Pro Diversity

"We want to promote diversity in research teams and do so in the sense of quality in science," says Dr. Kathrin van Riesen. The Equal Opportunities Officer and her team not only want to get women into research, but also keep them there. "We have to consider that potential is lost if we don't focus on diversity in academic personnel development," she says. In the current university ranking according to gender equality aspects by the Center of Excellence Women and Science (CEWS), Leuphana University of Lüneburg is in the top group in the field of academic qualification of women. "In the case of junior professorships, the appointment rate for female scientists is generally not less than 50 percent," says Kathrin van Riesen. If you look at the number of female students in subjects in which women are underrepresented in a nationwide comparison, Leuphana also finds itself in the top group. The CEWS ranking is based on data from the Federal Statistical Office.

The Equal Opportunities Office offers various programmes aimed at female academics in the qualification phase, such as the one-and-a-half-year mentoring programmes ProViae and ProScience: ProViae is aimed at those who are considering a career within or outside academia, and ProScience at those who are specifically preparing to enter a professorship. "We evaluated the programme a few years ago and could clearly see the successes in the relevant career steps, such as taking on a substitute professorship, the step abroad or to a renowned university, as well as the call to a junior professorship or full professorship," explains Kathrin van Riesen. Since 2016, the Mentoring Team has offered the Competence Days for female academics in the qualification phase. The programme to promote the internationalisation of female academics is new. It is intended to consider the increasing importance of international research and publication activities for the academic careers of women aiming for professorships.