Contact: The Equality Unit
For professors, the Equality Team is your point of call for all issues concerning equality and a family-friendly employer.
Apply for a professorship
Information about professorships at our university can be found here:
Become a professor at THU. If you are interested in applying, the Equality Team would be happy to help you with your application.
Here are some useful links:
Acquiring women for professorships is a high priority for THU.
- With the project FH-Personal (THU Prof 4.0) (webpage in German), Ulm University of Applied Sciences aims to acquire, retain, and promote qualified professors. The project prioritizes equality and diversity.
- Active recruiting: THU is an active user of the database provided by the State Conference for Equality Representatives at Universities of Applied Sciences in Baden-Württemberg (LaKof). If you are interested in a professorship, please register in the Datenbank Professorin (HAW/DHBW) database.
- An Equality Representative or their deputy is part of every appointment committee. They ensure that every applicant has equal opportunities and that gender equality is upheld.
Applying for teaching positions
THU is happy to provide teaching positions for women in all departments to support them on their journey to qualify as a professor, as well as giving them the chance to familiarize themselves with how the university organization works. We are also an active user of the Mathilde Planck professorship program offered by the State Conference for Equality Representatives at Universities of Applied Sciences in Baden-Württemberg (LaKof). You can find out more about the program in the Flyer about the Mathilde Planck professorship program (in German).
If you are interested in a teaching position, please get in touch with us directly at: gleichstellung@thu.de.
Women’s networks & mentoring
The Equality Unit organizes regular meet-ups for female professors. The objective: to exchange views with female colleagues, to network, and to offer each other support. Please contact Barbara Streppel if you would like to take part.
Other networks for women in science:
• https://scientifica.de/en/foerderung/netzwerke/
• https://mint-frauen-bw.de/ (in German)
Women’s networks in Ulm:
• Ulmer Frauenforum (Ulm Women’s Forum, machine translation available, toggle language in top-right corner)
Mentoring
THU is actively involved in the “Traumberuf Professorin Plus” (in German) mentoring project, which supports women on their way to becoming a professor at a University of Applied Sciences in Baden-Württemberg. The idea: experienced professors act as mentors, to accompany and advise young female scientists.
Dual Career Service
The Dual Career Service is a support service provided by THU, aimed at the partners of professors or scientific support staff who have recently started work at our university. Dual Career supports couples by helping both partners pursue their career development in the Ulm region.
THU is a network partner and founding university of the Dual Career Network Swabia (Dual Career Netzwerk Schwaben – DCNS). All information about the network can be found on the website of our network partner, Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences: Dual Career Network Swabia – HNU
If you are interested in this offer, please contact the Equality Team: gleichstellungsteam@thu.de.
A family friendly University of Applied Sciences
Ulm University of Applied Sciences has been officially rated as a “Family-focused organization”. The following offers for families are currently available:
Family rooms/rooms for breastfeeding
There is a family room at both THU campuses. These are rooms where students or employees with children can go if, for example, they were unable to find childcare for that day. All rooms have desks and child-friendly facilities. There is also a PC available in the Prittwitzstrasse.
The family rooms are located
- in the Albert-Einstein-Allee: Q211
- in the Prittwitzstrasse: F011
Professors can have access to the family room added to their personal electronic key. Just contact Technical Services and they will set it up for you.
You can also borrow the key from the relevant library during its opening times. The Terms of Use for the Library of Things apply. The Terms of Use for the Family Room (internal document, in German) are available on the Intranet.
Maternity leave
The legal provisions of the Maternity Protection Act (Mutterschutzgesetz) apply to employees. You must officially inform Ulm University of Applied Sciences about your pregnancy. You can find more information in the Intranet at Maternity and parental leave (Mutterschutz und Elternzeit) (internal document, in German).
Parental leave
The THU guideline on this is also in Maternity and parental leave (Mutterschutz und Elternzeit) (internal document, in German). You can also find general information about parental leave at the Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Familienportal) website (in German, some information available in English).
Advice services
The Equality Team is happy to advise you about parental leave and combining your studies with family life. Just get in touch – here are our contact details.
