Gender Equality & Diversity:
New Gender Plan To Accelerate Successful Development [22.05.17]
University of Hohenheim Senate bundles guidelines for gender equality policies and specific measures into Gender Plan / Next Milestone: Diversity Plan
Reaching gender equality, increasing cultural diversity, and developing a diversity plan - these are the guidelines for the University of Hohenheim’s diversity policies. They are summarized in a new Gender Plan, which the University Senate has now passed. The University of Hohenheim thereby continues its long-standing, successful gender equality policies.
56 percent of students are women, 44 percent of doctoral candidates, 25 percent of professors - when it comes to equality, the University of Hohenheim is already well-positioned. “The measures we’ve taken such as active recruitment, mentoring programs, or individual coaching sessions for young female scientists have had tangible success,” stated Gender Equality Representative Prof. Dr. Ute Mackenstedt.
The university has now gone a step further and passed a Gender Plan. It sets down the guidelines for gender policies and specific new measures.
Proportion of female professors above state average
In recent years, the University of Hohenheim was able to appoint women to more than half of the open professorships - this meant that the goal to have 20% female professors by 2020 was already met in 2014. 25 percent of professors at the university are women, placing it above the state average of 19 percent.
To maintain this success, the University of Hohenheim will continue to drive forward active international recruitment in the future. “This promotes both internationalization and gender equality,” emphasized Prof. Dr. Mackenstedt. Offers such as the Mentoring and Training Program (MuT) or individual coaching sessions were also used intensively by the female professors, she reported.
“We are on the right path toward our goal of reaching parity between women and men in all phases of scientific qualification,” Prof. Dr. Mackenstedt asserted.
Support for Early Career Researchers
Early career researchers also remain a focus. The Graduate Academy, active since the beginning of 2016, offers young researchers support during their doctorates. In the future, the University of Hohenheim wants to expand these continuing education offers and also include gender equality aspects.
The university’s internal mentoring program MentHo is aimed especially at women and assists and advises female students and scientists in their career at the university. “One unique feature of this program is that it individually supports female students starting with their Bachelor’s as well as female early career researchers at all stages of qualification up to junior professors,” stated the university’s Consultant for Gender Equality Rotraud Konca.
The MentHo Office’s experiences also went into the personnel development plan, on which the university is currently working for the scientific areas, as well.
Good conditions for families
“When it comes to the question of better reconcilability of family and career, we are already ahead of the game,” described Konca. “For more than 15 years, for example, we have had comprehensive programs for childcare such as the ‘Children’s Firefighters’ for emergencies or the campus vacation program. Currently, the campus has five childcare facilities.”
The University of Hohenheim was the first university in Baden-Württemberg to be certified as a family-friendly university in 2003 and has now been certified for the fourth time. In addition, it was the first signatory to the charter “Families at the University”.
The examination and study regulations at the University of Hohenheim take family leave and periods of protection into consideration, for example for pregnancy and childcare or for other relatives in need of care. “This isn’t only found on paper - we follow through with it. That can be seen in the fact that absolutely no problematic cases have arisen in this area since 2014,” explained Konca.
According to the Gender Plan, in the future there is also to be a support fund for replacements when someone needs to reduce their working hours in the lab or on the field due to maternity leave or parental leave. This is a measure that can prevent delays in research projects and is actively used by those affected, reported Konca on previous experiences from a limited-time pilot project of the same type.
Gender Plan prepares for diversity plan
The Gender Plan is to be expanded in the future to become a diversity plan that includes all ethnic, social, and religious aspects. This also supports the goal of internationalization in research and teaching. The existing Gender Equality Committee is therefore being expanded into a Diversity Committee.
“Last fall the first diversity workshop took place,” reported Prof. Dr. Mackenstedt. “To support the process, courses are being created to sensitize university members on the topic of gender and to strengthen their intercultural competences.”
“Diversity will stretch over the university culture like an umbrella,” described Konca. “Cultural and social diversity should be harmonious - and if individuals or groups experience discrimination, then the responsible office steps in.”
“Despite all our success, we still have a way to go until we’ve reached our goal,” summarized Prof. Dr. Mackenstedt. “This is especially true because gender problems don’t stop at the gates of the university but continue in the working world.” Since the university educates students for the job market, she sees this as a special responsibility in the future, as well.
More information
Text: Elsner
Contact for press:
Prof. Dr. Ute Mackenstedt, University of Hohenheim Gender Equality Officer,
T +49 (0)711 459 22275, E Mackenstedt@uni-hohenheim.de
Rotraud Konca, University of Hohenheim Consultant for Gender Equality,
T +49 (0)711 459 23478, E Rotraud.Konca@uni-hohenheim.de
