisciplinary unit.

(5) I’d advise any young women wishing to pursue a career similar to mine to...
...seize every opportunity – and work actively to ensure that opportunities arise. Follow your passion, believe in yourself and be proud of your achievements.

(6) I believe that female role models are important in university and professional life today because...
...female students and doctoral candidates still lack role models in leadership positions. While the majority of students are female and there is gender parity at doctoral level, the proportion of women continues to decline with each further career step. A look at the still skewed recruitment processes for top positions shows that no substantial changes can be expected here in the medium term either.

(7) I decided to do both a degree and a doctorate at Paderborn University because...
...for me – having grown up in a small village in the German Sauerland region – it was a big wide world out there. If it hadn’t been for Paderborn University being nearby and a manageable size, I probably wouldn’t have gone to university and instead would have done an apprenticeship, like most people from my school.

(8) I associate my time at Paderborn University with...
...social, political and intellectual learning experiences. The university played a special role in opening the door for me – a girl from a small village in the Sauerland – into the “big wide world”.

(9) For the next 50 years, I wish Paderborn University...
...every success in educating students from the region who without it might never go to university or pursue a career in academia. The university therefore makes a key contribution to greater equal opportunities in our society.