Herbers traces job-sharing roots to 1986 European Parliament scholarship

Marie-Therese Herbers says a Robert Schuman Scholarship in Luxembourg in 1986-87 turned her academic interest in qualified part-time work into a Europe-wide mission. The new installment of her blog series shows how those contacts helped lead to the founding of EURO-TZA e.V. in 1987.

Why it matters: - Marie-Therese Herbers links her long-running work on job sharing to a formative European Parliament scholarship that broadened the issue beyond Germany. - The story shows how a niche research topic can become a cross-border policy and network-building effort.

What happened: - Part two of Herbers' blog series, “My Journey with Job Sharing,” revisits her Robert Schuman Scholarship in 1986 and 1987. - Herbers worked at the European Parliament in Luxembourg during the scholarship. - The experience turned her academic interest in qualified part-time work into a European focus. - Herbers says the scholarship became the starting point for her decades-long commitment to job sharing in Europe. - More about Marie-Therese Herbers and her journey with job sharing is available here.

The details: - Herbers had already submitted her diploma thesis at the University of Oldenburg two years earlier on qualified part-time work. - At the time, German labour market research paid little attention to the topic. - The scholarship let Herbers examine the issue from a European perspective for the first time. - At the European Parliament, she saw how labour market policy was shaped at the European level. - Herbers met Members of the European Parliament, officials and experts from several Member States. - She says the Parliament changed her perspective and showed that job sharing could be discussed across national borders. - While still on the scholarship, Herbers began building contacts with like-minded people across Europe. - Those early contacts soon led to the creation of her own organisation. - Herbers says: “I was in my mid-twenties and suddenly found myself sitting in meetings where European labour market policy was being discussed. This experience showed me that ideas for which there was still no language in Germany were already being discussed elsewhere in Europe. I have never let go of that insight.” - The next installment of the blog series will describe how those contacts led to the founding of EURO-TZA e.V. on 29 October 1987. - EURO-TZA e.V. was the first European association dedicated to job sharing.

Between the lines: - The release frames Herbers' scholarship as more than an academic milestone; it is presented as the moment her work moved from research into institution-building. - The emphasis on Europe suggests job sharing gained momentum not through one national debate, but through cross-border exchange and shared policy language.

What's next: - The next part of the blog series will focus on the founding of EURO-TZA e.V. and the early network that supported it. - Herbers is continuing to publish her “My Journey with Job Sharing” series as a retrospective on that path.

The bottom line: - A scholarship in Luxembourg helped turn one research interest into a European campaign for job sharing.