{"id":359,"date":"2024-08-09T15:04:36","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T13:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/?p=359"},"modified":"2026-09-02T10:27:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T08:27:02","slug":"s02-episode-9-the-womens-representative-and-gender-equaliy-office-abuse-of-power-is-definitely-at-the-top-of-the-list-this-means-that-academic-staff-and-postdocs-are-discriminated-against","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/2024\/08\/09\/s02-episode-9-the-womens-representative-and-gender-equaliy-office-abuse-of-power-is-definitely-at-the-top-of-the-list-this-means-that-academic-staff-and-postdocs-are-discriminated-against\/","title":{"rendered":"FUB Women’s Representative and Gender Equality Officer on Power Abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Christine E\u00dfmann-Stern, Women’s Representative and Gender Equality Officer at Freie Universit\u00e4t Berlin’s department of biology, chemistry and pharmacy, reports on her work combatting cases of power abuse at the university workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are seeking help for such cases, contact FUB’s Central Gender Equality Office Team geschlechter*gerecht<\/a> or the Equality Officer at your department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Audio <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Highlights<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n

„And it’s not enough to have a conversation with an administrative manager. It has to happen at the very top so that the person realizes that I’ve made a mistake here, I have to change something, otherwise the consequence might be that I’m no longer allowed to lead a working group.“<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-from our interview with Ms. E\u00dfmann-Stern<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

SUMMARY<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

[Note: This interview was conducted in German. You can find a full English translation here<\/a>.]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

English:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this episode, Christine E\u00dfmann-Stern, Women’s Representative and Gender Equality Officer at Freie Universit\u00e4t Berlin\u2019s department of Biology, Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, discusses the difficulties faced by academic staff, including issues like discrimination and bullying by supervisors. Many doctoral researchers depend on their supervisors for guidance, which creates fear around reporting misconduct. While Ms. E\u00dfmann-Stern provides a safe space for discussing such experiences, she notes that fully successful resolutions are rare, even when reporting to higher authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms. E\u00dfmann-Stern expresses concern over the lack of accountability for professors who supervise their students poorly. She advocates for faculty training programs to address these challenges. She calls for more prompt action against repeat offenders in academic misconduct and stresses that accountability should start at the top of the management hierarchy. She believes that doctoral researchers need better guidance concerning their rights and obligations at the beginning of their programs, for example through organized discussions to raise awareness and a handbook with essential information, including emergency contacts and support resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms. E\u00dfmann-Stern highlights the value of the FUB Graduate Center for Natural Sciences, as it provides advice and coaching for doctoral candidates; however, many are unaware of its existence. She calls for clearer communication and transparency within the university, especially since many doctoral candidates are overwhelmed with their research and personal lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She aims to continue to address issues that remain unresolved, support funding for students‘ needs, and help ensure a fair and supportive environment at the university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

German:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In dieser Folge spricht Christine E\u00dfmann-Stern, Frauen- und Gleichstellungsbeauftragte am Fachbereich Biologie, Chemie und Pharmazie der Freien Universit\u00e4t Berlin, \u00fcber die Schwierigkeiten, mit denen Wissenschaftliche Besch\u00e4ftigte konfrontiert sind \u2013 darunter Probleme wie Diskriminierung und Mobbing durch Vorgesetzte. Viele Promovierende sind bei der Betreuung auf ihre Vorgesetzten angewiesen, was die Angst sch\u00fcrt, Fehlverhalten zu melden. Zwar bietet Frau E\u00dfmann-Stern einen gesch\u00fctzten Raum, um solche Erfahrungen zu besprechen, doch sie weist darauf hin, dass wirklich erfolgreiche L\u00f6sungen selbst bei Meldungen an h\u00f6here Stellen selten sind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frau E\u00dfmann-Stern \u00e4u\u00dfert sich besorgt dar\u00fcber, dass Professor:innen, die ihre Promovierenden unzureichend betreuen, kaum zur Rechenschaft gezogen werden. Sie pl\u00e4diert f\u00fcr Schulungsprogramme f\u00fcr das Lehrpersonal, um diesen Herausforderungen zu begegnen. Au\u00dferdem fordert sie ein rascheres Vorgehen gegen Wiederholungst\u00e4ter:innen bei wissenschaftlichem Fehlverhalten und betont, dass die Verantwortlichkeit an der Spitze der F\u00fchrungshierarchie beginnen m\u00fcsse. Ihrer Ansicht nach ben\u00f6tigen Promovierende bereits zu Beginn ihrer Promotion eine bessere Aufkl\u00e4rung \u00fcber ihre Rechte und Pflichten \u2013 etwa durch organisierte Gespr\u00e4che zur Sensibilisierung und durch ein Handbuch mit wichtigen Informationen, einschlie\u00dflich Notfallkontakten und Unterst\u00fctzungsangeboten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frau E\u00dfmann-Stern hebt die Bedeutung des FUB-Graduiertenzentrums f\u00fcr Naturwissenschaften hervor, da es Beratung und Coaching f\u00fcr Promovierende anbietet; vielen ist dessen Existenz jedoch nicht bekannt. Sie fordert eine klarere Kommunikation und mehr Transparenz innerhalb der Universit\u00e4t, insbesondere da viele Promovierende durch ihre Forschung und ihr Privatleben stark belastet sind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ihr Ziel ist es, sich weiterhin f\u00fcr ungel\u00f6ste Probleme einzusetzen, die Finanzierung f\u00fcr Promovierende zu unterst\u00fctzen und zu einem fairen und unterst\u00fctzenden Umfeld an der Universit\u00e4t beizutragen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christine E\u00dfmann-Stern, Women’s Representative and Gender Equality Officer at Freie Universit\u00e4t Berlin’s department of biology, chemistry and pharmacy, reports on her work combatting cases of power abuse at the university workplace. If you are seeking help for such cases, contact FUB’s Central Gender Equality Office Team geschlechter*gerecht or the Equality Officer at your department. Audio … \u201eFUB Women’s Representative and Gender Equality Officer on Power Abuse\u201c<\/span> weiterlesen<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7050,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allgemein"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7050"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1793,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359\/revisions\/1793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}