The University of Greifswald's leadership understands gender equality as a crosscutting topic, which is highly relevant for all areas of university life. The Central Gender Equality Officer is a member of senior administration and advises the university leadership in all staff-related, organisational and social matters. The Rector, the Pro-Rector for Gender Equality and the Central Gender Equality Officer exchange regularly on planned and current topics related to gender equality. The Central Gender Equality Officer and the faculty representatives are also supported by the Senate's Gender Equality Committee, which convenes once a month. The Central Gender Equality Officer is also a member of all university bodies with the rights to speak and propose motions.

During his/her period of office, the Central Gender Equality Officer is released 100% from his/her work tasks, as stipulated in § 88(4) Sentence 1 Landeshochschulgesetz - LHG (State Higher Education Act). Furthermore, the Gender Equality Officer is awarded a part-time (50%) position for an assistant. The assistant is expected to have successfully completed a university degree at master’s level or higher.

In order to improve the compatibility of family and work, the University of Greifswald has established a Family Service, which belongs to the organisational unit headed by the Central Gender Equality Officer. A permanent part-time position (75%) is provided for the Head of the Family Service and paid according to academic pay group E9. Furthermore, three childcare workers on 450-euro jobs provide childcare for children from members of staff.

The Central Gender Equality Officer receives funding for student assistants (approx. 150 hours/month) and annual material costs of € 5,000, as well as offices in the University’s Main Building and technical equipment. In addition, and if required, further financial means are regularly provided for student assistants or material costs.

The Central Gender Equality Officer is supported in the faculties by faculty representatives. These have not been released from their work tasks, but have access to other kinds of measures to ease the burden, e.g. reduction in the number of teaching hours, contract extensions pursuant to the WissZeitVG or funds for student or graduate assistants.

The Human Resources Department regularly (biannually) collects data on the proportion of female professors at the faculties and the University. The collection of this data monitors the development of the proportion of female professors. This data is presented to the Academic Senate and made public and accessible to all members of the university community on the university website.

The cascade model, which has now been introduced, must make further significant paramenters relevant to gender equality accessible and traceable, these include data on students; doctorates; habilitations; postdocs; W1, W2 and W3 professorships, as well as limited-term and permanent part-time or full-time positions. The corresponding statistics are made available by 1 July every year.

In accordance with Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’s Gender Equality Act, the Rectorate is responsible for realising the stipulations of the Act. As a result, the Rectorate convenes once a year with the Gender Equality Officer to evaluate the collected data and define corresponding measures.

The University increases awareness of the topic at various levels:

1. Training courses provided by the Central Gender Equality Officer for persons involved in areas related to gender equality, including the HR Department and the Staff Council
   
   a. on professorial appointment and other recruitment procedures that comply with gender-equality guidelines;
   
   b. on advisory expertise for topics related to gender issues;
   
   c. on the implementation of the Gender Equality Act and the General Act on Equal Treatment (AGG);
   
   d. on dealing with sexual discrimination and violence.
   
    
2. Training courses for the university leadership
   
   a. on the implementation of the Gender Equality Act Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
   
    
3. Training courses for all members of the university community
   
   a. on the use of the University’s guidelines for gender-inclusive language and
   
   b. in the form of workshops on diversity in teaching.

According to a decision passed by the Senate on 18 May 2021, compulsory classes and events (including seminars and sessions of university bodies) must take place at family-friendly times, i.e. not after 4.00 p.m.

Members of the unversity community taking part in urgent university events, or conferences may make use of free childcare provided by Family Service’s childcare workers at the Familienwohnung (Family Apartment). Furthermore, the Family Service offers holiday clubs for children of members of the unversity community during teaching periods that coincide with school holidays.

University Sport has consolidated its family-oriented offers and reserves places for members of the university community with children.

Guidelines are available for managerial staff and members of staff when holding staff appraisals during which the topics of holiday, part-time employment and working from home regulations or special burdens due to family or caring responsibilities might be discussed.

Furthermore, the University is considering how to compensate the reduction of academics’ productivity due to family responsibilities during the coronavirus pandemic.

In the target agreements drawn up with the State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the University commits itself to an increase in the proportion of female professors; the cascade model provides the basis for related efforts.

According to the University’s Professorial Appointment Guidelines or the Standing Orders of the Senate, the University’s professorial appointment committees and senate committees should have an equal number of male and female members. In accordance with the University’s Basic Regulations, the members of the university community are obliged to ensure an equal number of female and male candidates are included in the lists for Senate elections.

In order to prevent multiple burdens, the University has introduced a programme to compensate female academics’ involvement in university bodies. This grants female academics 120 hours per year for student or graduate assistants.

All professorial appointment procedures are overseen by the Central Gender Equality Officer or the faculty representatives. In addition, the gender equality officers (Central Gender Equality Officer and faculty representatives) must be involved comprehensively in all recruitment procedures from early on.

Female candidates who are equally suited for a job shall be treated with preference in areas in which women are underrepresented.

Funds are available to both newly appointed and established female professors for an extensive coaching and continuing professional development programme. This programme is organised by the Central Gender Equality Officer in cooperation with the Professorial Appointments Office and focuses on e.g. managerial skills, conflict management, dealing with media and personal branding, as well as strategic planning.

The University of Greifswald has co-financed the project KarriereWegeMentoring since 2011. With the goal of supporting junior professors, postdocs, doctoral candidates, female graduates interested in doing a doctorate, and alumnae, this project provides mentoring programmes with tailor-made offers for furthering the careers of female academics.

Every 18 months, the University grants the Käthe Kluth Fellowship to an excellent female academic in her postdoc phase, providing funds to cover staff and material costs for a period of three years. The aim of the fellowship is to successfully acquire a third-party funded project, e.g. from the DFG or BMBF, or receive a call for a professorship.

The Interdisciplinary Centre for Gender Studies (IZfG) is a cross-faculty and interdisciplinary research institution at the University of Greifswald. The goal of IZfG is to fasten and promote the emphasis on gender studies in the University of Greifswald’s teaching and research.

The IZfG provides classes as part of the General Studies and Optional Studies offers and every semester publishes an annotated course timetable with further classes in the field of gender studies on offer at the University of Greifswald. The IZfG organises academic conferences, research colloquia and study days on topics related to gender studies, supports publications and exhibitions related to research in the fields of women’s and gender studies and is home to an extensive collection of literature on interdisciplinary women’s and gender studies research.

The annual Gender Prize, awarded by the Rectorate and Gender Equality Officer, draws attention to and recognises outstanding academic dissertations and theses, which focus in particular on the gender perspective.

The University of Greifswald’s University Didactics Team provides a continuing professional development course on the necessity and realisation of gender sensitisation in university teaching and learning, which is aimed at members of teaching staff who would like to develop how their classes are taught.

The appointment of a W2 professor in the field of gender studies at the Department of British and North American Studies will further consolidate the interdisciplinary gender studies research in the University of Greifswald’s teaching and research. This is Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’s first permanent professorship in the field of gender studies.

With its Anti-Discrimination Guidelines, the University of Greifswald established a comprehensive set of rules in 2016 (renewed in 2020) to prohibit any kind of discrimination. There are separate sections, in particular, on sexual descrimination, harassment and violence. These guidelines explicitly cover all of the University’s member groups, including students, which were formerly not protected as a member group by the AGG. The guidelines stipulate that a task force must be created for investigating and sanctioning such incidents.

Furthermore, in a ruling passed by the Senate on 20 May 2020, the University declared its disapproval of any kind of discrimination, including any such activity on the internet and in particular social media.