How do researchers contribute to anti-discrimination efforts through strategic involvement in committees and working groups? We're back with our collegiality showcase, to highlight sociologist Katharina Scherke. Katharina Scherke is, among other roles at the University of Graz, head of the department of sociology, and speaker of the Research Network “Heterogeneity and Cohesion”. Here are three answers to our three questions.
1) Which activities for contributing to a positive research environment are most important in your view, and what is your personal contribution to this cause?
An open, trusting environment is essential for creativity in academia. This requires an institutional framework that enables all researchers to thrive without discrimination and that provides the intellectual and temporal freedom to create something new, despite all external performance indicators. At the same time, institutional arrangements are needed to encourage collaboration that transcends established disciplinary boundaries.
My own contribution to these areas consists, on the one hand, of many years of commitment to equal opportunity and anti-discrimination at our university, including as a member and former head of the “Working Group for Equal Opportunities”, and, on the other hand, of supporting interdisciplinary cooperation formats in the research network “Heterogeneity and Cohesion.” The research network was developed in 2009 in collaboration with colleagues from various faculties in a bottom-up approach and has since initiated various forms of cooperation. Such a network thrives on the commitment of its members and their interest in and dedication to interdisciplinary exchange, as well as the time they are willing to invest. However, the latter also requires appropriate institutional framework conditions.
2) What do you personally get out of your engagement for a more collegial academia?
Personally, I find that encountering other research traditions, methodological approaches and questions is enormously enriching for my own research. Getting to know different approaches and collaborating with colleagues from various disciplines provides new perspectives and inspires new questions, which also influence and transform my own disciplinary work. In my opinion, interdisciplinarity involves combining one's own professional expertise with that of others, thereby addressing questions at the interfaces between disciplines. This requires dialogue on an equal footing, and an open and collegial approach overall.
3) What helped you the most in your own leadership development, and what would you suggest to others who are starting out on their leadership path?
Getting to know the university as an institution by participating in various committees and networks was important for me in order to further develop both my own professional role and my profile with regard to leadership tasks. Although involvement in committees is time-consuming and sometimes difficult given fixed-term contracts, I can still highly recommend it, as the insight into the institution and other ways of thinking, as described above, has a positive impact on one's own work. In particular, getting to know different leadership styles, perhaps even those from which one would like to distance oneself, enables one to develop one's own leadership profile.
Thanks a lot, Katharina Scherke, for taking the time to answer our questions!
The Research Careers Campus Graz showcases people and networks which shape our research environment here in Graz - towards a more collegial, friendly and diverse academia, where all research talents can thrive. More here.
Picture credit: Uni Graz/Tzivanopoulos
Interview: Johanna Stadlbauer, RCC, 12.12.2025