At the 2-day event, selected experts from industry, science and medicine will present their disparate views on the topic. For example, Burkhard Schwenker, former head of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, considers a quota system indispensable in order to take a systematic step forward towards increasing the proportion of women in executive positions. Gabriele Kaczmarczyk from Charité Hospital in Berlin, who heads the “ProQuote" association, also demands a quota in order to get more women into top jobs. Sociologist Stefan Hirschauer, by contrast, regards a quota system as a “desperate act of those who want to promote women in science", with a danger of “sexist side effects". Equally interesting will be the talk presented by Curt Rice, who describes himself as a “sexist man". Rice, who is the first American to head a Norwegian university, has intensively looked into the subject of gender issues.
DKFZ’s equal opportunities officer Karin Greulich-Bode, who has organized the conference, considers Germany’s largest biomedical research institute to be the ideal venue for this debate. “Most staff scientists at the DKFZ have degrees in biology or medicine, which are precisely the disciplines with far more women than men among graduates. Nevertheless, women are substantially underrepresented as group leaders or department heads. It will be most interesting for us to hear field reports from countries that have already introduced a quota for women in research such as the U.S. and Norway. And we will also be eager to hear about answers from other sectors."
“We will have to overcome the obstacles that block the road leading to executive positions for talented and motivated women," says acting DKFZ Chairman and Scientific Director Michael Boutros about the conference’s main objective.
Journalists are very welcome to attend the conference.
Please find the conference program at http://www.dkfz.de/de/akfifz/programm.html.
For interview requests, please contact the Press Office.
* The German word “Quark" also means “nonsense".