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Student sits at workstation and looks at laptop. © Aliona Kardash​/​TU Dortmund

Anomalies, Structural Barriers and a Question for the World: An AQUA Researcher in "Robotik & Produktion"

Robotik & Produktion magazine opened at the interview page. © Natalia Ogorelysheva
In the latest issue of Robotik & Produktion, PhD candidate Natalia Ogorelysheva speaks openly about structural barriers in German academia and industry - for migrants, mothers, and women in tech - and ends with a question that goes far beyond robotics: how about a world where everyone can be anything?

Natalia Ogorelysheva, a researcher at the Faculty of Computer Science at TU Dortmund University, was featured in the interview series "Frauen an der Spitze der Automatisierung" (Women at the Top of Automation) published in Robotik & Produktion [1], one of Germany's leading magazines for robotics and manufacturing.

The series asks how women got to where they are. In Natalia's case, the answer spans two countries, a law degree that wasn't completely recognized in Germany, over 200 job rejections, single motherhood, BAföG struggles, a burnout, and a pandemic - all before completing her Master's degree at TU Dortmund in January 2022.

The interview covers her daily life as a researcher and member of the Diversity Commission of the Faculty of Computer Science, the skills and qualifications her path required, and the structural barriers she encountered along the way. She speaks candidly about the specific challenges of double marginalization - when being a woman in tech intersects with migration background and motherhood - and about the systemic changes she believes are necessary, from flexible childcare to active male allyship.

She also discusses her work beyond the university: co-founding Deep Tech Collective e.V. to create pathways for underrepresented groups in deep tech, and Reframing Pioneers to support SMEs in building inclusive cultures through change management - not as a side project, but as an extension of the same mission.

The interview ends with a question Natalia poses to the reader: "Wie wäre es mit einer neuen Realität: einer, in der alle alles sein können?" - How about a new reality: one where everyone can be anything?

[1] https://robotik-produktion.de/allgemein/wie-waere-es-mit-einer-realitaet-in-der-alle-alles-sein-koennen/