Lecturer and PhD

1981                      Masterdegree Western Sociology, major Methodology, University of Groningen (RUG) .

1981-1987           Lecturer at the Catholic University of Nijmegen (KUN),  Institute Social Pedagogy and Science of Adult education.

1990                      PhD Social Science on the field of Diversity( Catholic University of Nijmegen).

Dissertation: The Culture of judging: judging in interethnic relationships.

 Kortram developed an innovative methodology: the actorperspective. The actorperspective evoked several discussions and dialogues abuot various dimensions of role-assignment and the actorperspective.

Entrepreneur

1986-1998           Kortram started her own multicultural office MAPS. As a consultance she adviced and coached several organisations in the stimulation of multicultural processes.  In this period she transformed the actorperspective. The Actormethod was born with various instruments, models and methods. 

Member of the Dutch Parliament for Labour Party PVDA

1998-2002           In this period she worked succesfully on several topics as dropouts, multicultural building, illegal let out, violance at school, bullying etc. She did not only invited victims of bullying in the Parlement, but dropouts and caravan dwellers too.

Kortram thought it was important  to empower all  people –especially powerless people -so that they could play an actor role and by doing so become visible.

Professor Diversity and multicultural competence

2003-2007           As a  professor in Diversity and multicultural competence at the faculty of Society and Law (FMR) from the HU  in Utrecht, Kortram managed the ‘Lectoraat’ Diversity and multicultural competence. A ´Lectoraat´ is a department for research and education.

Kortram had a contract/agreement  for a fixed time: 1-9-2003 till 1-9-2007. Between 2003 - 2007  Kortram worked on the multicultural professionalisation of students and lecturers, on  creating a diversity dimension in some institute-programs and on research in the field of diversity. She gave several lectures and wrote various articles about Diversity.

Her inauguration speech (2004) was about ‘Living together in a multicultural competence way’. Kortram developped an important innovation the HOIO, a new function for bachelor students. In ‘Hogescholen’ (Higher professional education) it was a habit that graduated students were not able to become a professional researcher in a Lectoraat. First they have to go to the university. Kortram created a new profession and formulated conditions to make it possible for these bachelors to play the role of an  actor in stead of a spectator in their own ‘Hogeschool’. Different non-westenn Dutchstudents  were very interested in these new profession. These innovation is applicated in one Schools for Higher Professional Education: the HVA in Amsterdam. 

Construction of a multicultural framework 2008-2010

For the benefit of the ‘Regiegroep Diversiteit’ (management group)  Kortram recently did research at the VU in Amsterdam, wrote a report and developed a VU multicultural frame of reference. She also developed  8 multicultural competences for all lecturers of the VU. Kortram used the needs of non-western Dutch  students as a startingpoint of analysis. In the final selection of the multicultural competences  she gave much attention tot the opnions of the lecturers.