Senate Committee on Equal Opportunity

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.

Recruitment of female researchers

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:

• Wording of job advertisements
• Proportion of women on search committees
• Calculation and recognition of periods of family leave with regard to selection and tenure
• Proactive recruitment
• Using structured interviews.

Female researchers working in university bodies

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.

Reconciliation of family and research

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?

Incorporating the principles of equal opportunity in the organizational culture

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?

Diversity

What is diversity and how do we define social diversity? How can we increase diversity at the University of Mannheim?

Individual working groups are dealing with these topics. Their work is based on empirical findings on measures having a positive impact.

The following nine persons are eligible to vote in the Senate Committee on Equal Opportunity:

Participate in the Senate Committee on Equal Opportunity an advisory function:

The executive assistant to the central equal opportunity commissioner is responsible for supervising the organization of the Senate Committee on Equal Opportunity.