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06/12/2019 | Porträts und Geschichten

"Equality means more than just gender"

Women's representatives and equal opportunity work have existed at the University of Kassel for 30 years.

Image: Mense
Dr. Sylke Ernst, Women's and Equal Opportunities Officer

Women have been allowed to vote in Germany for 100 years, and they have been allowed to study, habilitate and become professors for almost as long. But neither in politics nor in science has equality been achieved after 100 years, despite numerous and diverse efforts in all areas of society for over 50 years. 30 years ago - on April 1, 1989 - the first women's representative was appointed by the president of the Gesamthochschule Kassel. This happened even before the Hessian Equal Rights Act came into force in the mid-1990s and made women's representatives mandatory for universities. Female students and employees from the academic mid-level staff in particular had become involved at the reform university. They had

for feminist seminars, for the participation of female lecturers in teaching, for professorships with a focus on women's studies and, last but not least, for the institutionalization of gender equality work and women's representatives. The staying power of all the actors has paid off; today, equality work is an integral and self-evident part of the university, equality work is supported by numerous women's and equality officers and equality actors from the departments, and the Women's and Equal Opportunity Office of the University of Kassel continues to develop equality strategies and offers a differentiated range of advice and support.

The history of women and gender equality work at the Gesamthochschule and today's University of Kassel was reconstructed in a research project led by Prof. Dr. Mechthild Bereswill. To this end, Sabine Stange evaluated documents from the archives of the University of Kassel in Marburg and interviewed contemporary witnesses. The results of this research work have now been published in the publication "30 Years of Women's Representative - Equality Work at the Comprehensive University/University of Kassel", which the Women's and Equal Opportunity Office will present at a public anniversary event on June 25, 2019 at 6 p.m. in the Gießhaus.

"We are not at the end yet"

"It's an incredible development. I really think a lot has changed for women in higher education. There are now so many women, students, scientists, professors, who are so great and so self-confident and so highly qualified. [...] Our generation was still fighting for women in higher education. Today, that is a matter of course, they are a clearly perceivable part of the university and science and there they have their unmistakable place. With them, the university and science have also changed. But we are not at the end yet." This is how Prof. Dr.Neusel summarizes the development in retrospect in the publication. As vice president, Ms. Neusel was instrumental in founding the first interdisciplinary group focusing on women's studies at a Hessian university in 1987, the Interdisciplinary Working Group on Women's and Gender Studies, as well as in establishing the first women's research professorship.

The work in the Women's and Gender Equality Office has changed over the years, as the anniversary publication also makes clear. In the beginning, the focus was on the advancement of women. And many topics are still on the agenda, such as the issue of safety, sexual harassment or the compatibility of work or study with family responsibilities. Self-defense courses for women have been part of the University of Kassel's continuing education program for 30 years. But much has changed: The former "Office of the Women's Representative" is now called the "Women's and Equal Opportunity Office" and is active in the work areas of gender equality, family and diversity. The services offered by the Family Service are increasingly also aimed at men, and in recent years, diversity has increasingly been taken into account. Because, as former Vice President Prof. Dr. Claudia Brinker von der Heyde puts it in conversation, "Equality means more than just gender."

The reconstructed history of equality work makes it clear that there were many hurdles in implementing these structures. And that goals that were believed to be secure are repeatedly called into question; for example, by the current anti-feminist debates in academia and in the social public sphere. This, too, is made clear in the publication.

Driving a cultural change

Constructive discussions, broad alliances and the courage to act will continue to be needed to drive a cultural change and ensure that all members of the University of Kassel can freely develop their potential in a gender-equal and discrimination-free university.

 

Project Equality Consulting

As part of a research cooperation, female scientists have analyzed gender equality work at the interface of science and administration at the University of Kassel in recent months. The results will be published at the end of the year. With the help of qualitative methods of social research, the project "Equality Consulting" primarily examines the following questions:

  • What does equality mean in different subject and research areas at the University of Kassel?
  • What subject-specific needs and starting points exist with regard to equality in different subjects and departments?
  • What do the interviewed women's and gender equality officers in the departments assess as supporting or hindering gender equality?
  • How can the wishes and ideas of the interviewed persons be transferred into an advisory concept?

The project is a research cooperation between the Department of Sociology of Social Differentiation and Socioculture headed by Prof. Dr. Mechthild Bereswill and the central Women's and Equal Opportunity Office of the University headed by Dr. Sylke Ernst. Research assistants of the project are Salome Raczek and Dr. Marie-Theres Modes. It started as of October 2017; funding was provided by the Professorinnenprogramm II. The researchers developed a research design with two components and addressed different groups: A study was conducted with qualitative, guided interviews with professors from all departments. In addition, a two-phase questionnaire study using the Delphi method was directed at the decentralized women's and equal opportunity officers. In the coming months, a multimedia presentation of the project results is planned, among others in cooperation with Joel Baumann, Rector of the School of Art and Professor for New Media, and graduates. By the end of the summer semester, a brochure with results and perspectives for the further development of equal opportunities work at the University of Kassel will also be produced.

 

By Sebastian Mense

This article was published in Publik 02/2019. Click here for the full issue.