“Taking our seat at the table” – women at ETH Zurich
Female students, researchers, professors – they are no longer a rare sight, but the road to gender equality at ETH Zurich has been long and often bumpy. Explora illuminates the exciting history of women at ETH: from courageous and persistent trailblazers to the dedicated representatives of an autonomous women’s movement.
What now seems a matter of course was perceived as quite unusual 150 years ago at ETH Zurich, which was founded in 1855: women who study, research and teach. While they were officially permitted to study at ETH right from the beginning, a lack of schooling for girls, social conventions and persistent traditional gender role models prevented women from gaining access to academia, which was dominated by men.
Early female trailblazers
In the new story on Explora, learn more about the female trailblazers who – despite all of the obstacles they faced – completed their studies in the specialist fields of pharmacy, engineering, and agriculture and forestry starting from the 1870s, about those few who earned their doctorates, and about Laura Hezner, the first woman at ETH to qualify as a senior lecturer in 1910 – an incredible 75 years before architect Flora Ruchat-Roncati was appointed a full professor at ETH.
“The women’s libber”
Listen to the story of the courageous geologist Katharina von Salis, who helped to initiate and shape the forceful and momentous “women’s rising” at the university at the beginning of the 1970s and then founded the Women’s Access Point, thus laying the foundation for various measures to support women at ETH. Learn about ETH’s principles and measures to actively support equal opportunities now and to further them in the future as well.
Don’t miss ...
This September, don’t miss episode 2 of the mini series “Protecting coral reefs”, which looks at the experiences of implementing an interdisciplinary project: the rescue of submarine ecosystems through impactful works of art.
And the Explora story “Faculae, spots, flares – solar research at ETH Zurich” is now available to stream or download as an audio file.
The storytelling platform Explora features fascinating and informative stories in different formats and on topics relating to the holdings of the ETH Library.
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