Baby pack (Baby-Päckle)
Are you a student or an employee at THU, and have become a parent? Then let us know – because the University will send a “Baby pack” when the baby arrives. However, you must contact us at gleichstellungsteam@thu.de because, due to data protection rules, the Human Resources Department cannot pass the information on to us.
Advice services
The Equality Team is happy to advise and support you! You will find all the relevant contact people and their details under “Contact”.
For example, we can offer you advice on:
- Combining career and family life
- Applications for a professorship at THU
- Equality in your career
- All questions regarding gender-related discrimination, sexualized harassment, and violence
External support centers:
- There are also many support centers in Ulm. Ulm City Council has compiled an overview of them (machine translation available, toggle language in top-right corner).
- The Ministry of Science has a legal counsel (Vertrauensanwältin, website in German) who can provide legal advice for free. She is available for questions concerning discrimination, sexualized harassment, and violence. Legal Counsel Michaela Spandau presents herself briefly in this video.
- Violence against women: In addition to the free Helpline 08000 116 016 there are other regional and national services.
Discrimination, sexualized harassment, and violence
Ulm University of Applied Sciences will absolutely not tolerate sexualized discrimination, harassment, or violence in any form. THU has issued a guideline on this (internal document), which is available on the Intranet.
The following people are available to talk to for anyone who has suffered sexualized harassment, discrimination, or even violence at our university of applied sciences – or for those who wish to highlight deficits/risks in this area:
• Barbara Streppel: barbara.streppel@thu.de
• Tim Pietzcker: tim.pietzcker@thu.de
All conversations take place in the strictest confidence, and further action will only be taken with the express permission of the affected person.
You can find other support centers and contacts (regional and national) under the “Advice services” tab.
Furthermore, THU is currently working on a protection plan. For example, a protection plan defines measures to better protect people from sexualized harassment, specifies prevention programs, and establishes processes.
Gender-inclusive and non-discriminatory language
THU is currently working on the following guideline (in German) to stay abreast of the latest changes in the German language.
Why is gender-inclusive language important?
Language has the potential to discriminate against and exclude people. At the same time, it also offers the opportunity to create visibility and, in the long-term, to change the situation.
Example: People should choose their career according to their interests. But in German, if only the male form of the role is commonly used (“Ingenieur, Techniker”), it sounds as if only men can work in these professions. Of course this is not the case – but, for example, for schoolgirls, it can have a significant, yet subconscious, effect upon whether they can imagine themselves in such careers, or if they exclude them right from the start.
How do I use gender-inclusive language correctly when writing in German?
When writing in German, THU recommends using an asterisk, also called the “gender star”. It is a placeholder which allows non-binary people to be visible alongside women and men.
There are also gender-neutral forms for many terms in German, which encompass all genders. For example, words such as “Studierende” (instead of “Studentinnen und Studenten”) or “Mitarbeitende” (instead of “Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter”). You can find an overview of gender-neutral alternatives in the “Geschickt gendern” dictionary.
Whichever forms you choose to use, make sure you use them as consistently as possible throughout the entire document.
Research
Nowadays, aspects of gender inclusiveness and diversity are actively called for in invitations for applications, and are incorporated in the evaluation of research proposals. The Equality Unit is happy to provide advice on creating research proposals in relation to gender inclusiveness and diversity: gleichstellung@thu.de.
The German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft – DFG) provides information on the relevance of gender and diversity in research and engineering on its website. The website also includes a checklist for applicants. This may also be a useful orientation aid for applications to other funding bodies.
Make your research visible!
You can find tips about this at the Prof:inSicht website (in German). This has links with information and tips on different aspects of visibility, such as the effective use of social media, scientific studies about visibility, optimization of scientific visibility, and how to deal with negative reactions.
Other offers for professors
Ulm University’s Sport Program (in German) offers regular courses to help with self-defense. This also includes offers concerning violence prevention and self-assertion, which are specifically aimed at women. THU students and staff are also entitled to attend these courses.
