It was his detours that made him who he is today, says Daniel Hagemeier: he was the first in his family to go to university - by then he had already completed an apprenticeship and held a seat on the city council. Today, he is researching how different educational paths can be better combined.
His entry into the world of business began with a disappointment. "Banks: that's something solid!", his grandmother used to say when they walked past the savings bank in their home town together, Daniel Hagemeier recalls. "She must have been impressed by the respectably dressed employees there - and the seriousness they exuded." It therefore quickly became clear where the East Westphalian wanted to go after leaving school: in August 2008, he began training as a bank clerk.
A reality shock, as the business and social pedagogue says today. Just one month later, the financial crisis swept across the international markets. "And I suddenly realised that the reputable appearance of many banks was just a facade. I witnessed how supposedly safe investments collapsed. And there were people at my counter who were desperate or angry: because they were afraid for their job or could no longer service the loan for their house."
For Hagemeier, this was an incisive experience: he decided to turn his back on finance and go back to school instead. After completing his apprenticeship, he decided to go back to university. And when he was asked whether he wanted to stay on as a doctoral candidate at Paderborn University, he immediately said yes. Today, he teaches and researches at the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, specialising in education. After all, Hagemeier wants to ensure that many more people discover their career opportunities - just like him.
His academic career was anything but predetermined: His parents are non-academics and he is the first person in his family to even consider going to university after leaving school. Although his parents support this idea, they find it difficult to advise him on his decision because they themselves work in trades and sales. They are also barely able to support their son financially: There are younger siblings to look after at home.
Hagemeier therefore starts his first semester curious, but also unsure: "I wasn't sure exactly what to expect - and conversely, what is expected of me." He also has to work 20 hours a week alongside his studies right from the start - otherwise there won't be enough money, even though Hagemeier receives a scholarship from the German Business Foundation. "The transition from school to university is usually much easier for children of academically educated parents," he criticises. "As a society, we need to make improvements here."
The 32-year-old also wants to ensure this with his research project. He is dedicated to the topic of "local education management", i.e. the question of how municipalities can design their learning opportunities in such a way that they suit the interests and talents of local people while also taking into account the needs of the regional economy and local organisations. For example, what support do children and young people need to make the transition from nursery to school or from apprenticeship to work as smooth as possible? Which digital tools help working people to find suitable further training? And what support is needed by volunteers who are involved in educational issues, for example by offering German lessons for refugees?
Hagemeier is looking for answers to questions such as these in the ImTransRegio project, where he is working with other researchers to support the work of regional transfer agencies. These state agencies aim to improve the education on offer locally by networking the various institutions - for example, providers of further education courses or companies that are particularly keen to recruit trainees, but also football clubs that create afternoon programmes for schools.
The Federal Ministry of Education is sponsoring the project with 2.5 million euros, as it is considered a beacon in educational research: networks, search engines and learning programmes that work particularly well in the municipalities studied could soon be expanded at a national level. The Paderborn researchers are already working with ten transfer agencies throughout Germany. Hagemeier is investigating the programmes in the district of Lippe. "There is a wealth of interesting projects there: from primary schools that get children interested in programming with the help of mini-computers to a study centre that specifically targets people over 50."
However, Hagemeier is not only interested in the region as a scientist: he is also politically active at a local level. In 2009, at the age of just 18, he was elected to his home town's council for the first time - simultaneously ushering in a new generation in the local CDU city association. He has also been involved in his church community for a long time and works for Caritas: A few years ago, he and his wife moved back to Versmold. The couple now live there with two children and Hagemeier has been commuting to university ever since.
He also wants to pave the way here, into academia, for other children without an academic background. First and foremost, it is important to get help, says Hagemeier, from counselling centres, for example, or from teachers you like. Difficult phases are also much easier to get through with allies, says the academic: "No one can do a degree programme alone, it's also teamwork." He himself met his most important fellow student on the very first day of his studies: they happened to be sitting next to each other in a lecture and realised that their CVs were similar. "My best friend and best man Fabian also comes from a non-academic household and only found his way into university via a roundabout route."
Hagemeier is proud of his detours: he wouldn't be the same today without them, he says. "Many hurdles have turned into opportunities." He only discovered his love of apprenticeships at the technical secondary school, for example, because he met motivating teachers there. The scientist is convinced that his A-levels would also have been worse without this intermediate stage: "Before that, I was a rather lazy student: I lacked the practical relevance." And his time at the bank in the middle of the financial crisis also had a lasting impact on him: it made him realise even better how much of a burden many families are under, whether financially or due to enormously demanding jobs. "We education experts also have to take this into account: For many people, the thought of further education is pure luxury."
Hagemeier is planning his own career until the end of 2023, when he is expected to submit his doctoral dissertation. After that, he would like to stay in academia: he likes the constant change between teaching, text work and research in the field. These appointments are particularly important to him.
Recently, for example, he met the director of a vocational school, who proudly showed him his new workshop. Young people can get fit for Industry 4.0 there, learning on digitalised machines. "When the man showed them off, he had this gleam in his eye," says Hagemeier. "That's what education is all about: people getting involved locally. And that still touches and inspires me."
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