An analysis was produced from interview data collected as part of the ESF Early-Career Research Group FioKo and the ‘Professorinnen III’ programme, which examines the experiences of female academics as students or staff members on STEM degree programmes at universities and higher education institutions in Saxony, particularly in computer science, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering. The respondents report experiences of being belittled, struggles for recognition and a desire for more female colleagues. Nevertheless, many are critical of quota systems – not out of opposition to gender equality work, but out of concern that quotas call into question the meritocratic norm, which is understood as gender-neutral, and undermine the recognition they have fought hard to achieve in a male-dominated environment.

Bernadette Rohlf (research assistant at the TRAWOS Institute) and Monique Ritter (professor at Landshut University of Applied Sciences, former TRAWOS member) have published their research in the journal GENDER – Zeitschrift für Geschlecht, Kultur und Gesellschaft.