3rd Ladies’ Night for Women in MINT on 19 april 2016 was a complete Success!
“Let that which you find important lead you.” – Prof. H. Weiß
Opportunities for women in science and industry, reconciling career and family, the proportion of women in top positions - these were the central topics that were addressed and discussed at the 3rd FVST Ladies’ Night for Women in MINT. Topics, which obviously meet the spirit of the times and aren’t just interesting to young women, but also to the (still predominantly male) executives and decision makers in research and industry.
This is demonstrated by the considerable number of around 80 registered participants with very different backgrounds.
This is demonstrated by the considerable number of around 80 registered participants with very different backgrounds. Besides MINT-field students and PhD candidates, fellow male students also listened to the three guest speakers’ presentations, and also one female pupil used the opportunity to gather information on her career perspectives. Apart from the presentations, the Market of Opportunities offered plenty of room for discussions and networking, as well as comprehensive information on the University’s funding instruments; Solvay GmbH presented the Ernest Solvay scholarship and career opportunities.
Event conclusion: the (still) significant disproportion between men and women in leadership positions is indeed regarded as adverse by male and female executives alike, but perceived from varying perspectives, and sometimes justified differently.
As such, Prof. Seidel-Morgenstern, Director and Scientific Member of the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, Magdeburg (short MPI) reported that while 40% of their PhD recipients are female, only 10% postdocs are as well. Prof. Dana Zöllner, Experimental Physics, confirmed this and reported, that based on a recent experience, that in total a relatively high proportion of women at an event does not reflect the inequality between women and men at different levels of management, and recalled the TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition as an example: in 2015 the conference’s attendees were about 20% female, yet not a single women was represented on the organizational committee. She simultaneously observed the positive effect that a single women can cause the proportion of women at a symposium to rise by 100%. The Dean of the faculty, Prof. Weiß, added that highly qualified employees will be needed in all areas in the future as well, and stressed the importance of accepting both women and men in executive positions to this end. This estimate assessment was shared by Prof. Leßmann, the Vice President for Research, Technology and Equal Opportunity. He explained that it takes time to bring the small percentage of female first year students to a professorship, and that this small percentage of female students therefore requires the maximum means in terms of education and support. Here he referred to the University’s already integrated soft skills seminars and coaching and mentoring programs (such as Cometin and MeCoSa). He believes that the decision between family and career oftentimes occurs at the same time as graduating from a PhD program, which is why OVGU supports families, especially. Finally, he stressed that so-called role models played an important role in order to increase the proportion of women in top positions, and in that context, named the former Erxleben professor and mother of four, Prof. Futterer as a positive example.
Three role models then also presented their very different resumes and experiences. Dr. Vidakovic-Koch, team leader of Electrochemical Energy Conversion Systems at the MPI, meanwhile with 7 PhD students, was already among the best during school and her studies - she was high school valedictorian and one of the three best students at her university! Mrs. Julia Krahl, production engineer at Solvay Chemicals GmbH in Bernburg, who was one of Ernest Solvay fellows at the University of Freiberg and has found her dream job in the industry. Prof. Dana Zöllner originally wanted to be a high school teacher, but then came to science and received her habilitation in physics. She is now an Erxleben Guest Professor in the field of Experimental Physics.
The organizers would like to thank the Student Union (especially Lukas Otto and Lisa Klemm) and the Faculty of Process and Systems Engineering’s Student Council for the vigorous support with this very successful evening!
Author:
Dipl.-Ing. Nicole Vorhauer, Deputy. Commissioner for Equality and researcher at the Faculty of Process and Systems Engineering