For More Visibility of Women in Science
Brigitte Gilles Prize Awarded
With the Brigitte Gilles Prize, RWTH improves the visibility of women in science and aims to help increase the number of female scientists and students in degree programs with a low proportion of women. The prize, named after RWTH's first Women's Affairs Officer, recognizes initiatives that improve the conditions for women to study, teach, and research at the University. The new award winners are outstanding examples of this:
The project “Exciting, But Not Feasible for a Woman? The Appeal of Intensive Care Medicine and Surgical Specialties in Medicine” was founded in August 2021 and it is a seminar at Uniklinik RWTH Aachen (UKA). Women are still in the minority both in intensive care medicine and in surgical specialties. In general surgery, there are currently 25 percent female doctors compared to 75 percent male doctors.
In Germany, women hold only five percent of the top positions in surgical disciplines and intensive care medicine. Why is this the case and how can it be improved?
The seminar is intended to help all female students who are interested in these subjects. It is aimed at female medical students between the fifth and twelfth semester and it is offered in both the winter and summer semesters. The students can therefore select it at any time during their studies after the basic medical exam. It has now been established in the qualification profile section of RWTH's medicine curriculum. The seminar has been part of the newly formed qualification profile Gender and Diversity in Medicine since the 2023/24 winter semester. There is no time limit here and there are plans for the seminar to continue to run indefinitely. PD Dr. Jana Mossanen, Clinic for Surgical Intensive Medicine and Intermediate Care at Uniklinik RWTH Aachen, is in charge of the seminar.
A Special Prize for “Frauen am Reiff”
There is a special prize for the “Frauen am Reiff” project by Dr. Birgit Schillak-Hammers and Frederike Eyhoff, research associates at the Chair of Art History. The aim of the project is to connect and support women at the Reiff and also to come to terms with their history. Taking the debate about female professionals and women in public perception as their starting point, architecture students investigated the work of female students, scholars, and administrative staff according to structural, content-related, and methodological aspects. They worked on the project under the direction of Eyhoff and Schillak-Hammers for two semesters.
The goal was to add a female perspective to the hitherto masculine story of the Reiff. In addition, the students wanted to make the stumbling blocks in women's academic careers visible to stimulate discussion about how the situation could be improved. Their findings line up with an overarching scientific feminist discourse, resulting in exhibitions, artistic projects, and a lecture series with experts presenting their perspectives. The aim of the project is to create a permanent platform for the topic.
Valerie Hartmann received special recognition in the “Master's Final Thesis” category. Her final thesis entitled “Anti-Feminism and Intersectionality: A Reflection on the History of Ideas” is a critical analysis in which the author links the history of ideas and current intersectional theories and places them in a contemporary context. She does this in order to highlight the forms and causes of anti-feminism and to offer solutions for the future.
– Author: Thorsten Karbach