HRA Salon "Macht & Wissenschaft"Part 3: “Macht & Eliten” on 13 February 2020

“Which higher education institutions have targeted equal opportunity programs? I don’t know of any. It is important to support children from less educated households and to encourage women from immigrant and socially disadvantaged backgrounds—as well as queer, trans, and other marginalized groups—to study and to help them overcome the structural hurdles they face at higher education institutions, such as discrimination against women and exclusionary elitism.” Dr. Reyhan Şahin

“In the education and research sector, origin too often takes precedence over future. On their paths to qualifying, first-time academics—in particular—face specific challenges and barriers of habitus. For many years, the German Academic Scholarship Foundation has committed itself to making academia more open and more diverse by providing equal opportunity access to its scholarships and grants, thus empowering young people both academically and personally.” Dr. Annette Julius

“Access to the higher education system and academic careers in Germany is highly selective, and social background plays a key role. Networks, financial resources and the ‘right’ habitus are at least as important as outstanding performance.” Ann-Kristin Kolwes

“Degrees from universities of applied sciences are often undertaken by students whose parents have not attended a higher education institution and frequently turn out to be an academic one-way street. The transition to a master’s degree at a university, to say nothing of an academic career, is usually unattainable. The elite remains apart, closed to others. Is it really so difficult to make it easier to move through the education system?” Prof. Dr. Michael Gille