Today we would like to introduce you to junior Prof. Dr. Henriette Bertram, who holds the junior professorship Gender.ING.
She is committed to the goal of “health and well-being” and answered a few questions for us.
How does your work relate to this SDG?
In my research and teaching, I look at how the category of gender also has an impact in supposedly neutral spheres such as technology and space and how these in turn influence people's lives and perceptions. I am interested in connections with other structural categories such as race or education. It is important to me to show that people have different prerequisites for using and accessing technology. The same applies to the built and planned environment, for example infrastructure or green spaces.
How did you become interested in this topic and where did your interest come from?
It started with a research project on the spatial and structural conditions for reconciling care work and paid work. For several decades, it has been criticized that cities function well primarily for people who work full-time, are freed from care work and are fully mobile. In the meantime, the gendered division of labor is no longer so strict, but the distribution of unpaid care work and paid work remains the basis for gender inequality and most of the “gender gaps” that are often talked about - pay gap, leisure gap, pension gap, data gap...and others.
Is there a link between your topic and other SDGs?
Too many! Gender equality is a cross-cutting issue that plays a role almost everywhere. I see the most obvious connection to my work in the SDG Sustainable Cities and Communities. But goals such as health or education for all, decent work and ultimately peace and justice cannot be achieved without gender equality.
What support would you like so that you can incorporate your SDG even more effectively into teaching and research in the future?
I am generally open to the topic and have good contacts in several faculties. However, I also notice that many researchers hardly find the time to think about how they can or want to contribute to gender (in)equality in teaching and research and shape society. However, these spaces for reflection are needed in order to bring about real change.