Science / Engineering

On the following pages you can find an overview about past and upcoming projects, lectures and workshops.
For further information or questions KnollSzalai is at your disposal, mail to: office@knollszalai.at

• Research, Analysis, Evaluation
• Consulting
• Workshop, Lecture, Seminar
• Lectures at Universities

Research, Analysis, Evaluation

Gender into Teaching - Vienna University of Technology

Gender into Teaching is the first project in Austria to develop strategies, how to implement gender topics into two concentrations, Physics and Electrical Engineering at a Technical University. The faculties’ motivation to participate is actually to raise the number of women beginners (Number of female students: Electrical Engineering: 7%, Physics: 15%) as well as to change their public image, which they feel is bad. Total number of beginners is decreasing, one can guess whether the recent rise of so called Fachhochschulen is a factor here. (The privileged conditions of Fachhochschulen in Austria are not the same as in Germany!) The situation in Austria is special because most of the beginners in engineering courses (nearly 80 % in electrical engineering!) come from specialized technical high schools, called HTL, starting at age of 15, were the percentage of women is even smaller that at university. One side of the problem is the recruiting, the other side the retaining of female students. Beginners from usual high schools do have serious problems to catch up with the HTL people, especially in mathematics lessons. Another problem is the lack of communication among students and old-fashioned, very hierarchical teaching methods. A change in habitus is needed. Additionally there are nearly no women faculty members at the moment. The primary goal of GiL, namely to establish gender contents in the curricula, has shifted, since our dialogue partners are not prepared to understand that at the moment. Our first idea had been to provide gender contents to different teachers, so that they can include these topics in their existing courses. The reason was that special courses on gender topics normally do not attract many students. But maybe this isn’t the case anyways. Our ongoing gender courses are well attended. (And by the way, there are three concentrations, where gender topics are already somewhat established: architecture, planning and computer sciences. Within these concentrations there are several teachers, who have been working in the field for years.) We feel that there is still a long way to go. Our discussion partners want advice how to increase the number of female students and we will focus on that first. They tend to locate the whole problem in recruiting and are totally blind for the problems women students and faculty face at Vienna Technical University. We decided to focus on Technical University as an institution. We do think that the focus on teaching methods and habitus is the most urgent need at the moment. We hope that there will open up possibilities to get back on our initial goals when GiL grows a little older.
The strategy:
GiL started by building up a steering committee to develop the actual actions to take in collaboration with carefully selected decision makers from both faculties. By this strategy we hope to raise their personal awareness and the acceptance within the faculty, so that we have a more realistic chance to initiate some real changes. At the moment personal awareness of the members is still very low. Our first step is a gender analysis of the two cooperating concentrations. We will identify specific needs as well as existing positive attempts (like the ET’s recruiting program and the physics’ “mathematics zero”-tutorials for beginners). The actions we are intending to suggest at the moment are the following: 1.We give advice how to improve the presentation of the faculties to the public. We will suggest improving the recruiting methods to attract a more diverse body of students. 2.We plan to offer gender trainings and didactics trainings for teachers. 3.We propose changes in the curriculum, especially concerning the very beginning of the first years’ courses. 4.We might suggest establishing special “all women”-offers for female students.

Customers

Period

Documents

The situation of independent women engineers in Austria

KnollSzalai carried out the case study [Zur Situation von selbstständigen Ingenieurinnen in Österreich. / The situation of independent women engineers in Austria] deals with the issue of independent work by women in the technical-engineering field. The survey – financed by FFG (Austrian Research Promotion Agency) - approaches the situation of independent women engineers1 in Austria from various angles: the engineers’ specific areas of activity, their general workday, as well as their specific experiences in starting up businesses and motives for doing so.
The research questions underlying this study include:

• How many independent women engineers are there in Austria?
• What is the living and working situation of independent women engineers in Austria?
• In what areas do independent women engineers work in Austria?
• How do independent women engineers experience their professional situation?
• What motives did they have for starting up their own firms?

