Prof. Dr. Gordana Krüger looks after her students with passion and dedication. The mechanical engineering professor’s path took her through Belgrade and Erlangen to Schweinfurt. Her goal: to give young people direction.
Despite online teaching, there are a few cars in the carpark in front of the large round building at the FHWS Schweinfurt campus. But yawning emptiness holds sway in the large reception area of FHWS, only the security guard diligently checks everyone who enters. “Everything is empty. Apart from a few internships which are happening in person, there’s nothing going on here – sad,” says Prof. Dr. Gordana Krüger. She is the head of the research laboratory for machine tools, as well as Head of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the FHWS Schweinfurt campus. There are currently two master’s students in her laboratory, who only have access when there are already staff there.
She doesn’t agree with the old cliché that women generally have a harder time in degree programmes which are dominated by men: “It always depends on the person you are facing. The younger generation are much more open here, it’s not so easy to generalise.” Unlike in Germany, it has long been nothing out of the ordinary in Serbia for women to enrol in technical degree programmes. As a child of Serbian parents, it naturally follows that Krüger would use her parents’ country as an example. Although she spent the majority of her childhood in the Nuremberg area, the family nevertheless travelled back and forth between the two countries when she was a child.
STEM taster days are popular
Nevertheless, support for young women in technical professional groups is something that is close to her heart. Krüger has held the position of deputy women’s affairs officer at FHWS for six years. For many years, FHWS has had a fixed day for increasing interest in technical degree programmes among girls and young women with the STEM taster days for girls and young women in the 8th to 12th grade. Last year, time for the switch to digital was too tight, which is why they are prepared for everything this year and will hold the event in accordance with the coronavirus rules, says Krüger.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, a total of 21,457 people completed their mechanical engineering studies in Germany in 2019; 2,577 of them were women. The number is still too low and there is a lot still to do, according to Krüger. By now, the subject has also reached business: “The Schaeffler site in Schweinfurt is taking increasing numbers of female dual students who then go to FHWS. I’m very pleased about that,” Krüger stresses. A bit of nostalgia also shines through in her voice on the topic of Schaeffler. Because the company, with its headquarters in Herzogenaurach in Middle Franconia, is also her former employer and was the stepping stone to her subsequent professorship at FHWS.
Maturity is important
The 52-year-old, who wears a loose leather jacket over a light blouse, doesn’t really look her age. Her answers to questions are initially brief and she therefore almost seems a little distant and cautious behind her face mask. She waves aside questions about her self-perception with a laugh: “It’s almost like a job interview; that’s about 15 or 20 years behind me. Others should worry about that, we don’t know exactly how we come across to other people.” This reticence then disappears completely on the topic of cars. “I like good-looking and fast cars. I used to know all the models!” She drives a 200 HP white VW Beatle herself, which is nippy. But by now she has somewhat lost track of and lost interest in the new models. “When I was 30, I had more motivation to keep up with new developments, but perhaps it’s also just a matter of age.”
Her son has already reached adulthood and is therefore perhaps exactly the age at which her fascination with cars was greatest. Professionally, however, the 18-year-old is moving in the same direction as his mother in his training as a materials tester: “A smart lad, but a bit laid-back. When he has finished his training, he will see for himself whether he still wants to continue his education with a degree or not.” In her opinion, this is not the wrong approach because he will then have something completed and in hand. She would also say the same thing to many students who really want to start a degree straight out of school: “Those who come to the university of applied sciences with training know what it takes and they also want it. People are simply more mature after training.”
Giving young people direction
Krüger cares deeply about her students. She proudly tells a story which she recently heard from the supervisor of one of her students. The young man was fitting into the company extremely well; he needs more people like that for his company. “It is encouraging and these successes then drive one on,” she says in a confident voice. It is important to her to give young people a bit of direction and to “take them by the hand”. But they each have to decide for themselves whether they will accept this.
When she thinks about the time after the coronavirus pandemic, she is most looking forward to getting back to in-person lectures. She particularly misses the direct exchange and the students’ reactions: “Zoom works well, but you have no eye contact. You can read a lot about whether the students have understood something or not from their faces.” Unlike with her students, exchange between colleagues has always been predominantly digital. You are somewhat alone across the board and not in an established team as in industry. Krüger initially had to get used to this change, but luckily she had a good supporter in Prof. Dr. Christiane Walter, former professor in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. “We happened to run into each other fairly often at the fitness studio and got talking. They were always very pleasant and friendly conversations. We understood each other well,” says Walter, who has retired by now and remained loyal to Schweinfurt.
After ten years now, Krüger has also got to grips with the structures and processes at FHWS for herself. If it were up to her, some of them would be simplified after coronavirus. Business trips in particular are sometimes very time-consuming. “Coronavirus has shown that online conferences can also be very effective. Where possible, that will hopefully also be maintained,” she says. Then she says goodbye, climbs into her white Beatle, steps on the gas and speeds off.
