Gesine Spieß (1945–2016) was a German

educationalist Education sciences, also known as education studies or education theory, and traditionally called ''pedagogy'', seek to describe, understand, and prescribe education including education policy. Subfields include comparative education, educationa ...

at the University of Applied Sciences in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

(Fachhochschule Erfurt) where she specialized in

gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field n ...

. In 1988, she became the first women's representative in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

where she developed a women's advancement plan for the city. She is also remembered as an expert in women in management and in policies for advancing

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...

Biography

Born in Glöwen in the municipality of

Plattenburg Plattenburg is a municipality in the Prignitz district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is named after the water castle of Plattenburg which is located in the district. Demography File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Plattenburg.pdf, Development of popu ...

on 10 January 1945,, Gesine Spieß studied

educational science Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education also fol ...

at the

University of Düsseldorf A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

. She earned her doctorate in 1982 under the

cognitive psychologist Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of human mental processes such as attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and reasoning. Cognitive psychology originated in the 1960s in a break from behaviorism, whi ...

Gudula List. Spieß taught at the University of Düsseldorf and was a research assistant with the

German Research Foundation The German Research Foundation ( ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2019, the DFG had a funding bud ...

. In 1994, she was appointed professor at the Erfurt University of Applied Sciences where she specialized in gender studies. Following her retirement in 2011, she lectured widely on topics addressing gender, including gender in politics. Spieß was one of the pioneers of equality policy in German municipalities. She first became a women's representative in

Solingen Solingen (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 25 km east of Düsseldorf along the northern edge of the Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr. After Wuppertal, it is the second-largest city in the Bergisches Land, and a member of ...

before joining the municipality of Düsseldorf in 1988 where she built up the women's office into a strong, publicly respected and politically effective body. From 1986 to 1989, she served as spokeswoman for the federal working group of municipal women's representatives. She is also remembered for establishing the women's trade fair in collaboration with

Messe Düsseldorf Messe Düsseldorf GmbH is a German Trade show, trade fair company based in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia. The company operates one of the largest exhibition grounds in the world and is one of the leading international organizers of trade ...

in 1991 at which representatives of companies, politics and culture discussed equality issues together. The event was held every second year until 1999, attracting great public interest. In 2000, promoting gender equality, Spieß prepared an extensive report on ''Frauen in Führungspositionen'' (Women in Management) for the Association of German Cities. Gesine Spieß died in Düsseldorf on 4 December 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spiess, Gesine 1945 births 2016 deaths People from Prignitz 20th-century German educational theorists German feminists Women's studies academics German women's rights activists 20th-century German writers 21st-century German writers 20th-century German women writers 21st-century German women writers 21st-century German educational theorists