#DigiWomenKA: Kathrin Gerling

by Katharina Iyen
Female role models are important. They show possibilities, they help to define your own goals and we can learn from your experiences. In our blog series #DigiWomenKA, Katharina Iyen meets one such role model from Karlsruhe’s digital sector once a month to find out more about them, their experiences and their commitment. Today she talks to Kathrin Gerling, Professor for Human-Computer Interaction and Accessibility at the Institute of Anthropomatics and Robotics (IAR) of the Faculty of Computer Science at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and head of the Human-Computer Interaction and Accessibility Research Group.
I meet Kathrin Gerling in her new office at KIT. She is sitting at her laptop in an empty room. She smiles apologetically at me: “This is my first day today.” We walk into the kitchen together and make a yogi tea. The note on my bag reads: “Let’s not just live with each other, but for each other”. This fits surprisingly well, as Gerling’s research focuses on digital technologies and accessibility.
The aim of her research in the field of human-computer interaction (HCI) is to provide various target groups with access to interactive technology in the context of work, leisure and well-being. Gerling sums up what sounds so abstract: “Barriers have their origins in the nature of our environment. This also applies to digital technologies. Ideally, they need to be accessible to everyone – just like the rest of the world.”
However, in order to create this accessibility, there needs to be much more understanding of the connection between physical differences, technology and social participation and research into the use of technology to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities. To drive this research forward, Kathrin Gerling heads the Real-World Lab “Accessibility”, which focuses on the design, development and evaluation of new technologies and spatial configurations that can be used by people with disabilities for a self-determined life.
Characterized by tolerance and cohesion
I want to understand how Gerling’s interest in promoting access and diversity was sparked and find out that she has traveled a lot. Kathrin Gerling was born and grew up south of Düsseldorf. “I had a very sheltered childhood and know that I am privileged. Other people have to overcome completely different hurdles in the course of their career than I did.” Gerling completed a Bachelor’s degree in Media and Communication Science and a Master’s degree in Media and Cognitive Science, both of which she obtained at the University of Duisburg-Essen.
“I fell in love with Duisburg from the very first day of my studies,” she says with a smile. “During my studies, we were people from everywhere and yet somehow we were all the same. We got on well with each other and of course the research areas were also very exciting. I really liked that time, it was characterized by tolerance and solidarity.” The KIT professor sees her biggest challenge as jumping over her shadow again and again. Gerling admits: “At first I wanted to go to Sweden to study for a Master’s degree, but I didn’t dare. I know that sounds absurd with my CV, but I’m not really a person for big changes, they unsettle me at first. But once the car is rolling, it somehow keeps going.”
She completed her doctoral studies at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada: “I was sitting on a plane over the Atlantic and just wondered what I was actually doing. But in the end, it was the right thing to do!” she explains. Because while Gerling was living in Canada, she met her current husband. Together, the family moved on to England, where their son was born. After five years, Brexit took Gerling’s family to Belgium and finally back to Germany last year.

Current research and areas
Here in Karlsruhe, Gerling would like to further expand her research with the new “Accessibility” real-world laboratory at KIT and also establish an interdisciplinary approach. On the one hand, Gerling focuses on the design potential of new technologies: “Far too much is designed on the basis of imagined average people. We know this from fashion, where a certain type is catered for – which ultimately doesn’t suit most people. In the same way, access to digital technologies needs to be tailored differently.” It is therefore about breaking down prejudices and maximizing accessibility to digital technologies for everyone. “When designing things, you should always think about how to make them accessible. Participation of disabled people in the progress of IT must become the norm, because only then is it really one.”
On the other hand, the potential that new technologies offer for breaking down existing barriers should also be considered. This is also where the interdisciplinary perspective comes in. For example, through the collaboration with Professor Dr. Caroline Karmann, who has held the Chair of Architecture and Intelligent Living at the Institute of Design and Building Technology at KIT since the summer semester of 2022. Together, the researchers will explore the question of how barriers in the (built) environment can be reduced through new technologies. “Then it’s no longer just a question of how digital technologies can be designed to be barrier-free, but also how they can be used effectively to reduce existing barriers in our everyday lives.”

Accessibility requires a change of perspective and a willingness to make structural changes
Gerling benefits from one quality in her work: “I can observe very patiently and then try to understand other people’s situations. Of course, this also helps when we conduct studies with users in our research.” This is important because not all barriers are immediately obvious. The fact that the virtual world can have just as many barriers as a physical space only became clearer to me when Gerling explained: “A simple example is a virtual reality controller that you have to hold in both hands. But what if someone only has or can only move one hand?” Research results such as those produced by Gerling’s research group could be used to develop more accessible systems so that disabled people can also benefit from them. In the best case scenario, this applies not only in the professional environment, but also in leisure time, for example, explains Gerling.
However, Gerling reports that creating healthy and barrier-free environments requires very far-reaching changes that extend into the structures of the institutions. Because a lot of things only happen superficially. A good example of this is the research and development of digital technologies themselves.
“In academia, for example, we still only see a very small number of people with disabilities among researchers,” says Gerling, explaining the depth of the barriers. As a result, these perspectives are lacking in academia and the discourse is dominated by non-disabled people.
Reduce stereotypes, make role models visible and promote them early enough
For this reason, Gerling would also like to see fewer barriers and more equal opportunities for academic research: “I often wonder how people deal with academic working conditions when they have no support in the background. Short employment contracts and numerous changes of residence make it difficult. You have to be able to afford to work like this. This barrier is also a problem. It means that essentially only those people who are privileged enough to keep it up can continue. As a result, the research landscape itself is not very diverse. Everyone has similar life paths. But we need real diversity in our teams.”
Gerling’s attitude to social inequality and participation impresses me. And even if diversity does not end with the gender issue, I would like to know from her what reasons she sees for the underrepresentation of women in IT. “We still lack role models. And not just when we make our own career decisions, but much earlier – children’s books, toy shelves, there is still a lot that is presented and marketed in a very traditional way. And in the past, I’ve often sat at tables where I was the only woman in the group. And then there’s the fact that I, who am white and come from an academic household, am the example of diversity? That’s not enough!”
We can certainly find such a role model in Kathrin Gerling, because she too has overcome barriers and learned. “I grow with my tasks. I also had to learn to focus and accept that I can’t live up to all expectations, whether in my professional or private life.” She learned to prioritize on her career path: “I had to understand that I not only have the freedom to do things, but also to not do them. That was an important learning process for me. To use the word ‘no’.”