Practitioners in Talk #Part 19
:: Non-academic careers::
Practitioners in Talk #Part 19
Many ways lead out of the BGHS. But where do postdoctoral paths lead? We talk to historians and sociologists who have taken up their career outside the university. Caterina Rohde-Abuba spoke to us about her work for the children’s aid organization “World Vision”.
Image 1: Caterina Rohde-Abuba (first row, first from right) in the advocacy team of World Vision Germany
Caterina, you did your PhD at the BGHS in 2013 and are now working as Head of Research at the children’s aid organization “World Vision Germany”. If you remember starting your career: How did you find your way into the job?
Caterina Rohde-Abuba: After completing my PhD I had been working at a university of applied sciences, when I was approached by a head hunter. He asked if I could imagine working for an institute that was mainly involved in market research. However, the institute also carried out contract research, for example for the federal government. At the university of applied sciences I was employed on a temporary basis. The market research institute, on the other hand, immediately offered me a permanent position. And so I let myself be lured away. After two years at this institute, I took parental leave and after parental leave I wanted to start working there again with 30 hours a week. My employer told me at the time that he had employed a lot of mothers and saw that they were doing poorly. If I come back, it will only be full-time. That was his offer. And then just as chance came into play as with the head hunter’s request. A friend of mine found the ad for my current position at exactly this point and said, even before I had even started looking for jobs: “That would be a perfect fit for you: World Vision, Head of Research, childhood research.” Childhood research was not my main focus during my PhD. Before my parental leave, however, I had carried out contract research for a housing association at my former employer; on the situation of children and young people in the Märkisches Viertel. This is a residential area here in Berlin with many children in disadvantaged situations. World Vision immediately offered me a permanent position. And since then I've been very happy with the position here.
You work for the children’s aid organization World Vision. Where do you work exactly?
Caterina Rohde-Abuba: World Vision Germany is headquartered in Friedrichsdorf, near Frankfurt. The advocacy department is here in Berlin. Our job is to get in touch with politics. As Head of Research, I belong to this department because we use our research results in discussions with politicians. So, the goal of my research is to build advocacy knowledge on child welfare and children’s rights. This can concern the implementation of children’s rights, but also the participation of children in political processes.
What are your most important tasks in this job?
Caterina Rohde-Abuba: First, it’s my job to design our research and create a network of cooperation partners. On the one hand, these are professors who advise us and, on the other hand, private companies who help us to collect and analyze the data. Second, it is my job to develop interview guidelines or questionnaires, to carry out and analyze parts of the interviews myself, and ultimately also to write the texts that we publish about our research. Third, I publish our results at conferences and in scientific articles. I am also occasionally involved in advocacy work and take part in political events or in discussions with politicians. With the help of our research results, we develop political demands and convey these findings and demands to politics.
What tips do you have for colleagues from sociology or history who are interested in a career in the occupational field you are in?
Caterina Rohde-Abuba: The NGO sector is a field in which you don’t necessarily need a PhD, because you work with money – for example from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – that you can apply for without a PhD. What you need, however, is firstly field experience in a certain country or region that is relevant for the respective NGO. Many PhD researchers in sociology and history have such field experience. Second, PhD candidates often have more than one foreign language to show in which they are able to work. This is important in the international NGO sector: mastering a second foreign language in addition to English. And thirdly, doctoral candidates not only have the opportunity to apply for positions with their knowledge and experience in a specific region, but can also score highly with their expertise on topics that are relevant to the respective NGO. Health, climate, and displacement are, for example, topics in my field that are in great demand for expertise.
Caterina, thank you for the conversation!
The interview was conducted by Ulf Ortmann.
You can find the complete interview (in German) here:
Further information on the non-university careers project is available here. The previous interviews in the series are available here.