After more than five years in office, Professor Kocian-Dirr is handing over the reins to Professor Meinhardt, who teaches health care law at the Faculty of Health Management. Together with her team, the Commissioner for the Equality of Women in Science and the Arts promotes equal opportunities at the university, participates in personnel and appointment procedures, advises on equality issues, and campaigns against discrimination and disadvantage against women.
“Equal opportunities are an important driver of innovation in teaching, research, and transfer. The fact that our university is above the Bavarian average in terms of the proportion of female professors is just one example of the success of our equality work,“ says HNU President Prof. Dr. Uta M. Feser. ”I warmly congratulate Professor Meinhardt on her election and am convinced that she will continue to drive this development forward with new impetus.”
“We can only do it together”: Prof. Dr. Anna Meinhardt in a short interview
What motivated you to take on your new position?
"I have had a wide variety of experiences with equality myself: from special support for STEM subjects at my former girls' high school to the need to assert myself as the only female managing director in a male-dominated management environment – despite a female quota of just under 50% in the company. That's why I have been committed to equal opportunities for a long time, for example through the ZONTA association. It was therefore a logical step for me to take on the role of Equal Opportunities Officer at our university."
Where do you currently see the greatest challenges and opportunities in the area of gender equality at universities?
“Equal opportunities were excellently represented and promoted by my predecessor, Professor Kocian-Dirr, and our team. We are fortunate to have so much support from the university management in this area. We want to encourage women to excel in STEM subjects.”
Which topics and measures are particularly important to you in your new role?
Which topics and measures are particularly important to you in your new role?
"I want to broaden the perspective, which is still often limited to individual topics such as gender. For me, equality means that women and men have the same opportunities and chances, that fair conditions apply to everyone. Being courageous, finding role models, and being a role model for other women is important for schoolgirls, female students, female scientists, and female professors.
That's why BayernMentoring is particularly close to my heart, as are all the events we offer for the various target groups. I hope that women at HNU will take advantage of the great opportunities on offer, which make a positive contribution for all of us. Because: We can only do it together!"
Looking back on many years of commitment: predecessor Prof. Dr. Claudia Kocian-Dirr
Prof. Kocian-Dirr had a significant influence on gender equality work at HNU for many years: She provided impetus at BayernMentoring for five years; for a total of 18 years, she was committed to promoting equal opportunities throughout the university and established new formats, networks, and structures for the advancement of women in science. Among other things, she and her team developed the innovative support concept “Frauen.Machen.Wissenschaft” (Women.Do.Science) for female research assistants and, together with her colleagues, the “Girls @ HNU Summer Lab” for schoolgirls.
The doctor of business informatics will now be focusing more on teaching and research again. In 2024, she received the Neu-Ulm University Award for Digital Teaching for her teaching concept “The Basis of the Future: AI and Teaching Hand in Hand” – a sign of how consistently she promotes the digital participation of female experts in the field of artificial intelligence.
More about the work of the Commissioner for the Equality of Women in Science and the Arts at HNU
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Prof. Dr. Anna Meinhardt
