Equal Opportunities at our institute
Female scientists in leading positions are essential to overcome gender stereotypes. A major focus of our gender equality plan is therefore to successfully hire female scientists, especially in leading roles.
However, a major problem is that because there are fewer women in our research field to begin with, there are correspondingly also a relatively small number of women in the pool of applicants for advanced positions. The higher the position, the fewer suitable female candidates there are, and the more they are courted internationally.
Nevertheless, we have formulated clear and ambitious objectives to ensure that the number of female scientists at the institute increases at all levels, from BoGy interns through PhD students up through Directors. To achieve this goal, we realize that it is not only important to attract suitable candidates, but that – in addition to the scientific excellence of our institute – we also need to foster a gender-friendly climate and a culture of mutual respect and inclusion, so that we retain our female scientists.
We aim to achieve this goal by implementing structural changes that further improve our gender-friendly environment and that ensure that gender initiatives are systematically pursued. We propose a broad spectrum of measures that range from overcoming existing differences in bonus payments to initiatives that focus on eliminating micro-aggressions and unconscious bias against women and other minorities.
Finally, it is important to note that the institute culture we seek to create and the term "equal opportunities" do not cover solely gender topics. Many discussions about the GEP also brought up comments and ideas about the broader topic of diversity, particularly with regard to race, country of origin, and language.
The first Gender Equality Plan (GEP) for our institute covers the years 2021, 2022 and 2023. It received a gold medal by a jury of the Max Planck Society. Actually we are working on the next generation of our GEP which will cover the years 2024, 2025 and 2026.
Contact Stuttgart
Dr. Ksenia Keplinger (kkeplinger@is.mpg.de), 0711-689 1951
Monika Kotz (kotz@is.mpg.de), 0711-689 1951
Contact Tübingen
Claudia Däfler (claudia.daefler@tuebingen.mpg.de), 0178-7313394
Carolin Lewis (carolin.lewis@tuebingen.mpg.de), 07071-601 1729