About CEWS

We are the national hub for the realization of gender equality in academia and research in Germany. As part of the department Data and Research on Society of GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, we generate empirical evidence to inform higher education policy and gender equality policy. Additionally, we support social science research in this thematic field. For this purpose, we stimulate the dialogue between research, policy making, and practitioner communities.

Our work follows an integrative approach connecting research (third-party funded projects | CEWS publications), services (data and information) and consultancy. We conduct own research and provide support to researchers, particularly in gender studies and higher education research (data and information | search tools). Drawing upon a foundation of academic evidence and practical experience, we offer consulting services to a diverse range of stakeholders, including policy makers, science policy committees, as well as practitioners specialized in gender equality, anti-discrimination, or diversity. Our activities extend to both the national and international levels.

Our work is characterized by a commitment to gender diversity. Our overarching goal is to contribute to the transformation of academia and research into a non-discriminatory, gender-sensitive, and respectful environment. In our research, we integrate intersectional perspectives, and in our services we link gender intersectionally with further dimensions of inequality, wherever data is available and appropriate. In doing so, we contribute to dismantling power relations in academia and counteracting social inequalities.

The focal points of our work are:

Gender equality policies and measures

One of our main areas of work is analyzing the quality and impact of gender equality policies and measures at the macro and meso levels. At both the national and European levels, we examine how gender equality politics contribute to more balanced/equal gender relations in academia. Current topics include the following: the monitoring of gender equality plans in research-performing organizations in Europe (INSPIRE), the quality assurance of gender equality measures (StaRQ); resistance to gender equality policies (GEECCO); alternative steering tools (evaluation experimentation clause); and the relationship between gender equality and diversity policies in practice.

Gender relations in academia

A central tenet of our work entails the rigorous investigation of prevailing gender inequalities in academia and research (SIGIS) and gender-specific aspects of the working and organizational climate (KIT-Survey). We are also analyzing the potential of gender research methods and theories for research in higher education (GendAReview). Current topics include the assessment and effects of gender-based violence in academia (UniSAFE), and international mobility of women researchers (AvH-Potenzial study).

Gender monitoring

In addition to providing data, mostly in an aggregated form, we explain methods and approaches of gender monitoring. We display the reflection and further developments of the different approaches for practitioners in the domain of gender equality. We established two instruments for monitoring, the ranking of higher education institutions by gender equality aspects (only in German, published every two years) and the retrospective academic career paths by gender.