“Everyone should have the same opportunities, regardless of gender, origin or religion.”
Read about what drives Halle and Anja—our Institute’s new Gender Equality Officers—to foster inclusion and equity
Interview: Shau Chung Shin
Congrats on your election to the Gender Equality Team! Can you tell us a bit about yourselves?
Anja: My name is Anja. I have lived in the Rhine-Main area for a long time: first in Frankfurt, now in Oberursel, and I really enjoy being so close to the Taunus hills. I have been a librarian for over 30 years, working in both public and academic libraries. I love my job because it is very versatile and constantly evolving: from print to digital, which keeps me busy.
Halle: My name is Halle, I am a PhD student at the MPI for biophysics in the lab of Melanie McDowell. I am originally from the UK and have been living in Frankfurt for the past 2 years. I completed my undergraduate studies in the UK at the University of Southampton however, I am originally from the county of Essex.
What is your motivation to become an Equal Opportunity Officer?
Anja: What motivates me to work for gender equality is my strong sense of justice. I believe that everyone should have the same opportunities, regardless of gender, origin or religion. This is my second term as a member of the Gender Equality Team, this time as deputy. I will continue to work on measures to promote gender equality in our institute. I will share the knowledge I gained during my first term with Halle and work together to further promote gender equality at our Institute.
Halle: A large motivation for me as the gender equality officer is my belief in representation. Coming from a small town with very little university acceptance and diversity I felt completely under represented when I went to university. I didn’t see myself at all in the faculty of science—with most of the professors being white cis-males. Hence, in this position as Gender Equality Officer I hope that I can have some hand in improving the diversity and representation within our institute; as the Gender Equality Officers of other institutes are also doing. Whilst the position of Gender Equality Officer is largely focused on gender equality, I think it could be fantastic to take an intersectional approach where possible as I completely agree with Anja—that regardless of the intrinsic qualities of a person we should all have the same opportunities.
What do you plan to do?
Anja: Our goal is to significantly increase the percentage of female graduate students and postdocs. As you can see from our Institute's Equal Opportunity Plan, these are the two scientific areas where men still dominate. We aim to achieve a more balanced ratio.
Halle: At the same time, we will take a closer look at the scientific support area, which is dominated by women. In addition, we plan to work on diversity, to make the idea of diversity visible, because science needs diversity. Our plan as Gender Equality Officers is to always support those underrepresented in our institute – as Anja states the male/female ratio within the scientific staff of our Institute is something we aim to improve. Additionally, I would love to celebrate and highlight the women of our Institute and their success through different events.
What are your wishes?
Anja: My wish would be pretty much this: That our plans work out.
Halle: I agree – I would wish that we can be proactive with our plan and have good communication with those able to help us to reach our goals. I also wish that the women in our Institute feel that they are supported by us (the Gender Equality Officers) and the higher management in a way that they are able carry out the best science possible, have a good work environment and be supported in their careers without doubts that their gender could affect any of these – a privilege that I think is typically reserved for the cis-white male in most work places.
Thank you both! I wish you every success with this important issue!
