Rosa Reitsamer has received the Gabriele Possanner State Prize of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research for her work as a preeminent expert in intersectional gender research within the field of music sociology. Her numerous publications have contributed substantially to research on social and gendered inequalities in the realm of music and the arts at large. In her research activities, Reitsamer has pioneered the expansion of music sociology by intersectional and queer approaches. This prize was awarded on the Ministry’s new Day of Gender Research, which was held for the first time on 1 March 2022.
“I conceive of and interpret the Gabriele Possanner State Prize as a strong political signal of support for intersectional and inclusive gender democracy. As such, it counters machoistic warmongering and religious fanaticism”, said a pleased Reitsamer of this honour. mdw Rector Ulrike Sych commented, “The Gabriele Possanner State Prize is among the most renowned awards in the field of gender studies, and we’re very happy that one of the mdw’s excellent scholars, Rosa Reitsamer, has been thus recognised. For many years, her outstanding achievements have helped build the mdw’s gender studies profile.” The research done by Rosa Reitsamer has long been making significant contributions to research on gender and inequality conducted as part of the sociology of music. Among other topics, her research emphases include music labour markets and the development of music professionals’ careers, the transmission of artistic knowledge, and the assessment of musical achievements as well as intersectional approaches to music and gender. Alongside her broad-based work as a researcher, Rosa Reitsamer has been teaching at the mdw since 2011; she was appointed University Professor of Music Sociology in 2019, and she has led the mdw’s Department of Music Sociology since 2020.
The Gabriele Possanner Prize has been awarded every two years since 1997 in memory of Gabriele Possanner, whom 1897 saw become the first woman to be awarded an academic degree by a university on the soil of the present-day Republic of Austria.
