Berlin Equal Opportunities Programme: 6 more years

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28.04.2021
Berlin Equal Opportunities Programme: 6 more years

Brain City Berlin

It is considered to be one of the most important instruments of Berlin's higher education equality policy: the “Berliner Chancengleichheitsprogramm” (Berlin Programme for the Promotion of Equal Opportunities for Women in Research and Teaching, BCP). It has now been extended for a further six years.

The “Berliner Chancengleichheitsprogramm” (Berlin Programme for the Promotion of Equal Opportunities for Women in Research and Teaching, BCP) has been in existence since 2001. It has now been extended for a further six years. Michael Müller, the Governing Mayor of Berlin and Senator for Higher Education and Research, and Dilek Kalayci, Senator for Health, Care and Gender Equality, adopted a corresponding proposal on 27th April.

This means the BCP continues to provide targeted support to the universities in the Brain City Berlin in the coming years, with a funding volume of around 3.8 million Euros per year. It is also meant to help sustainably increase the level of women in research and teaching.

Berlin already occupies a leading position in the nationwide equality ranking of universities. One third of the professorships in Berlin are staffed by female scientists. And in the case of new appointments to professorships, the proportion of women was 46 percent in 2019.

"The new appointments of recent years show that Berlin is increasingly becoming the capital of women scientists," said Michael Müller. "We are on the right track, but far from the goal. Until we can talk about equal participation of women at all levels in research and teaching, until all visible and invisible barriers are removed, much remains to be done. The continuation and further development of the BCP makes an important and indispensable contribution to this."

In the funding period 2021 to 2026, the Senate relies on proven funding instruments

Around EUR 1.5 million will be made available annually for:

Early succession appointments of women to W 2 and W 3 professorships
Temporary W 2 posts in the field of Gender Research and in subjects with a serious under-representation of female professors
Cross-university innovative projects

Universities can also choose from a wide range of instruments in which to participate for funding. These include temporary W 2 professorships, junior professorships or guest professorships, qualification positions as well as innovative projects and mentoring measures.

The framework conditions of the programme have been further developed for the funding period 2021 to 2026, taking into account current developments in higher education policy and findings from gender equality work. The measures are to be more closely linked to the requirements of Berlin science for good employment conditions and sustainable personnel development. At the same time, new incentives for equality measures are to be created.

With the support of the program, important impulses could be set in the past, emphasized Dilek Kalayci. "This process needs to be further shaped," the senator said. "Gender studies findings are of immense societal importance in advancing equal opportunities for women; not only in the field of science." (vdo)