Equal Opportunity at the State and Federal Level

The  State Conference of Equal Opportunity Representatives at Universities in Lower Saxony (lakog) [in German] is the official representative body for Equal Opportunity Representatives at universities in Lower Saxony. The lakog is the state political association of all university Equal Opportunity Representatives, which performs cross-university tasks in the area of gender equality at universities in Lower Saxony. As part of the "Dialoginitiative for Gender Equality in Higher Education", which has existed since 2007, lakog works together with the State University Conference (LHK) and the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture (MWK) on various equality policy issues. Currently (2024-2026), the 4th round of the  Dialoginitiative: Gender-equitable university culture [in German] on the topic of "Intersectional gender equality work" is underway. The project is managed by the central Equal Opportunity Representative at Osnabrück University.

The  Federal Conference of Women's and Equal Opportunity Representatives at Universities (BuKoF) [in German] is the gender policy voice in the discourse on science and higher education policy in Germany. The BuKoF brings together all those who shape the structure and culture of all types of higher education institutions in Germany in a gender-equitable way.

The Diversity Charter is an employer initiative to promote diversity in companies and institutions. It was launched in December 2006 by four companies and is supported by the respective Federal Government Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration.

The aim of the initiative is to promote the recognition, appreciation and inclusion of diversity in the world of work in Germany. Organizations should create a working environment that is free of prejudice. All employees should be valued - regardless of age, ethnic origin and nationality, gender and gender identity, physical and mental abilities, religion and ideology, sexual orientation and social background.

At the heart of the initiative is the eponymous  Diversity Charter, a voluntary commitment by the signatories to promote diversity and appreciation in the world of work. Over 5,000 companies and institutions with a total of over 14 million employees have already signed the Diversity Charter. Osnabrück University has been a signatory since November 2018.

The initiative has been run by the non-profit association Charta der Vielfalt e. V. since 2010. It began its work in 2011 under the patronage of the then Federal Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel.

The "Professorinnen-Programm" is a federal and state funding program (Round I: 2009-2015; Round II: 2013-2018 Round III: 2018 to 2022; Round IV: 2023 - 2030). It aims to increase the number of female professors at German universities on the one hand and to strengthen gender equality structures at universities on the other.

Osnabrück University has already successfully participated in the first three rounds of the programme and has raised funds of almost 4 million euros, which have been used to appoint a total of nine highly qualified female academics to lifetime professorships and to implement various gender equality projects. These include the three mentoring programmes for female Master's students, female doctoral students and female junior professors and postdocs; the "Go_dezentral" project to decentralize gender equality work, the "Onboarding for female professors" project and a position to set up a equality controlling system as well as a variety of measures to increase family friendliness.

As part of the third application for the "Professorinnen-Programm" ,Osnabrück University's  Gleichstellungszukunftskonzept (2018) (PDF, 8.09 MB) was awarded the "Gleichstellung: ausgezeichnet" award as one of the top ten nationwide.

With the  Concept for Gender Parity (2023) (PDF, 5.21 MB), Osnabrück University was also able to secure participation in the fourth round of the "Professorinnen-Programm" and thus acquire further equality funding. It was one of 22 universities nationwide to be awarded with the "Gleichstellungsstarke Hochschule" award.

As part of the Excellence Initiative launched in 2005, international experts in particular pointed out that there are major deficits in the realization of social equity for scientists in the German science system. The German Research Foundation has responded to this criticism by developing the " Research-Oriented Standards on Gender Equality".

The DFG's "Research-Oriented Gender Equality Standards" define personnel and structural standards for sustainable gender equality in the scientific and academic landscape. They represent a voluntary commitment by DFG members and were first adopted in 2008.

The  German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat, WR) advises the Federal Government and the governments of the federal states on issues relating to the content and structural development of universities, science and research. It has spoken out emphatically in favor of more female scientists in leadership positions and regularly publishes  recommendations, statements and position papers on the topic of gender equality at universities.

The  German Rectors' Conference (HRK) is the voluntary association of state and state-recognized universities and higher education institutions in Germany. It regularly publishes  position papers in the field of gender equality, in which the current status of gender equality efforts at German universities is recorded and recommendations for the promotion of female academics are formulated.

Since 2023, UOS President Susanne Menzel-Riedl has held the office of Vice President for Higher Education System and Organization at the HRK.

The members of the  Joint Science Conference are the federal and state ministers responsible for science and research and the ministers and senators responsible for finance. The GWK deals with all issues concerning research funding, science and research policy strategies and the science system that affect both the federal and state governments. The GWK is the only body in the national science system that continuously collects data on the situation of women in universities and non-university research institutions and presents it transparently in the form of  annual updates.