Inge Henningsen facts for kids
Inge Biehl Henningsen (born April 14, 1941 – died August 5, 2024) was a Danish expert in statistics, a university teacher, and a writer. She worked as a researcher and lecturer at the University of Copenhagen and Aarhus University. Inge was also very involved in politics and worked hard for women's rights. She recently looked closely at how student tests, like the PISA tests, are used. In the 1980s, she was the editor of a socialist magazine called Naturkampen. In this magazine, she wrote about many different topics, from how cancer research was managed to the European Union's approach to farming in poorer countries.
Early Life and Education
Inge Biehl Henningsen was born on April 14, 1941, in Frederiksberg, a part of Copenhagen, Denmark. Her father was Sven Aage Henningsen, who sold fabrics, and her mother was Elisabeth Braunstein. Inge finished high school at Holte Gymnasium in 1959. After that, she went to Copenhagen University to study statistics. She graduated from the university in 1966.
Career and Activism
After graduating, Inge Henningsen started working at the university's Institute for Mathematical Statistics. She taught and did research there until 2007. In 1974, she became an associate professor.
Her interest in politics began when she was a student. She joined a socialist student group called Studentersamfundet. From 1967, she was very active in the Left Socialists party (Venstresocialisterne) with her partner, Steen Folke. She became a member of the party's board and, in the late 1960s, she became an editor for their journal, Politisk Revy.
While on a study trip to the United States from 1969 to 1970, she learned about the new Women's Movement. When she returned to Denmark, she helped promote new activities for women within the Left Socialists party during the 1970s. From 1980 to 1991, she edited Naturkampen. This was a socialist magazine for women who thought critically about science and technology. She wrote articles on topics like cancer research, how to judge risks from technology, farming in developing countries, and AIDS.
Focus on Statistics and Equality
Inge Henningsen was very good at explaining complicated statistical information to people who weren't experts. She often pointed out when statistics were being used in a misleading way. She became especially active in education. For example, she used statistics to show that girls often had fewer choices than boys when it came to studying applied sciences.
She also worked with other women researchers in fields like sociology, politics, and psychology. Together, they showed that women did not have the same opportunities as men in higher education and research. Because of this important work, she became a member of the Gender Equality Research Foundation in 1998, which was part of the Ministry of Research.
More recently, she used statistics to write articles about how girls might be at a disadvantage in Denmark's schools. However, she also highlighted that a good number of boys were increasingly seen as "losers" because there weren't enough good job training programs or internships for them. Other topics she looked at using statistics include bullying in classrooms (in 2009 and 2013), how gender affects educational choices (in 2008), and a careful review of the results from the PISA reports (in 2008 and 2017).
