topic Ministry

Women in the Science System

The share of female scientists in leading positions in universities is still lower than the share of female staff as a whole. In order to rectify this situation the Federal Ministry of Education and Research is supporting targeted projects within the framework of its Gender Mainstreaming Strategy in Science. New is an Internet-based career network with tips to help women in their professional lives.

An important element of Germany's research environment are the research institutions that are jointly funded by the Federal Government and the Länder. These include the Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research, the Hermann von Helmholtz Association of National Research Centres, the Max Planck Society and the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Science Association. The BMBF is promoting equal opportunities in the research institutions themselves through its measures and projects.

Center of Excellence Women and Science (CEWS)

The Center of Excellence Women and Science (CEWS) is an internationally oriented information, service and coordination centre which contributes towards implementing equal opportunities for women in science and research. It serves as the national coordination, information and counselling agency for scientific and political establishments, institutions, women scientists and companies. Its aims are to increase the share of women in leading positions at universities and research institutions, to raise the efficiency of political measures aimed at equality and to introduce gender mainstreaming in all areas of science and research. The Femconsult database, which contains the data of 7,000 women scientists, is a central instrument for increasing the share of women in leading positions.

The Center of Excellence became a department of the Social Science Information Centre of the Society for Information Systems on 1 January 2006.

Further information: http://www.cews.org/cews/en/index.php

Institutions of Higher Education

A Springboard for advancement

The Springboard for Advancement project aims to increase the share of women in leading positions, particularly at institutions of higher education. The project provides special career and application training schemes to enable women scientists to make the best possible use of their career opportunities when applying for positions as junior or full professors or for leading positions in research establishments. Nationwide, approximately 1000 participants have improved their career prospects in science and research by taking part in the training schemes. The range of activities is currently being financed by the German Association of Universities and put into practice by the Center of Excellence Women and Science (CEWS).

Further information: http://www.cews.org/cews/en/index.php  

femtec.network - Career building for young female leaders in engineering and the sciences

A programme to promote the careers of particularly gifted women students in the natural sciences and engineering is being developed, tested and evaluated within the framework of the project. The BMBF is responsible for funding the steering and coordination parts of the overall project. The participants are taught interdisciplinary key skills within the framework of summer schools, they receive support in planning their careers, and individual contacts are established with the professional world. In addition, they have the support of an experienced senior female member of the partner company as mentor. The aim is to achieve equal opportunities in the promotion and networking of young female leaders in engineering and the technical sciences, thereby implementing gender mainstreaming and increasing the share of women in these fields. The results of the pilot scheme were presented to a wide specialist public at a conference in March 2006.

Further information: http://www.femtec-network.de/

Total E-Quality Award

The Total E-Quality Award is intended as an instrument for comparing the quality of measures which have been introduced to achieve equality at higher education and research institutions. The Total E-Quality Award is intended to motivate the higher education and research institutions to integrate innovative forms of equal opportunities for women in their organizational processes.

Further information: http://www.cews.org/total-e-quality/index-e.html

Research Institutions:

Peer Mentoring

Peer mentoring is a concept for promoting careers which is intended to increase the share of female leaders in non-university research institutions. It involves the self-organized networking and mutual support of highly qualified women with a doctorate on their way to top positions. Effective forms of organization as well as financial and skills concepts for peer mentoring groups are being developed and tested in a two-year pilot scheme, which was launched in 2004. In addition, external counselling requirements are being determined. The results of the pilot phase are intended to trigger the further development of mentoring processes.

Further information: http://www.cews.org/cews/en/ 

Childcare facilities at research institutions

Implementing equality also means improving the framework conditions for reconciling a career in science and a family. Most institutionally funded institutions of the Max Planck Society, the Hermann von Helmholtz Association of National Research Centres (HGF), the German Research Association (DFG) and the Fraunhofer Society therefore offer their employees childcare facilities. The BMBF has made this possible by authorizing the provision of budget funds for childcare facilities on a cost neutral basis