“Women in Oceanography” – Taking stock with Prof. Johanna Baehr

30 January 2015, by Franziska Neigenfind

Photo: Oceanography Society

Women in oceanography describe their career pathes in more than 200 autobiographical sketches.

“Women in Oceanography” is the title of the current supplement to the journal “Oceanography,” in which more than 200 women report on ...

“Women in Oceanography” is the title of the current supplement to the journal “Oceanography,” in which more than 200 women report on the personal challenges they face as career-oriented academics in a field still dominated by males.

According to The Oceanography Society (TOS), which produces it, the publication is intended to show how far female oceanographers have come over the past ten years. For example, the number of female Oceanography students is now on par with that for their male counterparts. But it also examines structures and mechanism that continue to stand in the way of equal career opportunities; among others, the higher places on the career ladder are still home to far more men than women. The first issue of “Women in Oceanography” was published in 2005.

“Universität Hamburg wasn’t included in the first issue; now we are. That shows that things are also in motion here in Hamburg, even if we still have a way to go,” claims physical oceanographer Prof. Johanna Baehr, who researches and teaches at Universität Hamburg’s Cluster of Excellence CliSAP and Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability (CEN). In a brief self-portrait, she explains how she manages to balance her career as a professor with two children and a partner who works full-time.

 More information

• “Women in Oceanography: A Decade Later,” all articles (PDF, English)