Costumers

Period

Documents

Consulting

Gender into Teaching - Vienna University of Technology

Gender into Teaching is the first project in Austria to develop strategies, how to implement gender topics into two concentrations, Physics and Electrical Engineering at a Technical University. The faculties’ motivation to participate is actually to raise the number of women beginners (Number of female students: Electrical Engineering: 7%, Physics: 15%) as well as to change their public image, which they feel is bad. Total number of beginners is decreasing, one can guess whether the recent rise of so called Fachhochschulen is a factor here. (The privileged conditions of Fachhochschulen in Austria are not the same as in Germany!) The situation in Austria is special because most of the beginners in engineering courses (nearly 80 % in electrical engineering!) come from specialized technical high schools, called HTL, starting at age of 15, were the percentage of women is even smaller that at university. One side of the problem is the recruiting, the other side the retaining of female students. Beginners from usual high schools do have serious problems to catch up with the HTL people, especially in mathematics lessons. Another problem is the lack of communication among students and old-fashioned, very hierarchical teaching methods. A change in habitus is needed. Additionally there are nearly no women faculty members at the moment. The primary goal of GiL, namely to establish gender contents in the curricula, has shifted, since our dialogue partners are not prepared to understand that at the moment. Our first idea had been to provide gender contents to different teachers, so that they can include these topics in their existing courses. The reason was that special courses on gender topics normally do not attract many students. But maybe this isn’t the case anyways. Our ongoing gender courses are well attended. (And by the way, there are three concentrations, where gender topics are already somewhat established: architecture, planning and computer sciences. Within these concentrations there are several teachers, who have been working in the field for years.) We feel that there is still a long way to go. Our discussion partners want advice how to increase the number of female students and we will focus on that first. They tend to locate the whole problem in recruiting and are totally blind for the problems women students and faculty face at Vienna Technical University. We decided to focus on Technical University as an institution. We do think that the focus on teaching methods and habitus is the most urgent need at the moment. We hope that there will open up possibilities to get back on our initial goals when GiL grows a little older.
The strategy:
GiL started by building up a steering committee to develop the actual actions to take in collaboration with carefully selected decision makers from both faculties. By this strategy we hope to raise their personal awareness and the acceptance within the faculty, so that we have a more realistic chance to initiate some real changes. At the moment personal awareness of the members is still very low. Our first step is a gender analysis of the two cooperating concentrations. We will identify specific needs as well as existing positive attempts (like the ET’s recruiting program and the physics’ “mathematics zero”-tutorials for beginners). The actions we are intending to suggest at the moment are the following: 1.We give advice how to improve the presentation of the faculties to the public. We will suggest improving the recruiting methods to attract a more diverse body of students. 2.We plan to offer gender trainings and didactics trainings for teachers. 3.We propose changes in the curriculum, especially concerning the very beginning of the first years’ courses. 4.We might suggest establishing special “all women”-offers for female students.

Customers

Period

Documents

Expertise "Gender and science"
at the Vienna University of Technology

Costumers

Period

Workshop, Lecture, Seminar

Symposium: "Gender Technology Impulses" Girls at the austrian HTL, school for higher technical education

Costumers

Period

Lecture: Women and Science

Which obstacles face women in science and research (espacially in natural and technical sciences)?
Which coping strategies are used by women to be accepted as a scientist in a male dominated area?
Comparison of the situation of female scientists in different countries.

Customers

Period

Panel discussion "Women in Science"

Bente Knoll participated at the panel discussion "Women in Science". The aim of the discussion was to motivate female pupils and young women for their studies of a technical university. Bente Knoll talked about her career as a sucessful landscape planner.

Customers

Period

Workshop "Women building up companies"

Customers

Period

Panel Discussion "Women in Science"

Bente Knoll participated at the panel discussion "Women in Science". The aim of the discussion was to motivate female pupils and young women for their studies of a technical university. Bente Knoll talked about her career as a sucessful landscape planner.

