Equal Opportunity Representative
The role of Equal Opportunity Representative is performed throughout different levels of Osnabrück University. In addition to the central Equal Opportunity Representative, there is a deputy at the central level and decentralized Equal Opportunity Representatives in the schools and organizational units. As part of their official duties, the representatives support the university in working towards the actual implementation of equal opportunities for all genders and the elimination of existing disadvantages. In particular, they are involved in Academic Planning and Development, in structural and personnel decisions, in the implementation, further development and evaluation of funding guidelines and in advising university members (§ 42 NHG).
Despite the fact that the legal basis for the promotion of gender equality at universities in Lower Saxony is still based on a binary concept of gender (see Section 3 (3) NHG; Article 2 (3) GG; Part Three NGG), the Equal Opportunity Representatives at Osnabrück University are committed to an understanding of gender equality that takes into account the diversity of gender and builds upon an intersectional approach. On the principles of gender equality work at Osnabrück University
Dr.in Sabine Jösting has been the central Equal Opportunity Representative at Osnabrück University and head of the Equal Opportunity Office since 2008. As such, she is the spokesperson for equal opportunity concerns at the university, chair of the Council of Dezentralized Equal Opportunity Representatives and responsible for science communication and media relations from an equal opportunity perspective. In contrast to the decentralized Equal Opportunity Representatives elected within their respective schools or organizational units, the central Equal Opportunity Representative is employed full-time in this position. She is elected by the Senate and appointed for a six-year term when first elected and an eight-year term when re-elected. Both in her role as central Equal Opportunity Representative and as head of the Equal Opportunity Office, Annkatrin Kalas acts as Sabine Jösting's deputy.
Dr.in Sabine Jösting and her deputy Annkatrin Kalas are therefore your primary contacts for questions relating to gender equality. These may arise in various contexts such as in appointment committees and hiring processes, in the acquisition of third-party funding, as well as in teaching, career counseling and other areas of everyday academic life. We provide general information for these fields on our homepage, but you are welcome to contact us personally if you have any questions.
At the local level, decentralized Equal Opportunity Representatives fulfill the gender equality mandate in their respective schools and organizational units in a voluntary capacity. In conjunction with the central Equal Opportunity Representative, Dr.in Sabine Jösting, they form the Council of Decentralized Equal Opportunity Representatives.
The decentralized Equal Opportunity Representatives are proposed by the Equal Opporunity Assembly, to which all members of the respective schools or organizational units are invited. The school executive board deliberates and decides on this proposal. Lecturers, IT and administrative staff, scientific staff and students can be nominated and appointed, regardless of their gender identity. Saff members with a permanent contract are elected for a term of two years, staff members with fixed-term contracts as well as students for a term of one year (Section 12 (5) sentence 6 GO). In each case, the term of office begins on April 1 and ends on March 31.
If you are interested in contributing to the promotion of gender equality at Osnabrück University, please contact either the Equal Opportunity Office or the Decentralized Equal Opportunity Representative in your school or institute.
Contact Details of the decentralized Equal Opportunity Representatives
The basis for the gender equality measures is Article 3, in particular paragraph 3, of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany ("Grundgesetz"):
(3) No person shall be favoured or disfavoured because of sex, parentage, race, language, homeland and origin, faith or religious or political opinions. No person shall be disfavoured because of disability.
Among others, the following legal principles apply to gender equality efforts at universities in Lower Saxony:
- the Lower Saxony Higher Education Act ("Niedersächsisches Hochschulgesetz"): Section 3 (3) NHG
- the Lower Saxony Equality Act ("Niedersächsisches Gleichberechtigungsgesetz"): Part Three
- the General Act on Equal Treatment ("Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz")
Contact Us
Dr.in Sabine Jösting (she/her)
Phone: +49 541 969-4767
sabine.joesting@uos.de
Room: 52/507
Equal Opportunity Office
Neuer Graben 7/9
49074 Osnabrück
Short Bio: Sabine Jösting
Annkatrin Kalas, M.A. (she/her)
Phone: +49 541 969-4520
annkatrin.kalas@uos.de
Room: 52/505
Equal Opportunity Office
Neuer Graben 7/9
49074 Osnabrück