In her workshop “Money Talk” on February 24, 2021, Dr. Tatjana Rosendorfer will encourage female scientists, alumnae and students of the Women of TUM network to tackle money matters jointly with their partner. “Ultimately, the issue of women and money is always based on the question of equal rights and equal opportunities,” says the ecotrophologist. “That’s why the workshop won’t be solely about tips for dealing with money, but about taking a holistic look at women’s life situations.”

MULTIFACETED TOPIC
Whether in research, teaching or practice, Tatjana Rosendorfer’s life revolves around money. Her involvement with the topic ranges from debt and the risk of poverty to assets that need to be managed and planned. “I have been dealing with money for many years and I know how multifaceted and different the handling of money, the goals and needs, but also the knowledge and preferences in matters of finance are,” she says. “Money is not an end in itself. Dealing with money is a competence that is necessary to be able to provide for and secure oneself and one’s family.”

WORK SELF-EMPLOYED WITH SMALL KIDS
For years, Tatjana Rosendorfer was a researcher in university and non-university projects. In the 1990s, she conducted research for Deutsches Jugendinstitut on the lifestyles of older people in Germany, on the employment situation of women in the new federal states, and on money education in the family. When she started her own family, care for her three young children was nowhere near as developed as it is today. Nevertheless, as a freelance researcher and lecturer, Tatjana Rosendorfer secured contact with working life and the opportunity to earn her own income. For example, she was a lecturer in consumer science and consumer behavior at TUM and, among other things, a freelancer in a special research area at the University of Munich investigating money arrangements in partnerships.

Through sound financial planning, Tatjana Rosendorfer shows families, women and companies ways to handle money in a precautionary manner. After graduating from high school, Tatjana Rosendorfer did not expect to devote her entire life to economic consumer education. For a long time, she didn’t know what she wanted to do for a living. In the end, she chose to study ecotrophology at TUM. Tatjana Rosendorfer particularly liked the strongly interdisciplinary approach of the studies at the Weihenstephan site.

Her doctoral supervisor was TUM professor Dr. Sigrid Weggemann, making her the first woman and the first graduate ecotrophologist to be appointed as a professor in the ecotrophology program at TUM. “I was very well trained by her in terms of content and methodology for my professional activities,” says Tatjana Rosendorfer.

Tatjana Rosendorfer’s expert knowledge is in high demand. In May 2021, she is invited to speak at the Munich Poverty Conference. According to studies, it is primarily women who manage the shortage in precarious living conditions. “If there is a risk of poverty, those affected need us researchers and practitioners to make their voices heard,” says the financial expert. “That’s my goal at the conference.”