Customers

Period

Documents

Lectures at Universities

Lecture: "Gender and Science" at the University of Technology Vienna

The lecture gives an overview about the categories "sex" and "gender" focussing on science and technology.
The lecture points out the following three perspectives:

• Women in Science and Technology: structural and symbolic barriers for women in the field of science and technology, answers and strategies
• Science and Technology of Gender": analysis of the social, historical, political and cultural processes of doing gender in technological artefacts
• Gender in Science and Technology": analysis of the critical role of gender in the exchange between science and society, in developing theories, methods, interpretation of results

Customers

Period

Lecture: "Gender and Science" at the University of Technology Vienna

The lecture gives an overview about the categories "sex" and "gender" focussing on science and technology.
The lecture points out the following three perspectives:

• Women in Science and Technology: structural and symbolic barriers for women in the field of science and technology, answers and strategies
• Science and Technology of Gender": analysis of the social, historical, political and cultural processes of doing gender in technological artefacts
• Gender in Science and Technology": analysis of the critical role of gender in the exchange between science and society, in developing theories, methods, interpretation of results

Customers

Period

Seminar: "Gender and Science" at the University of Technology Vienna

This lecture imparts some basic knowledge about the categories "sex" and "gender", focussing on gender segregated education and fields of work.
Starting with an introduction of the main research questions in the field of women in science and engineering the seminar focuses on gender specific socialisation, self-perception and outside perception of female and male engineers, the current situation at Vienna Technical University and at the job market.
Methods developed for gender sensitive further education and didactics are applied.
Schedule:
1. Workshop on gender sensitisation on the personal level
2. Theoretical input and excursion
3. lectures and discussions
4. Development of action-orientated measures

Customers

Period

Seminar: "Gender and Science" at the University of Technology Vienna

This lecture imparts some basic knowledge about the categories "sex" and "gender", focussing on gender segregated education and fields of work.
Starting with an introduction of the main research questions in the field of women in science and engineering the seminar focuses on gender specific socialisation, self-perception and outside perception of female and male engineers, the current situation at Vienna Technical University and at the job market.
Methods developed for gender sensitive further education and didactics are applied.
Schedule:
1. Workshop on gender sensitisation on the personal level
2. Theoretical input and excursion
3. lectures and discussions
4. Development of action-orientated measures

Customers

Period

Lecture: "Gender and Science" at the University of Technology Vienna

The lecture gives an overview about the categories "sex" and "gender" focussing on science and technology.
The lecture points out the following three perspectives:

• Women in Science and Technology: structural and symbolic barriers for women in the field of science and technology, answers and strategies
• Science and Technology of Gender": analysis of the social, historical, political and cultural processes of doing gender in technological artefacts
• Gender in Science and Technology": analysis of the critical role of gender in the exchange between science and society, in developing theories, methods, interpretation of results

Customers

Period

Seminar: "Gender and Science" at the University of Technology Vienna

This lecture imparts some basic knowledge about the categories "sex" and "gender", focussing on gender segregated education and fields of work.
Starting with an introduction of the main research questions in the field of women in science and engineering the seminar focuses on gender specific socialisation, self-perception and outside perception of female and male engineers, the current situation at Vienna Technical University and at the job market.
Methods developed for gender sensitive further education and didactics are applied.
Schedule:
1. Workshop on gender sensitisation on the personal level
2. Theoretical input and excursion
3. lectures and discussions
4. Development of action-orientated measures

In Cooperation

Customers

Period

Lecture: "Gender and Science" at the University of Technology Vienna

The lecture gives an overview about the categories "sex" and "gender" focussing on science and technology.
The lecture points out the following three perspectives:

• Women in Science and Technology: structural and symbolic barriers for women in the field of science and technology, answers and strategies
• Science and Technology of Gender": analysis of the social, historical, political and cultural processes of doing gender in technological artefacts
• Gender in Science and Technology": analysis of the critical role of gender in the exchange between science and society, in developing theories, methods, interpretation of results

In Cooperation

Customers

Period

Seminar: "Gender and Science" at the University of Technology Vienna

This lecture imparts some basic knowledge about the categories "sex" and "gender", focussing on gender segregated education and fields of work.
Starting with an introduction of the main research questions in the field of women in science and engineering the seminar focuses on gender specific socialisation, self-perception and outside perception of female and male engineers, the current situation at Vienna Technical University and at the job market.
Methods developed for gender sensitive further education and didactics are applied.
Schedule:
1. Workshop on gender sensitisation on the personal level
2. Theoretical input and excursion
3. lectures and discussions
4. Development of action-orientated measures

In Cooperation

Customers

Period

Gender Consulting

KnollSzalai advises different customers sustainable development, environment and gender issues.

Customers

Period