We develop and support measures to promote gender equality, equal opportunities and greater diversity at Ulm University of Technology (THU).
The aim of our work is to create fair and equal conditions for studying, teaching, research and work at the university – regardless of a person’s gender.
The central Equal Opportunities Officer at THU is Prof. Dr. Barbara Streppel. She heads the Equal Opportunities Department.
There are various deputies in the faculties:
The Equal Opportunities Officer and her deputies are elected by the Senate.
Employees in the Equal Opportunities Office also implement equal opportunities measures:
The Equal Opportunities team takes care of the concerns of students, academic staff and professorial staff.
The Equal Opportunities Officer Pia Blank and her deputy are responsible for the administrative and technical staff of the university (administration, secretariats, laboratory staff, technical services, etc.).
The legal basis for our work is the State Higher Education Act. Paragraph 4 of this law obliges universities to
Ulm University of Applied Sciences has successfully applied for funding from the Female Professors Program.
In the funding project, the university receives money from the federal and state governments to finance equal opportunities measures. This has also enabled the employment of female academic staff to implement these measures.
Technology +O, a technical orientation semester for women, has already been implemented.
You can find out more about the project at Women Professors Program 2030
To ensure that universities of applied sciences can continue to fulfill their important role in the future, they are dependent on highly qualified staff. For this reason, the federal and state governments have launched a program to promote the recruitment and qualification of professorial staff at universities of applied sciences (FH-Personal).
Ulm University of Applied Sciences is participating in this funding program. The project is headed by Chancellor Dr. Christian Elmo Wolff and Equal Opportunities Officer Prof. Dr. Barbara Streppel. One of the focal points of project implementation at the THU is also on the topics of diversity and equality.
THU provides information on the project and other focal points on the THUProf4.0 project website.
You can find out more about the federal project on the website of the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space: FH-Personal.
Why is gender-equitable language important?
Language has the potential to discriminate and exclude. At the same time, however, it also offers the opportunity to create visibility and change reality in the long term.
Example: People should choose a course of study based on their interests. However, if we only ever talk about engineers or technicians, it seems as if only men can pursue these professions. Of course, this is not the case - but for female students, for example, this can subconsciously have a major influence on whether they can imagine themselves in such professions or rule them out from the outset.
How do I gender correctly?
The THU recommends two variants:
Gender-neutral forms
Forms with the gender asterisk
You can find all information on this and examples of use in the manual "Gender-equitable language".
No. Equality means that the rights, duties and opportunities of all people do not depend on their gender.
Unfortunately, there are still numerous actual structural inequalities and disadvantages that affect women. Unfortunately, women are still underrepresented in technical degree courses and in management positions.
Our task is to shape and live the structures in all areas of THU in such a way that they lead to de facto equality for women in all areas of the university. Until the gender ratio at universities is balanced, we support women and are committed to increasing their proportion in studies, among staff and in professorships.