"Ihre Perspektive zählt - Your voice matters!"

Overview of the overall survey on diversity and discrimination

  • Implementation: Anonymous online survey (LimeSurvey) without code-issuing, invitation by email incl. link
  • Survey period: 11.12.2023 to 19.02.2024
  • Promotion/ publicity: emails to multipliers & via mailing list, newsletter article, websites and social media accounts, campus screens, posters & postcards, information stand in the foyer of the central canteen, presentation of the survey at the staff meeting
  • Reminder: Two reminders (15 and 24/25 January 2024) by email
  • Target group size: Email addresses of 5,340 employees and 27,401 students
  • Completed: Partially completed by 1800 employees and 1531 students. Substantially completed by 1557 employees and 1297 students
  • Response rate (participation): Employees: 33.7 % , Students: 5.6 %
  • Processing time: Employees: ∅ 23.24 minutes, median 20.52 minutes


First results on the diversity of employees

Initial results are available on the diversity of employees, which will be supplemented in the coming weeks with further data, in particular on experiences of discrimination and abuse of power, campus climate and well-being/mental health:
First results - employees
BEFRAGUNG „IHRE PERSPEKTIVE ZÄHLT! – YOUR VOICE MATTERS!“
First results on the diversity of employees

  • GENDER: 58.9% of participants identify as female, 36.7% identify as male. A total of 4.4% identify as diverse or non-binary or do not wish to categorise themselves.
  • CARE - CHILDREN & CARE: 55.5% of participants are responsible for children, 6.3% are single parents. 17.2% of participants are responsible for a person in need of care, 5.2% are primarily responsible for this care.
  • MIGRATION: 65.8% of participants have no family history of migration. 10.5 % have their own migration history, 18 % have a migration history in their parents' or grandparents' generation. 0.8 % are only staying at the University of Göttingen temporarily.
  • RELIGION: 52.2 % of participants do not belong to any religious community or world view. 38.2 % belong to a Christian denomination and a total of 2.6 % belong to another religious denomination.
  • DISABILITY & CHRONIC ILLNESSES: 26.3% of participants have a disability or chronic illness that has an impact on their work or research (the experiences of people who stated this include the following: approx. 9.5% physical chronic illnesses, 8.9% mental illnesses, 4.5% mobility impairments, 2.7% neurodiversity, 1.9% sensory impairments). 73.1% of disabilities or illnesses are not readily recognisable to others. .
  • CLASS / PARENTS‘ EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS: 54.6% of participants come from non-academic homes. 20.5 % of participants have one parent with a university degree, 21.4 % state that both parents/guardians have a university degree.
  • CAMPUS CLIMATE: 50.7% of participants are satisfied with their work or research situation at the university. 25.8 % are partially satisfied, 20.7 % not at all/not at all. 17.5 % of participants never feel burnt out after work, 27.6 % once/less than once a month. Approx. 21 % feel burnt out at least once a month, 31.3 % at least once a week or daily.

5,340 employees at the University of Göttingen were surveyed in the winter semester 2023/2024. 1557 completed the survey. Totals that do not add up to 100% here are due to the fact that some percentages for the response option "No answer" and information not provided are not shown graphically.

Are you looking for counselling on discrimination and abuse of power? You can find contact points here: https://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/beratungs-+und+anlaufstellen/684990.html

Do you have any questions about the project & the survey results?
Please contact the Equal Opportunities and Diversity Unit, Dr Daniela Marx (daniela.marx@zvw.uni-goettingen.de)

The HRK’s Initiative ' Vielfalt an deutschen Hochschulen' is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The project is part of the initiative.

Timetable

Until November 2023, we will focus on the conceptual preparatory work and the further development of the questionnaire on diversity and discrimination. We are currently drawing on expertise from within and outside the university (e.g. from student representatives and graduate schools as well as interest groups such as the Staff Council and the Representative Body for Disabled Persons) to finalise the questionnaire. Together with the GWDG's Survey Support team, the data protection officer and the University's IT department, we are also clarifying the final technical questions for a data protection-compliant implementation of the survey with Lime-Survey.
In December 2023, the questionnaire will be sent by e-mail to all students, doctoral candidates and employees of the University of Göttingen. From this point on, it will be possible to answer the questionnaire.
In February 2024, the evaluation and analysis of the survey results begins..
During the summer semester, the final report on diversity and experiences of discrimination at the University of Göttingen will be available.

The aim of the survey was to collect information on diversity and discrimination among all employees, doctoral candidates and students at the University of Göttingen. The opportunity to share experiences of discrimination anonymously is intended to identify reliable data on experiences and risks of discrimination and relate these to different study and working conditions at the university. Based on this current data, specific needs for action can be recognised, thereby increasing equal opportunities for all members and affiliates of the University.
This overall survey is the implementation of a measure of the anti-discrimination concept approved by the Senate in July 2023. In this way, the gaps in protection identified in the concept with regard to the university learning and working environment can be closed.
Various stakeholders at the University and beyond were involved in the development of the questionnaire: the Staff Council, the AStA, colleagues from the Equal Opportunities and Diversity Unit, in particular Family Services, from the Department of Studies and Teaching, the Representative for Disabled Persons and the Representative for Students with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses, the spokesperson of a graduate school, the Göttingen International Department, the equity* project, the university group aqut* and, as an external actor, the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency were also included.

Items of the questionnaire were taken from the project "Conception of survey modules on student diversity" (2018 - 2020) and expanded and further developed, also taking into account similar survey instruments and designs.