Rate My Professor Bettina Völter

Prof. Dr. Bettina Völter serves as Professor of Theories and Methods of Social Work at Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences Berlin (ASH Berlin), a position she has held since 2007. She earned her Dr. phil. in Sociology from Technical University Berlin in 2001 with a dissertation titled 'Judaism and Communism: German Family Histories in Three Generations,' following her Diplom in Political Science in 1993, with a focus on history and sociology. Her studies spanned politics, sociology, history, and theater studies from 1986 to 1992 at universities in Erlangen, Paris, and Berlin. Early career highlights include research assistantships in a DFG-funded project on the Holocaust's intergenerational impact at the University of Kassel (1993-1995) and at TU Berlin's Institute of Sociology (1995-2000), a temporary professorship in Social Science Foundations of Case Analyses at the University of Kassel's Social Work Department (2001-2002), and guest teaching at institutions such as the University of Göttingen, Hochschule für Musik und Theater Rostock, University of Vienna, and ASH Berlin. Certified as a systemic therapist and family therapist since 2006, Völter advanced to Prorector for Research and Cooperation at ASH Berlin from 2014 to 2018 before assuming the role of Rector in 2018.

Völter's research specializes in reconstructive social work, biographical research, professions research, and mindfulness in higher education, emphasizing theoretical, methodological, and practical developments for professional social work practice, foundational research, and conceptual work within ASH Berlin's SAGE disciplines—Social Work, Health and Nursing, Education. She co-edits the book series 'Rekonstruktive Forschung in der Sozialen Arbeit' with Verlag Barbara Budrich and has initiated initiatives like 'Spazierblicke' neighborhood walks from diverse perspectives and annual workshops on mindfulness at universities. Key publications include her monograph 'Judentum und Kommunismus: Deutsche Familiengeschichten in drei Generationen' (2003); co-edited volumes such as 'Biographieforschung im Diskurs' (2005, 2nd ed. 2009), 'Biografische Einzelfallhilfe: Methoden und Arbeitstechniken' (2012), 'Wörterbuch Rekonstruktive Soziale Arbeit' (2015), 'Rekonstruktiv denken und handeln: Rekonstruktive Soziale Arbeit als professionelle Praxis' (2017), 'Professionsverständnisse in der Sozialen Arbeit' (2020), '#systemrelevant - 50 Jahre angewandte SAGE-Wissenschaften an der Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin' (2021), 'Bild und Biographie' (2024), and 'akademisieren, professionalisieren, transformieren: SAGE-Hochschulen im Strukturwandel am Beispiel der Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin' (2025, 2nd expanded ed. 2026). As principal investigator, she leads projects like 'Sage SAGE!' (2021-2027) for professorial staffing in SAGE disciplines and BwQF.