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Published online 6 August 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.1009
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German professor in sex discrimination battle
Row throws spotlight on dearth of top female academics in the country.
A local government investigation over the appointment of a German university’s director is highlighting women’s struggle to reach top academic positions in the country.
Philologist Elisabeth Cheauré, a professor at the University of Freiburg in the state of Baden-Württemberg, claims that she did not get the job of director at the university because she is a woman.
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I want to take an opportunity to say something general about women making career in German science. Germany is talking a lot about the necessity to increase the number of women-scientists. In many Web-sites related to academic career one can find a special part dedicated to women-scientists. But if you click on those links there is nothing more than just talking. I am too direct, sorry, I know. I think women in German science need REAL support, which means two things. First of all, women need money. Special foundation(s) should be created which give women-scientists a chance to apply for their own funding, to build their Labs, and to develop self-confidence and their own ideas. Women can, of course, apply to any research foundation both national an international. But still I find that creating a special foundation only for women would be a real great step forward. I have been looking a lot for some special funding programmes for women only. No way!!! In North-Rhine Westfalia Lise-Meithner Programme supporting women wishing to make Habilitation has been recently cancelled. BMBF (German Ministry of Education and Science) has announced a special initiative for women-neuroscientists last year. That was great (although the probability to get a grant was 1 out of 20).Second, child-care schemes should be dramatically changed in Germany. You should imagine that some KinderGartens are open until 2 p.m.!! School stops at 1 p.m. sometimes!!! There are no broad-scale Programmes taking care about children after school. I have been living and working as a scientist in several countries, and have many friends around the world. I find that the situation of child-care is completely in-appropriate in Germany compared to many other countries, even to those where social system is worse than in Germany. May be Charite Berlin is the only exception, the only place where people know that women want and can have both, children and career, and do not necessarily must make a choice between those two things.
I can only re-iterate Maria. Women needed more social support, above all in Germany. And, as to the aspect of parenting, I have to state, that there is an equally unfair treatment of the fathers in our (and possibly all other) working systems. Of course there is no direct bullying or the like if you have kids, quite the opposite, it's always a good basis for chats, but it is simply a matter of competition. The amount of time you can invest in (creative) work is reduced if you (really) care for your family. The return is immeasurable as your life is greatly enriched and better balanced. On the negative side, earning money, is suddenly a bigger aspect with kids, and as if that was not miserable enough regarding the financial situation of students & young researchers, in order to keep up with your brilliant fellows you better work longer and harder if you're not smarter. Ergo, where ever you have to cut your time you'll always fall short of a (well chosen) responsibility. This is now the time for politicians to step up and foster women and families in general. In science, that point appears not to hard to achieve financially, as there are hardly any family men and women compared to other working areas. Moreover, it is simply miserable, if the German federal state of "Baden-Wuerttemberg" cuts the small extra money for employees at the University with children, and on the other hand declares itself as "Kinderland Baden-Wuerttemberg". You may easily depict that a "country for kids", in which families need to earn more money in less time with the same salary as two single employees is a bad joke, and only possible if you are a minister in our Landtag. Besides, Germany has an excellent bunch of students, but puts most of its money in research only, and totally forgets about education, a fact that already starts in the families, for the above mentioned time-deficit reasons.
In my university in 2006 (the last date for which I could find figures) there were 42 female and 191 male professors. This figure, bad as it was, hid a much worse situation: in contrast to the males, of whom nearly 80% were full professors, less than half of the females were. Another group of people (no breakdown is available) sits just below that level in permanent "adjunct professor"-type positions that carry the responsibility without either the pay or resources that go with being a "real" professor. Despite the dearth of female professors, curiously, meetings of the "deans of studies" suddenly have a rather higher proportion of women. This is a very time-consuming job with much responsibility but no recognition, since scientific staff are judged solely on the basis of research output and grant money. Clearly a stereotype is at work. Although there are, finally, serious attempts to do something about child-care, an expectation that scientists are only serious if they work excessively long hours is endemic. I do believe that although bias in selection of candidates for professorships is present, it is unconcious and mainly takes the form of the way particular achievements and (aggressive) attitudes are valued. Nevertheless the fact is that usually only 20% of applicants is female, so it is hardly surprising if the proportion of women hired does not exceed that. Possible reasons for the small proportion of women applicants at higher levels - and for the disproportionate number of existing female staff stuck at lower levels - are the lack of tenure track and total absence of formal promotion procedures. Promotion from junior professor to associate professor, or from associate to full professor, is obtainable only if one has an offer from another university, and this situation is anchored in university law. Internal evaluation procedures for promotion, without external competition, do not exist. The search for the necessary external offer involves repeated, exhausting travel to other universities for the appointment procedures. Once there, female applicants may make the dispiriting discovery that they do not even fit the expected profile, but that the committee "had to invite a woman". Once the external offer is in the bag, IF the home university wants to keep the person, IF a vacant post at the required level in the home university is available, it is advertised competitively and the whole laborious procedure - which can take over a year - starts again. This results in a crazy circus of people applying for jobs that they do not want, jobs being advertised when there is already a home candidate, appointment committees playing guessing games about whether an applicant is "serious" or not, and applicants trying to find out whether there is a "real" vacancy. Beyond being a stupendous waste of time and effort for all concerned, this is highly off-putting for any person with a family, and/or a partner in a permament, immovable job. The establishment of sensible, rigorous internal promotion procedures in German Universities would make a huge difference to all prospective academics with families. Moreover, if these procedures were to be applied, now, to all current staff, rather as happened in Yale a few years ago, there might suddenly be a dramatic improvement in the status of, and resources available to, female faculty. The prospect of a committee quota of 40% female, meanwhile, fills me with horror, since in my faculty there are currently only 6 of us (out of 42 associate or full professors) and most committees have at least 10 members.