hu wissen (pdf) - Exzellenzinitiative - Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

You are both successful scientists. Was it more diffi cult for you as
women to climb the career ladder than for your male colleagues?
Nickel: I’m a product of the former East Germany (GDR), where it
was pretty much a matter of course that women with a family
could do relatively well in science careers, especially since there
were enough kindergarten and nursery places available. Basically,
I didn’t experienced any discrimination.
Allmendinger: My experience is similar, not as a GDR product, but
as a US product – made in Harvard. If you have a PhD you have
an unusually good starting position here in Germany. I don’t
know whether I would be where I am today if I hadn’t taken that
detour via the US.
So you have both had positive experience ...
Nickel: ... we don’t say positive, we deliberately point to specifi c
starting conditions.
Allmendinger: I was appointed to Munich without even writing a
postdoctorate thesis. This fast-track access to a professorship
wouldn’t have been possible under the rules of German higher
education that applied at the time.
88
k english
Frauen starten häufi ger in
prekären Stellen: drittmittelfi
nanziert, zwei Jahre befristet,
Juniorprofessuren – auch hier
an der HU
Women o� en start in precarious
jobs: externally-funded, two-year
contract, junior professorships –
here at HU, too
There are career opportunities for women today, so what’s going
wrong?
Nickel: The imbalance is still far too big. Humboldt-Universität is
actually doing quite well with its equal opportunities policy, but
20 percent women professors is not enough. It’s symptomatic.
Women who want to get established in academia o� en start in
precarious jobs: externally-funded, two-year contract, junior professorships
– here at HU, too.
Allmendinger: And we don’t yet know whether the high proportion
of female junior professors really will translate into permanent
professorships. I therefore think it’s absolutely necessary that the
HU gives all junior professorships the option of a transition to
lifetime tenure – the tenure track.
Women are very well trained today, 50 percent of all students are
female. So at what point does science lose the women?
Nickel: When they want to start a family!
Allmendinger: Women can’t rely so much on their networks because
there aren’t enough women in top positions. When vacancies
are advertised, many women have the feeling they have no chance
either way because they have to apply to an all-male bastion. The
scientifi c institutions need to open their doors and approach qualifi
ed women in an appropriate way. One example is that in Germany
success is measured by the number of publications a person