Prof Dr Karina Kiepe researches the field of vocational education and training for sustainable development and transformation. She is strongly orientated towards practical problems and their stakeholders.
Finding passion in teaching
Karina Kiepe considers the fields of science and practice to be equally important. This is not least due to her personal background: she first went from school to the bank. She completed a dual study programme with training as a bank clerk and a Bachelor's degree in Banking and Finance. "I was pretty 'lost' at first when I had to decide on a career path after leaving school," she admits. She completed the dual study programme in 2011, but the joy of teaching, which she discovered through her lecturers, stayed with her.
She took the plunge and embarked on a teacher training programme with a focus on business education. "I liked the content of the dual study programme with its professional references, so I wanted to stay in an economic context," recalls the 34-year-old. However, her choice of minor subjects - Values and Standards and Dutch - was more than a rational decision; she followed her gut feeling and curiosity for new things. "It was also simply a nice addition to economics."
During her studies, Karina Kiepe gained research experience as a student assistant in vocational and business education as well as in business administration and also gained insights into teaching. This experience paved the way for her doctorate. "I thought to myself that I would pursue this opportunity and if I didn't like it, I would have started my traineeship - because that wasn't going to run away from me," says the newly appointed lecturer, describing her gut decision that heralded a new chapter in her life.
Today, she is a university lecturer and researcher, always trying to incorporate her research into her teaching. Aspects of vocational training are her hobbyhorse, shaped by her own experiences as a pupil, trainee, student and doctoral candidate.
The multiplier function of business education
As a researcher, her focus is now on sustainability in vocational education and training. Among other things, she looks at how learning opportunities for pupils and teachers, i.e. company and school education staff, need to look so that they can participate in sustainable development. In short: Karina Kiepe is researching how a sustainable society can be created through educational processes. "Everything that is geared towards the long term, i.e. that can also function in the future, is sustainable," she emphasises.
In order to achieve this goal, opportunities for participation must be created so that learners and teachers have the chance to take part. Business education has a decisive multiplier function to play here: Teachers who are empowered to introduce the topic of sustainability into their teaching create a chain reaction for the topic of sustainability by turning their students* or trainees into change agents for sustainable development.
Kiepe is inspired every day by the realisation that solutions always require a practical approach: "I see science and practice as equally important. This means that science does not tell practice what to do. It can help with problem identification and design. In the best case scenario, theory is also developed further." This is why she favours design-oriented research.
Kiepe's mission in Paderborn
Kiepe is continuing her research and teaching approach at Paderborn University. Her focus remains strongly on sustainability in business education. She invites students to come to her courses with curiosity and the courage to make informed assumptions, because she is not just interested in grades, but in igniting a way of thinking that leads to considered statements.
Kiepe calls for vocational education to be made more attractive. In her opinion, educational programmes for students and trainees must enable sustainable development. Her inspiration? People like Maja Göpel, who she would love to invite to one of her lectures. A transformation researcher and sustainability expert who presents complex topics to the public in an understandable way and advocates for them.
As a researcher and university lecturer, Karina Kiepe remains an important voice for comprehensive and sustainable development in vocational education and training. She not only looks to the future, but also considers the past as a foundation for comprehensive and sustainable development in vocational education and training.
