Kick-off event of the empowerMINTDoc programme

On 15 February 2022, empowerMINTDoc, the new programme for female STEM students interested in pursuing a doctorate, was officially kicked off. With this, the Equal Opportunities Department is breaking new ground, as there has never been such a programme before. empowerMINTDoc is part of the realisation of the measure in StEP 2025 "Expand and sustainably establish support offers for STEM subjects, including creating orientation offerings for young female STEM scientists" and fits into the I LOVE SCIENCE campaign of the Bavarian Science Forum and the State Conference of Women's and Equal Opportunities Officers at Bavarian universities.

Admittedly, just as many women as men study today, which was by no means always a matter of course. The astronomer Caroline Herschel, for example, was allowed to go to school with her brothers for a few years so that she could learn to read and write. However, she was denied further schooling or even a degree in the 18th and 19th centuries. Nevertheless, her discoveries and her calculation of precise astronomical reductions were ground-breaking.

Even though women were allowed to study in numerous European countries over the course of the 19th and early 20th century, obstacles continued to be placed in their way. For example, women were allowed to study at Bavarian universities as early as 1903, which also enabled Emmy Noether to enrol at the University of Erlangen. She then received her doctorate in Göttingen in 1907. This had also become possible in the meantime. Nevertheless, women were still a minority in scienc.: Emmy Noether was only the second woman in Germany to receive a doctorate in mathematics. However, she was not allowed to habilitate until 1918.

Equality through the Basic Law

Such prohibitions and restrictions no longer exist today. The Basic Law demands equal rights. Yet even if the legal framework has changed, and if formal hurdles have been removed, heteronormative and patriarchal structures that have grown over centuries change only very slowly.

Let's take a look at the University of Bayreuth. In Faculty I, 25 % of students are women, but only 15 % of doctoral students. In Faculty II, 56 % of the students are women. At the same time, however, only 35 % are doing a doctorate. In Faculty VI, too, only a few women study: here, 25% are women, but 32% of the doctoral students are women. If you look at the professorships, the number of female professors is getting smaller and smaller. In terms of the number of students, there is only a difference in Faculty VII. There, female students predominate, although when it comes to professorships, men again dominate.

Far too few outstanding female students, especially in the STEM subjects, dare to take the step of attempting a doctorate. This may be due to the fact that certain disciplines exude a certain exclusivity for certain genders. Thus, future female students and scientists lack role models, i.e. successful women in science who have completed doctorates and habilitations.

Space for questions

The aim of empowerMINTDoc is to counteract these developments. As the name suggests, it is about empowerment, i.e. measures that increase the degree of autonomy and self-determination in a person's life. This programme cannot and does not seek to answer the question of whether a doctorate is the right career step for every programme participant. empowerMINTDoc, however, does wish to give participants the opportunity to ask their questions. What will I face during my doctorate? What will everyday life be like? What is required of you in teaching and research? This is done through information events and through discussions with role models who report on their career paths and decisions. There are also workshops, networking meetings, and peer mentoring in the form of collegial counselling.

The kick-off event on 15 February, to which Prof. Dr. Heike Feldhaar, Professor of Animal Ecology and Deputy University Women's Officer, gave a welcoming address, was part of this framework. In addition to an introduction to the programme, its various events, and initial information on the doctorate presented by coordinator Dr. Elena Köstner, there was also a mini-workshop on the topic of skills assessment led by Dr. Mabel Braun. The participants were encouraged to recognize their own competencies and skills; and this laid the foundation for further self-reflective action in the workshops that followed. With this successful kick-off event, our new programme has got off to a flying start, and it is set to feature more interesting workshops and guests this year.