Commitments

Equal opportunities are anchored in FAU’s mission statement: “The achievement of equal opportunities for all employees, male and female, is of the utmost importance to us at FAU. Nobody is discriminated against or disadvantaged on the basis of gender, nationality, religious beliefs, social background or disability. FAU strives to strike a balance between study, work and family.”

The mission statement for teaching and studying makes the overarching profile lines of FAU’s mission statement more specific by stating strategic targets, including for the area of gender and diversity: “FAU has a range of special programs which enable students with alternative educational backgrounds to study at the University, while taking into account the issues surrounding gender and diversity and the challenges of a changing society.”

FAU contributes to quality assurance in research by actively pursuing compliance with the DFG’s research-oriented standards on gender equality from 2008 and 2017, taking a consistent, transparent, competitive, future-oriented and competent approach to encourage equality of opportunity. In March 2009, the Executive Board undertook to implement targeted measures to encourage equal opportunities for women and men in science and research in target agreements concluded with the DFG relating to the DFG’s research-oriented standards on gender equality. In 2010, the DFG certified in their interim report that FAU had implemented a convincing general concept (implementation stage 3+). In the final report from 2013, DFG confirmed that FAU had continued to implement a number of further measures and set further targets after the interim evaluation.

In their online toolbox, the DFG provides examples of best practice to give ideas for implementing the standards in practice. Seven of the measures implemented at FAU are included, and two of them are even marked as an “innovative example of best practice”.

The FAU research consortia for promoting gender equality (F³G) was established in 2012 in a bid to improve networking opportunities and to ensure that DFG funds for gender equality measures are used usefully and in accordance with requirements. As well as offering an opportunity to share experiences made with existing individual measures, the F³G also provides a forum for working together to develop new measures for research consortia.

The overarching instrument in place at FAU for increasing the proportion of women in academia are the target agreements concluded between the Executive Board and the faculties since 2005. These target agreements are based on the structural and personnel equality standards of the DFG, faculty or department specific statistics and the cascade model (target figures for the faculties 2018-2022). These target agreements, which FAU was the first university in Bavaria to implement in the area of encouraging equal opportunities for women, have proven an effective instrument for implementing equal opportunities for women and men in a university context. Innovative measures are in place to support excellent young female researchers on their path towards gaining a professorship.

Promoting equal opportunities for women is also a key element of the “Innovationsbündnis Hochschule 2018” – Innovation Alliance- concluded with the Bavarian State Ministry of Education, Science and the Arts (StMBKWK). This target agreement aims to ensure the continued performance of institutes of higher education in Bavaria.

FAU supports taking a constructive approach to diversity and is against discrimination, viewing diversity as an opportunity for improving its potential for competitiveness, innovation and future viability. Based on this stance, FAU signed the “Charta der Vielfalt” -Charter of diversity- in 2012. FAU recognizes diversity management as a core concept when it comes to the development of the University and as a guiding principle at all planning and decision-making levels at which gender competence is supplemented by diversity competence.

The diversity audit “Vielfalt gestalten” – Shaping diversity- (2016-2018) provided FAU with the incentive to develop a comprehensive strategic concept for diversity management and to pool existing projects and measures. Within the context of the audit, structures, services, instruments and measures were developed for under-represented student groups in particular in order to include these groups more in university life and encourage them to finish their studies successfully. During the audit, FAU focused on the field of action “internal communication and participation”. FAU hopes to gain further valuable impulses for the continued development of measures and initiatives that have already been launched within the University.

Based on an analysis of its strengths and weaknesses, the Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Theology passed a Gender equality plan in December 2012 to implement gender equality and to acknowledge and encourage diversity among students and teaching staff. The Diversity concept of the Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Theology passed in December 2015 explicitly aims to raise awareness of, express appreciation for, and provide support tailored to the personal situation and potential of all members of the Faculty. It is aimed at developing strategies and measures, identifying development goals and incorporating guidelines at the Faculty. The concept defines four fields of action: 1) diversity in research and teaching, 2) diversity in teacher training, 3) diversity and migration: encouraging students with a migration background, and 4) diversity in services offered.

FAU used the certification process “audit familiengerechte hochschule” -family friendly university- (2008-2017) to establish and continue to encourage a family-friendly university and working environment. One step FAU has taken to keep developing the attained status of a family-friendly university in constructive internal and external exchanges is to introduce the “code of conduct – family-friendly FAU” passed by the Commission for Equal Opportunities in 2016. In this code of conduct, FAU sets out its basic values concerning family policy, internal university standards, and its visions for a family-friendly future. Another step was to sign the charter “Familie in der Hochschule” in September 2016 and join the best practice club of the same name. In this way, FAU recognizes its social responsibility as a place where people learn and work together, where balancing study, work, and family commitments has become second nature and an integral part of university life.