General information about Equality
Organization of the Equality Unit
- The Head of the Equality Unit is the Equality Representative. This person is elected by the Senate. The Equality Representative at THU is Prof. Dr. Barbara Streppel. Her deputy is Prof. Dr. Tim Pietzcker.
- There are various additional deputies based in the departments.
- A Desk Officer for Equality helps with the work of the Equality Unit. The Desk Officer for Equality is Angelina Schmid.
- THU is a participant in the Women Professors Program (Professorinnenprogramm, in German). There are two coordinators implementing the relevant measures. The coordinators for the Women Professors Program are Nora Ateia and Corinna Pusch.
- The Representative for Equal Opportunities and her deputy are responsible for the administrative and technical staff at THU (administrative staff, office workers, laboratory employees, technical services, etc.) The Representative for Equal Opportunities is Pia Blank.
- The Equality Team looks after the concerns of students, academic staff, and professors.
- There is also the Equality Committee: This encompasses the Equality and Equal Opportunities teams, as well as the Equality Representatives from all the departments. Its role is to generate consensus regarding equality issues, objectives, and measures at THU.
Legal basis for our work
The legal basis for our work is the Baden-Württemberg State Higher Education Act (Landeshochschulgesetz). Section 4 of this law obliges universities to
- consider the gender-specific impact in all areas, tasks, and decisions,
- enforce equal opportunities for women and men,
- eliminate existing disadvantages,
- actively support women in all subjects and at all levels where they are underrepresented,
- facilitate combining family life with a career in science.
An overview of our tasks
We develop and implement measures to support gender equality and equal opportunities at THU. We also campaign for more diversity at the University of Applied Sciences.
Our portfolio also includes:
- Advice services
- Measures to help support and connect people (e.g. mentoring, seminars)
- Measures to make combining a career with family life easier (e.g. family room)
- Participation in appointment committees and job interviews
- Development of Gender and Diversity concepts in teaching and research
- Raising awareness of unconscious biases
- Dual Career Service
Does equality mean women receive preferential treatment?
No. Equality means that the rights, obligations, and opportunities of all people do not depend on their gender.
Unfortunately, women continue to be affected by numerous real, structural inequalities and disadvantages. Women are, regrettably, still underrepresented on technical degree programs and in leadership roles.
Our role is to ensure the structures in all areas of the THU are configured – and experienced – in such a way that they lead to true equality for women in all parts of the University of Applied Sciences. Until the gender imbalance at universities has been corrected, we will support women and work to increase their numbers among the student body, the staff, and the professors.
