Project leaders: Prof. Dr Karin Flaake, Prof. Dr Heike Fleßner

Research assistants: Almut Kirschbaum (Dipl. Sozialwiss.), Dorothee Noeres (Dipl. Sozialwiss.)

Duration: 1 January 2002 – 31 December 2003

The first significant decline in the proportion of women on academic qualification and career paths can be observed at the transition to doctoral studies. A study focusing on gender-specific funding and support structures at universities in Lower Saxony addressed this phase. It was based on an analysis of subject-specific data on degrees and doctoral degrees, the awarding of postgraduate research grants and research assistant posts, as well as interviews with experts from administrative bodies, Schools and Gender Equality Offices. The study highlighted subject-specific conditions and support structures that present different opportunities for women and men to pursue a doctorate. On the basis of these findings and their discussion with experts at a concluding workshop, approaches for systematic, gender-equitable doctoral funding were developed; these were incorporated into corresponding gender equality-oriented advisory work for the Presidential Board of the University of Oldenburg.

Key publications:

Flaake, Karin/Fleßner, Heike/Kirschbaum, Almut/Noeres, Dorothee (2005): Doctoral funding and gender. On the significance of gender-specific selection processes in doctoral funding at universities in Lower Saxony, Oldenburg