Sigrid Metz-Göckel (née Schneider, 18 August 1940 – 11 February 2025) was a German sociologist,

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and

social psychologist Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field of ...

who specialised in

women's A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...

and

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 ...

as well as in

educational research Educational research refers to the systematic collection and analysis of evidence and data related to the field of education. Research may involve a variety of methods and various aspects of education including student learning, interaction, tea ...

and

didactics A didactic method (from ''didáskein'', "to teach") is a teaching method that follows a consistent scientific approach or educational style to present information to students. The didactic method of instruction is often contrasted with dialecti ...

. She was a professor at the

University of Dortmund TU Dortmund University () is a technical university in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany with over 35,000 students, and over 6,000 staff including 300 professors, offering around 80 Bachelor's and master's degree programs. It is situate ...

from 1976 to 2005 where she created a didactic centre and pioneered women's studies in Germany, establishing a university course in 1981.

Early life and education

She was born Sigrid Schneider on 18 August 1940 in Klein Peterwitz,

Gau Silesia The Gau Silesia (German: ''Gau Schlesien'') formed on 15 March 1925, was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1941 in the Prussian Province of Silesia. From 1925 to 1933, it was the regional subdivision of the Nazi Party for this ...

. Metz-Göckel was the daughter of Franz-Josef Schneider, a teacher, and his wife Helene. After her father died as a soldier in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1942, her mother fled with three small children from Silesia and raised them in poor conditions. The first station was in Upper Silesia, where she attended Polish primary school. The family lived in

Aurich Aurich (; East Frisian Low Saxon: ''Auerk'', West Frisian: ''Auwerk'', ) is a town in the East Frisian region of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Aurich and is the second largest City in East Frisia, both in popula ...

from 1950. They moved to

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

in 1950 where she attended the humanistic branch of the . After her

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

, Metz-Göckel read economics at the

University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz () is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. It has been named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. it had approximately 32,000 students enrolled in around 100 a ...

from 1960 to 1961 before studying sociology at the University of Frankfurt, where her teachers included

Max Horkheimer Max Horkheimer ( ; ; 14 February 1895 – 7 July 1973) was a German philosopher and sociologist best known for his role in developing critical theory as director of the Institute for Social Research, commonly associated with the Frankfurt Schoo ...

Theodor W. Adorno Theodor W. Adorno ( ; ; born Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund; 11 September 1903 – 6 August 1969) was a German philosopher, musicologist, and social theorist. He was a leading member of the Frankfurt School of critical theory, whose work has com ...

and Ludwig von Friedeburg. She graduated in 1966. In 1972, she completed doctoral studies in social psychology and political science at the

University of Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the German-speaking world. It is named afte ...

, earning a Ph.D. with a dissertation titled ''Hochschuldidaktik zwischen Theorie und Praxis'' (University Didactics between Theory and Practice), supervised by . Thereafter she was a research assistant at the University of Giessen and at Frankfurt's Battelle-Institut. She furthered her education with research trips to the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, and in 1982 to the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

Career

While still in Giessen, Metz-Göckel began to take an interest in women, attending a seminar on the new women's movement in the mid-1970s. She went on to establish a number of women's groups and began looking at women scientists. In 1976 she was appointed professor at the (

Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr Area, sometimes Ruhr District, Ruhr Region, or Ruhr Valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 1,160/km2 and a populati ...

School of Education In the United States and Canada, a school of education (or college of education; ed school) is a division within a university that is devoted to scholarship in the field of education, which is an interdisciplinary branch of the social sciences e ...

) in the Dortmund region, where her objective was to create a didactic centre (''Hochschuldidaktisches Zentrum'') for three higher education institutions in

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

: the

, the

Fachhochschule Dortmund Fachhochschule Dortmund - University of Applied Sciences and Arts () is a university of applied sciences (German: ''Fachhochschule'') in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany with 14,057 students, and 894 staff, 255 of which are teaching sta ...

and the Pädagogische Hochschule Ruhr. She established a didactic centre focusing on women's and gender studies, heading it until 2005. Metz-Göckel also initiated with students ''Frauenstudien'' (women's studies) in 1979, an offer of further education especially directed at women who worked for women (''Frauenarbeit'') full-time, part-time or as volunteers. The Pädagogische Hochschule Ruhr became part of the university in 1980; she was one of three women professors at the university. ''Frauenstudien'' was established in 1981 as an official course of study at the university, to which she contributed as scientific director until 2002. She was emerited in 2005. As leader of the didactic centre, she engaged on behalf of the situation of women scientists, founding the working group ''Arbeitskreis Wissenschaftlerinnen von Nordrhein-Westfalen'' in contact with the . In 1979 she was a co-founder of the women's studies section of the

German Sociological Association The German Sociological Association (''Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie'', DGS) is a professional organization of social scientists in Germany. Established in Berlin on January 3, 1909, its founding members included Rudolf Goldscheid, Ferdinan ...

, in 1984 co-founder of the women's studies of the . In the 1980s, together with the sociologist Ursula Müller, she conducted a study on men titled ''Der Mann. Eine repräsentative Untersuchung über die Lebenssituation und das Frauenbild 20- bis 50-jähriger Männer'' (Man: A representative study of the situation in life and the image of women among 20- to 50-year-old men), focusing on the emancipation of men and how they viewed women. She founded the ''Stiftung Aufmüpfige Frauen'' (Defiant Women Foundation) in 2004.

Personal life

She married psychologist in 1968; the couple had no children. Metz-Göckel died after a brief serious illness on 11 February 2025, at the age of 84.

Awards

In 1998, Metz-Göckel was honoured with the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Metz-Gockel, Sigrid 1940 births 2025 deaths People from Racibórz County People from Dortmund German gender studies academics German sociologists German women sociologists German political scientists Academic staff of the Technical University of Dortmund Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany