The Senate Committee on Equal Opportunity advises the Senate on questions regarding equal opportunity. The committee is responsible for promoting equal opportunity and gender equality in academia. Every year, the committee awards two different prizes for final theses and publications on gender- and diversity-related issues. The central equal opportunity commissioner is the chair of the committee. Other members who are eligible to vote are two persons elected from each of the four status groups “professors”, “academic staff members”, “doctoral students”, and “students”. The Senate Committee on Equal Opportunity meets at least once every semester.
According to a current survey, the equal opportunity commissioners at the University of Mannheim would like to focus their activities on the topics listed below. Summaries of the state of research as well as recommendations derived from them (fact sheets) have been compiled on some issues. These form the basis for the revision and update of the guidelines for appointment. For further information, please see Empirical Evidence.
How can job advertisements be formulated and designed in a way that attracts more female researchers? How should the university add periods of family leave to the academic age? What are the best strategies to actively recruit female researchers? How can these aspects be implemented in a revised version of the guidelines for search committees? How can the central equal opportunity commissioner be involved in hiring procedures for all permanent positions?
Summaries of the state of research as well as recommendations derived from them (fact sheets) have been compiled on some issues:
How can the workload for female researchers who are working excessively in university bodies be reduced? How is it possible to hire more female researchers for central positions (e. g. as deans)?
For the revision and update of the guidelines for appointment, a summary of the state of research and recommendations on the quota of women on search committees were drawn up.
Which innovative measures can be applied to promote the reconciliation of family and research? How can the university reduce the workload of early-stage researchers with family-related responsibilities?
How can we incorporate the principles of gender equality and equal opportunity in the minds of leaders and executives even more? How can we raise awareness for this topic? What do we do in case principles of equal opportunity are disregarded? How can we promote the usage of gender-neutral language in documents?
The following nine persons are eligible to vote in the Senate Committee on Equal Opportunity:
Chair | Deputy chair: | 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2024 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023 |
Professors | Prof. Dr. Alexandra Niessen-Ruenzi Deputies: | 1 August 2021 to 31 July 2023 |
Academic staff members | Deputies: N.N. | 1 August 2021 to 31 January 2023 |
Doctoral candidates | Deputies: | 1 August 2021 to 31 July 2023 |
Students | Leonie Sindel Deputies: | 29 September 2022 to 31 July 2023 |
Participate in the Senate Committee on Equal Opportunity an advisory function:
Equal opportunity commissioner of the Department of Law | Deputy: |
Equal opportunity commissioner of the Department of Economics | Deputy: |
Equal opportunity commissioner of the Business School | |
Equal opportunity commissioner of the Dean’s Office of the Business School | |
Equal opportunity commissioner of the School of Social Sciences | Deputies: |
Equal opportunity commissioner of the School of Humanities | Deputy: |
Equal opportunity commissioner of the School of Business Informatics and Mathematics | Deputy: |
Equal opportunity commissioner of the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES) | Deputy: |
Representative of the Gender and Diversity Committee of the Graduate School for Economic and Social Sciences (GESS) | N.N. |
Head of the Department of Gender Equality and Social Diversity | |
Vice President for Strategic Planning, Internationalization and Equal Opportunity | Prof. Dr. Thomas Fetzer |
WUMAN | |
Equal opportunity commissioner of the AStA | Frederik Blank |
The executive assistant to the central equal opportunity commissioner is responsible for supervising the organization of the Senate Committee on Equal Opportunity.