At the event in the Botanical Garden, the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space also awarded the title of "University with Strong Gender Equality" as part of the Women Professors Program 2030. Dr Janotta is the first female professor at the university in the current round of the program.
"For us as a university, it is a wonderful sign to come together today in our beautiful garden to welcome Prof. Janotta and learn more about her and her research on the one hand, and to receive the title of "University with Strong Gender Equality" on the other," said Prof. Dr. Susanne Menzel-Riedl, President of Osnabrück University. "Performing so successfully in this program over the years is anything but a matter of course and can only be achieved as an absolute team effort, for which I would like to thank everyone involved from the bottom of my heart."
Prof. Dr. Andrea Lenschow also made it clear that such an award is something special. The Vice President for Internationalization, Diversity and Academic Qualifications thanked the Equal Opportunities Office in particular, whose great commitment had made such an award possible in the first place.
The Women Professors Program was jointly founded by the federal and state governments in 2008. The aim is to retain more women in the academic system after their Doctorate, to increase their participation at all qualification levels and to further promote actual gender equality. Successful universities receive start-up funding for a period of five years for a maximum of three initial appointments of female academics to permanent W2 and W3 professorships. Receiving the award also enables the funding of an additional position for the duration of five years for a female researcher on the path to a professorship.
Osnabrück University has been successful in all three rounds of applications so far with the gender equality concept it has submitted and has now been awarded the award for the second time. In the previous three rounds, eight appointments to six W2 and two W3 professorships contributed to the program objectives. The funds thus released also enabled the implementation of various equal opportunities projects at the university. Prof. Janotta is the first program professorship to be acquired in the current fourth round of the Women Professors Program.
"It is important to me to further increase the proportion of women in academic leadership positions. This is about equality - but also about increasing innovative strength and the excellence of our science system. That's why the federal and state governments are making a significant contribution to further increasing the number of female professors in Germany towards parity and counteracting the leaky pipeline with the Female Professors Program 2030. I would like to congratulate Osnabrück University on being recognized as a university with strong gender equality," said Federal Research Minister Dorothee Bär. Lower Saxony's Science Minister Falko Mohrs also offered his congratulations: "The university shows how equality is lived and shaped. Equality is not just a goal, but a pioneer for strong, equal opportunities and sustainable science."
In her inaugural lecture, Prof. Janotta spoke about the significance of psychoanalytical theories of racism for research, university teaching and educational practice. "As a social phenomenon, racism has a major influence on conscious and unconscious forms of our interaction. This is also reflected in individual educational processes," says the researcher. "The (pedagogical) concept of racism criticism strives to reflect on and transform racism as a social and powerful regulation. However, the fact that feelings and affects also play a role in this and in what way has not yet been sufficiently researched in the pedagogical debate." In her inaugural lecture, Prof. Janotta drew on concepts from psychoanalytically oriented group analysis to understand how feelings can become relevant in heterogeneous groups. From this, she developed new pedagogical approaches and research perspectives.
Further information for the media:
Prof. Dr. Lisa Janotta, Osnabrück University
Institute of Education
lisa.janotta@uos.de
