Prof. Heather Hofmeister, Ph.D.
“Charming, competent, compassionate, insightful, empathetic, evocative.
You had the audience in the palm of your hand.”
— Nadja Tschirner, Geschäftsführende Gesellschafterin, Cross Consult GbR
PROF. HEATHER HOFMEISTER, PH. D.
Who I am
I am a sociologist, professor, speaker, author, coach, and leader based in Frankfurt. I conduct, review, and apply research and speak about academic careers, gender relations and women in leadership, intergenerational working relations, work and family, and cross-national perspectives.
I arrived in Germany in 2002 from the USA at age 29 with a Ph.D. from Cornell University and didn’t speak German. By age 34, I had a tenured professorship in Germany, and by age 35, I was the first woman in the C-Suite leadership team of a large technical German university. My research and requests since then have launched this business, which runs along side, and complements, my professorship.
I communicate with groups from early career scholars to senior leaders, mainly in research and the public sector. My strengths are as a sympathetic and compassionate teacher and mentor. When experiencing my talks, workshops, coaching, or consulting, people consistently tell me that they find new ways of looking at things and new pathways forward. When we understand situations, we can use our creativity to change them.
The tribe I serve
early-career scholars,
women in male-dominated branches and positions, and
working groups and teams wanting to reduce unconscious bias and to reduce inequalities at work.
WHAT
I want to see
Individuals, teams, leaders, and organizations move in constructive, sustainable, equitable, healthy directions.
I want to see my clients and attendees find new ways of looking at and solving a situation, based on research, reflection, and experience.
Society is primed for division: nature or economy, paid work or private life, health or wealth, men or women. Conventional paths aren’t respectful of people, families, communities, and the environment. I believe in our capacity to change our circumstances and grow into our creative potential. This is a process. It’s hard. And rewarding.
Key Themes
Identifying the potential of gender equality
Our society says women are empowered but simultaneously implies that women are less worthy of respect, voice, power, time, and money than men are. And our society says men should achieve, compete, and dominate; connected and nurturing men may be stigmatized. These conditions are neither healthy nor sustainable. Yet existing systems of career design, norms, and policies hold these paths stable and reinforce inequalities. They need to change.
Understanding the way past generations’ experiences shape our own lives.
Past generations’ coping strategies are passed on to us at many levels, some unconscious. Conflicts arise from going against tradition to create an organization, a family, or a life that looks much different from those of the past.
Understanding and making the most of academic careers
Inequalities, precariousness, power hierarchies, and other challenges of scientific and academic careers are easier to manage with clarity, strategy, and support.