In Germany only few women take top positions in Organisations dealing with sustainable development issues. Women proportion in sustainability study courses is increasing since years (Kat:z/ Thiem 2011) and female junior scientists feel obviously attracted by research for sustainability funding programmes of the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). So the "glas ceiling'' effect seems to be valid also in fields of sustainability, though the concept of sustainable development as an outcome of the UNCED conference in Rio 1992 enforces gender justice and gender mainstreaming was introduced in a Iot institutions in the sustainability realms. The reasons for the difficulties and barriers for women in achieving top positions is still debated in feminist and Gender studies.

Our starting point is that education in and orientation to sustainability implies a specific value-, impact assessment- and process-orientation, integrative knowledge on systemic contexts and a focus on cooperation and negotiation - all with a specific gendercoding. It results in sustainability competences and gendered concepts of career and understanding of work, of life quality and occupational matters that does neither match with the general format of profession nor fit into the organisation culture and structure of still "highly sectorised" institutions involved in sustainability practices. These institutions are historically focussed on science and ecological problems, strongly oriented to technical solutions and still dominated by men and a masculinely connoted working and organisation culture. Up to now the competencies and skills of men compared to women in leadership positions in professional fields of sustainability as well as the factors responsible for gaining these positions are unknown. Thus it is not clarified yet how organisational cultures and structures are involved (facilitating and hampering) in specific competencies being effective and how this is influencing the selection of gender specific careers. In our contribution we will
First present qualitative data (by expert interviews and KODE®/KODE®X and WERDE©, a tool to
diagnose and develop competencies)
(a) on the gendered understanding of career, working relations (structure and social interactions), occupationall life quality concepts, value and process orientation and relevance of expert knowledge of men and women at top positions in institutions dealing with sustainability issues and of students and junior scientists/ or junior staff being qualified or further trained in interdisciplinary cross-sectional fields of sustainability,
(b) on organisational aspects (structure, culture, processes) and their gender codes (statements of employees at different positions of institutions being busy in the scientific fields of sustainability).
Second relate the results on sustainability competencies, underlying concepts of career, working relations, values etc. (a) and organisational aspects (b) to each other and figure out matches, ambivalences and incompatibilities, suitable and hampering factors and discuss their relevance.
Third reflect the results in terms of claims to a gender sensitive shaping of sustainability competencies and sustainable (incl. Gender sensitive) organisational structures and processes.
Fourth frame and combine this demands with Val Plumwoods ethical approach of "Self-in-Relation" and discuss its potential and pitfalls by applying it to organisational (structural, procedura) and competence (individual, personal) related issues in professional fields of sustainability.


Abstract Nr. 9 / Gemeinsam mit Christine Katz und Anja Thiem (beide Leuphana Universität Lüneburg)