Gender equality on tap as ethics lecture series starts fall season

KALAMAZOO—A visiting scholar from Germany will give her perspective on gender equality at German universities when she speaks this month, launching the fall season of the Western Michigan University Center for the Study of Ethics in Society lecture series.

Dr. Carola Jungwirth, chair of international management faculty at the Universität Passau in Germany, will speak at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 18, in the University Center for the Humanities, 2500 Knauss Hall. Her presentation is titled "Gender Equality in German Universities: Policy, Strategy and Whistle Blowing."

Only 19 percent of professors at German universities are female. The German Research Society, the most powerful sponsor of research activities, decided in 2008 to issue sanctions against universities that do not show progress in increasing their share of female faculty. However, the enforcer of gender equality in Germany's universities is not traditionally the university president, but rather its women's representative.

This gives rise to a paradoxical situation: A member of the faculty not only monitors her university, but also may have to blow the whistle against her university president. Jungwirth, a former women's representative of the University of Passau, will explain the gender equality situation in German universities and discuss an actual example of whistle blowing.

Carola Jungwirth

Jungwirth has a "Venia Legendi” doctoral degree from the University of Zurich, a doctoral degree from Technical University of Freiberg and a master's degree from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, all in the field of business administration. She has published journal articles and book chapters on cluster governance, strategies of venture capitalists and governance of open source software groups. Her first stay in the United States was with professor emeritus Barbara Bergman at the American University in Washington, D.C., collaborating on a project studying affirmative action programs. Her WMU presentation is co-sponsored by the Global Business Center in the Haworth College of Business.

Other series presentations

• Sept. 27-28: Medical Humanities Conference, Fetzer Center. Visit the conference website at wmich.edu/medicalhumanities/conference2012 for event schedule and registration information.

• Oct. 9, 4 p.m.: Panel discussion with Drs. David Karowe, Paul Clements and Ron Kramer professors of biological sciences, political science and sociology, respectively, 2500 Knauss Hall, "Climate Change: The Greatest Moral Issue of our Times."

• Oct. 15, 7:30 p.m.: Winnie Veenstra Peace Lecture with Robert Kochler, Chicago-based syndicated columnist and author, 208-209 Bernhard Center, "Peace Journalism."

• Oct. 25, 6 p.m.: E.J. Dionne, Washington Post columnist, Dalton Center Recital Hall, "The Election and our Divided Political Heart."

• Nov. 12, 7:30 p.m.: Dr. Rob White, professor of criminology, University of Tasmania School of Sociology and Social Work, 1920 Sangren Hall, "Climate Change, Crime and Criminology."

• Nov. 15, 4 p.m.: Panel discussion, panelists to be announced, 2500 Knauss Hall, "Exploring the Question Across the Curriculum."

• Nov. 29, 6 p.m.: Chris Mooney, senior correspondent, The American Prospect Magazine, 2008 Richmond Center, "Political Science 2012: What the Election Means for Science Policy on Climate Change and Beyond."

• Dec. 7, 5:15 p.m.: Geoff Sayre-McCord, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina, 2016/2018 Fetzer Center, "The Moral Grounds of Moral Supervenience."