Equal Opportunities and Diversity Unit

Ongoing projects of the Equality Innovation Fund (2021-2025)


The Equality Innovation Fund, which is financed by the Programme for Women Professors, supports innovative project ideas from faculties and faculty-related institutions to improve the study, research and working conditions of female academics and students with the aim of increasing the proportion of women in areas where they are underrepresented and preventing women from dropping out of academia.

In the current funding phase (2021-2025), a variety of projects are being implemented at decentralised level that focus on different objectives:

The University of Göttingen is working towards an organisational structure and culture based on equality, compatibility and diversity. This includes critically examining and reflecting on current procedures and practices with a view to redesigning structures and processes in a needs-based and participatory manner. The projects of the Equality Innovation Fund investigate the gender pay gap in the W-pay scale, shed light on the tension between career models and the specific working conditions of academics with care responsibilities, aim to make doctoral conditions more gender-equitable, raise awareness of the issue of sexualised discrimination and violence as well as gender-equitable language and design of teaching materials. Based on (quantitative and qualitative) analyses, they aim to make inequalities visible, reduce them and create more equal opportunities.

    The project ‘Contributions to reducing the gender pay gap in the W-pay scale: Analysis of progression data and further development of equality controlling' comprises differentiated analyses of the gender pay gap at the University of Göttingen since the introduction of the W-pay scale on the basis of individual pay histories. The aim is to derive recommendations for action to reduce the gender pay gap and to develop routine analyses for equality controlling by defining standard operating procedures (SOPs).

    Responsible institution:Faculty of Business and Economics
    Contact: Prof. Dr. Thomas Kneib
    Duration: 09/2021-08/2024
    Target group:Female scientists, especially professors
    Cooperation: Prof. Dr. Krisztina Kis-Katos, Anika Werkmeister, Aline Georgi, Dr. Doris Hayn

    The project ‘Is the glass ceiling lowering? Changing opportunities and perceptions of career development prospects among early career researchers, especially those with care responsibilities at the University of Göttingen' is dedicated to analysing the quantitative data collected as part of the previous project “Care, Career, Corona” in greater depth. In particular, the tension between career models propagated as ideal and the concrete working conditions of academics with care responsibilities is analysed. The project contributes to shedding light on the social inequalities along the dimensions of care and gender and derives university-wide recommendations for concrete equality measures.

    Responsible institution: Göttingen Diversity Research Institute
    Contact: Prof. Dr. Andrea D. Bührmann, Elena Futter-Buck
    Duration: 08/2021-02/2022
    Target group: Female scientists, especially with care responsibilities

    The project ‘Follow-up study on the influence of the corona pandemic on the working conditions and future prospects of early stage researchers, especially those with care responsibilities at the University of Göttingen’ is dedicated to updating the findings from the first study and examining the question of how the corona pandemic has affected the working conditions and career prospects of early stage researchers. The focus is on the perspective of early stage researchers who were in the qualification phase in the period 2020-2023 and on the perspective of managers with supervisory responsibility. The aim is to derive concrete and applicable recommendations for action to promote early stage researchers in times of crisis for the University of Göttingen.

    Responsible institution:Göttingen Diversity Research Institute
    Contact: Prof. Dr. Andrea D. Bührmann, Elena Futter-Buck
    Duration: 04/2023-05/2024
    Target group: Female scientists, especially with care responsibilities, Managers with supervisory responsibility

    The project involves analysing the conditions for doctoral studies and the reasons why female doctoral students in particular drop out, given the leaky pipeline in the three social science faculties. The aim is to develop gender equality-oriented measures to improve the conditions for doctoral studies, which will help to reduce drop-outs and increase the number of women in science in the long term.

    Responsible institution: Faculty of Law, Social Sciences as well as Buisness and Economics and Göttingen Graduate School of Social Sciences (GGG)
    Contact: Timo Pietsch (Faculty of Law), Dorothea Konnings (Faculty of Business and Economics), Bettina Ross (GGG)
    Duration: 04/2022-02/2025
    Target group: PhD students and supervisors from the Faculties of Social Sciences
    Cooperation: Prof. Dr. Steffen Kühnel, Prof. Dr. Maria Pohn-Lauggas, Kristina Meier,
    Dr. Julia Lischewski, Areti-Kristin Bouras

    Building on the results of the analysis of PhD conditions (project ‘’Women are missing: PhD conditions and drop-outs as part of the leaky pipeline‘), the project aims to focus more on the supervisors’ perspective through a survey. The survey will cover working conditions, leadership style as well as challenges and starting points for measures to improve the working conditions for doctoral researchers and prevent abuse of power. Among other things, the gender-specific differences between doctoral candidates and supervisors as well as the different subject cultures will be taken into consideration.

