Table of Contents
German sociologist, political scientist, and social psychologist Sigrid Metz-Göckel is renowned for her contributions to educational research, didactics, and women’s and gender studies.
She was a professor at the University of Dortmund from 1976 to 2005, where she was key in the advancement of women’s studies in Germany.
She established a didactic center and one of the first university courses in the nation devoted to women’s studies in 1981, making major contributions to the development of gender-focused academic research and teaching.
Early Life and Education
Sigrid Metz-Göckel, born Sigrid Schneider on August 18, 1940, in Klein Peterwitz, Gau Silesia, was the daughter of Franz-Josef Schneider, a teacher, and his wife Helene.
She began her education in Polish primary school and, in 1950, enrolled in the humanistic branch of the Sophienschule. After completing her Abitur, she initially studied economics at the University of Mainz from 1960 to 1961 before shifting her focus to sociology at the University of Frankfurt, where she graduated in 1966.
In 1972, Metz-Göckel earned her Ph.D. in social psychology and political science from the University of Giessen. She continued expanding her academic expertise through research trips to Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Wellesley College in Massachusetts, and, in 1982, to the University of California, Berkeley.
Career
Sigrid Metz-Göckel attended a seminar on the new women’s movement in the middle of the 1970s, which sparked her interest in women’s issues. She focused her studies on women in science and founded multiple women’s organizations as a result of her interest.
The Pädagogische Hochschule Ruhr (Ruhr School of Education) in the Dortmund area hired her as a professor in 1976. Working together with students to start Frauenstudien (women’s studies) in 1979, she played a significant part in advancing women’s studies there.
This program offered chances for additional education tailored to women working full-time, part-time, or as volunteers in women’s employment (Frauenarbeit).
In 1980, Metz-Göckel was one of just three female lecturers at the University of Dortmund following the merger of the Pädagogische Hochschule Ruhr.
She persisted in her support of women’s studies by helping to establish the German Sociological Association’s women’s studies section in 1979 and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Erziehungswissenschaft’s (German Society for Educational Science) women’s studies section in 1984.
She strengthened her reputation as a trailblazer of women’s studies and gender equality in academia in 2004 when she founded the Stiftung Aufmüpfige Frauen (Defiant Women Foundation).
What was Sigrid Metz-Gockel’s Cause of Death?
On February 11, 2025, Metz-Göckel passed away at the age of 84 following a brief but severe illness.
