Dr Sandra Garbade is the new President of BIBB

Dr Sandra Garbade became President of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) on 1 August. Her appointment means that BIBB is led by a woman for the first time. 54-year-old Dr Garbade had previously spent nine years as Managing Director of the Hamburg Institute for Vocational Education and Training (HIBB). She succeeds Professor Dr Friedrich Hubert Esser, who retired on 30 June 2026.

BIBB President Dr Sandra Garbade: “The guiding principle underlying my time at the Hamburg Institute for Vocational Education and Training was to use vocational education and training to allow more people to participate in work and society. My aim is for this theme to continue to be the driving force behind my actions as President of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training. I am very much looking forward to my new task and to the opportunities it affords to shape the future. I am aware that I am assuming the office of BIBB President at a challenging time. Demographic developments, the current general prevailing economic conditions and the major changes to the world of work being brought about by digitalisation and by the deployment of artificial intelligence are all good reason to also scrutinise the structures and processes within vocational education and training to ensure that they remain reliable and fit for purpose. Under my leadership and in conjunction with all VET partners, BIBB will play an active part in shaping the modernisation and further development of vocational education and training in Germany and will continue to contribute to securing both a skilled workforce and Germany’s innovation and competitiveness.”

Dr Sandra Garbade holds a PhD in business education and originally qualified as a bank clerk. After stints in the banking sector and in management consultancy, she entered the teaching profession in Hamburg in 2007. She initially worked as a teacher and as a head of department at vocational schools. She subsequently took on further management tasks at the Hamburg Institute for Vocational Education and Training (HIBB). Dr Garbade became Managing Director of HIBB in 2017 and assumed responsibility for the strategic further development of vocational education and training in Hamburg.

The Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) is the recognised centre of excellence for the research and further development of initial and continuing vocational education and training in Germany. BIBB is a departmental research institute which operates under the remit of the Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMBFSFJ). It currently employs more than 850 staff members at its location in Bonn. BIBB’s core tasks include VET research, the provision of evidence-based policy guidance, the modernisation of dual and advanced training regulations, international vocational education and training cooperation and the administrative implementation and evaluation research of national and international VET programmes. BIBB enjoys special significance given its current research and work priorities on topics such as the securing of a skilled workforce, the transformation of the world of work, digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI).

Further information on the curriculum vitae of Dr Sandra Garbade is available at www.bibb.de/president

Photos of Dr Sandra Garbade may be accessed at www.bibb.de/pressefotos.

Specimen copy requested if printed.