    Responsible institution: Institute of Methods and Methodological Principles in the Social Sciences, Göttingen Graduate School of Social Sciences (GGG)
    Contact: Nicole Witte, Bettina Ross (GGG), Dirk Kamin (GAUSS), Inga Mölder (GFA), Sabine Heerwart (GSGG)
    Duration: 05/2024-02/2025
    Target group: Supervisors at the University of Göttingen (excluding UMG)
    Cooperation: GSGG; GAUSS und GFA

    The project ‘Creation of a (self-)learning tool on the topic of protection against sexualised violence including an accompanying concept for the use of this tool’ includes the creation of a bilingual (self-)learning tool with an integrated application concept that is tailored to the needs of the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology. The aim is to use the tool to raise awareness of the topic of sexualised violence and how to protect against it. As a pilot project, it serves the practical implementation of the ‘Guidelines for the Prevention of and Protection from Sexualised Violence’. The accompanying concept for the structural integration of the tool is being developed with a view to its introduction in and use by other faculties in order to achieve long-term, university-wide use of the tool.

    Responsible institution: Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology
    Contact: Dr. Simone Pfeiffer, Jana Pasch
    Duration: 03/2024-02/2025
    Target group: All members of the University of Göttingen

    The S:TEREO project aims to set up an advice centre for the sustainable implementation of gender-equal language in teaching materials in law studies. In addition to personal counselling for students and lecturers, the creation of guidelines for the gender-equal design of practice cases and other training material, the establishment of an online information portal and the design of training modules for lecturers are planned.

    Responsible insitution: Faculty of Law
    Contact: Prof. Dr. Sina Fontana, Ronja Westermeyer
    Duration: 10/2022-09/2024
    Target group: Students and lecturers of the Faculty of Law

The University of Göttingen aims to sustainably increase the representation of women at all qualification levels - especially in subjects in which they are still underrepresented. The projects of the Equality Innovation Fund make women visible as role models in their subject contexts, strengthen networks of female academics and provide information about subject-related career and research prospects.

    The project comprises the organisation and implementation of a conference lasting several days. The conference will kick off with keynote speeches given exclusively by women. In addition to discussing mathematical research topics, one focus of the conference is to make women in mathematics visible as role models, to discuss career conditions and obstacles for women in mathematics and to raise awareness of gender bias.

    Responsible institution: Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, Mathematical Institute
    Contact: Dr. Roberta Anna Iseppi
    Duration: 04/2024-09/2024
    Target group Young researchers in mathematics

    The aim of the project is to make international female academics in theology visible as role models and to facilitate networking in the form of a ‘human library’. As part of this objective, a total of 16 female speakers, most of whom are in the early qualification phase, will present their research and careers. Existing challenges in their studies and doctorates will be highlighted and personal hurdles discussed. The event closes with a networking meeting for all speakers and interested parties with the aim of initiating future collaborations.

    Responsible institution: Faculty of Theology
    Contact: Elena Romashko, Chevy Hiceta
    Duration: 01/2024-02/2025
    Target group: Young researchers in theology

The University of Göttingen aims to optimise study and working conditions with a focus on gender equality and diversity. The projects of the Equality Innovation Fund create gender- and discrimination-sensitive teaching and learning spaces for students and remove barriers to women's academic careers, in particular by breaking down traditional thought patterns and by raising awareness among managers for equal opportunity selection processes.

    The project ‘Diversitorium: A qualification programme on gender equality and diversity for tutors’ comprises the organisation and implementation of a course in the area of key competencies as a training offer for tutors on gender- and discrimination-sensitive teaching and learning spaces. The aim is to strengthen the relevance of the topics of gender and diversity, responsibility and (self-)reflection of power-based inequalities in university life and to establish them as an elementary part of the study and training structures in the Faculty of Humanities.

    Responsible institution: Faculty of Humanities
    Contact: Jana Pasch
    Duration: 04/2023-03/2024
    Target group: Student tutors

    The project focuses on the organisation and implementation of two workshops to raise awareness of the impostor phenomenon in the university and scientific environment. The aim is to strengthen the self-efficacy of the participants and to teach methods for breaking through stressful impostor thought patterns.

    Responsible institution: Faculty of Geoscience and Geography
    Contact: Dr. Johanna Kerch
    Duration: 04/2022-03/2023
    Target group: Female students and scientists, primarily from the Faculty of Geoscience and Geography

    The project comprises the implementation of two one-day unconscious bias training sessions with a focus on ‘gender equality’ to raise awareness and qualify people with management responsibility in the Faculty of Geosciences and Geography. The aim is to raise awareness of the negative effects of prejudices in everyday professional life and to present alternatives in order to create an appreciative attitude and a pleasant working environment for scientists.

    Responsible institution: Faculty of Geoscience and Geography
    Contact: Dr. Johanna Kerch
    Duration: 07/2021-09/2022
    Target group:Persons with managerial responsibility