Non-academic careers: Doctoral students in conversation - Part 1

There are many ways out of the BGHS. But where do postdoctoral paths lead? In the summer semester, we talk to doctoral students who are already gaining professional experience outside the university during their time at the BGHS. Susanne Schultz spoke to us about her work for the Bertelsmann Stiftung.

In conversation: Ulf Ortmann (project coordinator) and Susanne Schultz (doctoral student in sociology) Photo: Hannah Grüneberg

Susanne, where do you work at the Bertelsmann Stiftung now?

Susanne Schultz: I'm in the Integration and Education program area. I'm doing research on "Migration Partnerships and Africa" with two young scientists who are working with me. The results will be incorporated into the development of a follow-up project within the foundation.

What does your work - status: now - look like?

Susanne Schultz: I have been working for the Foundation since November 2018 and, for example, organised a technical discussion on migration partnerships last month: with academics as well as with representatives from civil society and political institutions. The two researchers are currently conducting research on migration partnerships, and on this basis I will then write an internal paper that will give recommendations on how the Foundation can take action on this topic, for example: Should we promote education systems on the ground? Or support specific educational migration? This project application process: these are exciting and open discussions.

What are the main tasks you have at work?

Susanne Schultz: In addition to my dissertation for the Foundation, I work two days in Gütersloh and a few hours a week from home. During this time, in addition to being responsible for the project development process, I am currently a participant in an introductory program for new Foundation employees. All departments introduce themselves there. Of course, I also have internal meetings, such as with the responsible board member. For me, this is a new world into which I enter: with my own literature, with my own language and with my own actors who are all active in the field between science and political consulting.

Impressions of the workplace Photo: Susanne Schultz

What knowledge and skills do you bring to your work as a social scientist?

Susanne Schultz: On the one hand, this is knowledge of content and, on the other hand, methodological knowledge that I bring back from university in order, for example, to design a study. I am happy to see that I can also use the knowledge I have acquired over the years in this work - and that it is highly appreciated. And I try to integrate my contacts from science into my work.

What tips do you have for colleagues who are looking to get started in your industry?

Susanne Schultz: It certainly makes sense to gain practical experience. But it's also possible to stay in a foundation if you've only worked at university before. In this case, it makes sense to demonstrate various activities at the interface with politics: To have organised workshops in which politicians were involved, or to have published in places other than scientific journals. Of course, the most important thing is to have specific knowledge for the position.

Susanne, thank you very much for the interview!

You can find the complete interview as PDF here (english version soon available):

Further information on the project "Non-academic career":

• Homepage
• Report: non-academic careers

"How to doctorate" - Welcome Day Extra Event

Writing a dissertation: How does that actually work? Who pays me? And what if I want to go abroad? Especially at the beginning of a doctorate, many young researchers ask themselves such questions. And they also appear again and again in the further work process. How good if there are experts who can help.

To answer these questions, representatives of three institutions of the University of Bielefeld presented such support services in the BGHS on Wednesday, 10 April. Following the Welcome Day, at which the new BGHS PhD students were first welcomed, Swantje Lahm from the writing laboratory gave insights into the highs and lows of writing a dissertation, which not only concern the concrete formulation of texts, but also the complete development process in the doctoral phase. Annika Schmidtpeter from the Service Center for Young Scientists provided information about various scholarship providers and gave tips for applications. And Karin Kruse from the International Office presented funding opportunities for shorter and longer stays abroad during doctoral studies.

For the first time, this inter-institutional event took place in the BGHS. The great interest shown by the doctoral candidates, who took part, but above all the comprehensive, concrete and competent information from the various service facilities at the University of Bielefeld make it clear that it was an all-round success. And it wasn't the last time!

Thanks to:

• Uni Bielefeld Writing Centre
• Service Center for Young Researchers
• International Office

On Wednesday, 10 April the BGHS Welcome Day in summer term 2019 took place. Ursula Mense-Petermann, Director of the BGHS, welcomed the new colleagues. Following this Sabine Schäfer (Executive Management of the BGHS) and Bettina Brandt (Scientific Management of the Department of History) informed the new doctoral researcher about the BGHS, the Faculty of Sociology and the Department of History. After that the doctoral representatives and Ulf Ortmann, coordinator of the project "Non-university careers for scholars in humanities and social sciences", introduced themselves. At the following coffee break in the BGHS-Lounge the doctoral researchers and guests had the chance to get to know each other better.

Above: Executive Manager of the BGHS Sabine Schäfer; Left: Director of the BGHS Ursula Mense-Petermann; Right: Scientific Management of the Department of History Bettina Brandt

The new doctoral researchers at the BGHS

18 new colleagues are starting their dissertaion projects this winter term: Six Historians (5 female, 1 male) and twelve Sociologists (6 female, 6 male).

The new doctoral researchers at the BGHS

18 new colleagues are starting their dissertaion projects this winter term: Six Historians (5 female, 1 male) and twelve Sociologists (6 female, 6 male).

The new doctoral researchers and their projects:

• Paulina Sophie Gennermann (History): The invisible Industry of Flavours and Fragrances between Innovation and Regulation
• Anna Grotegut (History):Taxation of urban real estate. Valuation and Comparative Practices in Germany and Great Britain 1870-1950
• Olga Olkheft (History): Re-conception of Russian Avant-Garde art in the context of Cultural Cold War (1960s - 1980s)
• Helene Schlicht (History): „California Dreamin'“. Counterculture, Cyberculture and the Role of Regional Networks in the Digital Age
• Filip Vukusa (History): (Re)Constructing Urban Medieval Social Networks: A Comparative Study of 14th Century Populations of Zadar and Rab
• Anastasia Zaplatina (History): Venereal Diseases in the Red Army: moral standards, sexuality and gender order during 1941-1945
• Oluwasinmisade Akin-Aina (Sociology): Claiming ‘gray space’, re-framing rights: Citizenship, Securitization and Urban Refugees in Nairobi
• Lisa Bonfert (Sociology): Social positions and social change in transnational South-North migration
• Priska Cimbal (Sociology): Transformation of action spaces
• Daniel Cuty Ninahualpa (Sociology): A Gap in the Andes
• Alice Farneti (Sociology): Punitive approaches versus survivor-centered approaches to sexual violence in higher education: an ethnography of the Quebecer movement against sexual assault on campus
• Ivan Logunov (Sociology): The Challenging Break with Conversational Conventions - A Study on Flirting
• Aziz Mensah (Sociology):Work-life balance, health and gender disparities among working adults in western Europe and the US
• Aristeidis Myriskos (Sociology):From inclusice to equal european public spheres bringing the theories of Feminism and Agonistic Pluralism back in
• Atefeh Ramsari (Sociology): Comparative study of experiencing citizenship regimes of Syria and Iraq by Kurdish ethnic people
• Abdul Rauf (Sociology): Boundary (un)making by youth refugees in urban spaces
• Miriam Kathleen Schütte (Sociology): The influence of international organisations on child-related policies in Romania
• Matthias Weber (Sociology): Police and authority. A sociological study on police knowledge of authority