CEWS is the national hub for the realization of gender equality in academia. As part of GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, we create the evidence-base for both higher education policy and gender equality policy. We also support social science research in the thematic field. CEWS thus promotes the dialogue between researchers, policy makers, and equality professionals.
CEWS‘ unique selling point is the coherent interweaving of research (third-party funded projects | CEWS publications), services and consultancy. We conduct research ourselves and support researchers, particularly in gender studies and higher education research (data and information | search tools). Based on academic evidence and practical experience, we offer consulting for various actors, like policy makers, committees in science as well as practitioners in the field of gender equality, anti-discrimination & diversity. We are active at the national and international level.
Our work acknowledges gender diversity. Our goal is to contribute to making academia non-discriminatory, gender-sensitive and respectful. In our research and services, we increasingly link gender intersectionally with other dimensions of inequality. In doing so, we contribute to dismantling power relations in academia and counteracting social inequalities.
CEWS pursues three focal points in its work, which complement each other:
Gender equality policies and measures
One focus of our work is analyzing the quality and impact of gender equality policies and measures at the macro and meso level. At both the national and European level, CEWS examines how gender equality politics contribute to more balanced/equal gender relations in academia. Current topics include the monitoring of gender equality plans in research-intensive organizations in Europe (INSPIRE), the quality assurance of gender equality measures (StaRQ), resistance to gender equality policies (GEECCO) and the relationship between gender equality and diversity policies in practice.
Gender relations in academia
One of our main activities is the investigation of existing gender inequalities in academia and research from an intersectional perspective. Current topics include the assessment and effects of gender-based violence in academia (UniSAFE), gender-specific aspects of the working and organizational climate (KIT-Survey), experiences of gendered discrimination in academia and research, gender-specific effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic in academia and international mobility of women researchers (AvH-Potenzial study).
Gender monitoring
Besides providing data we explain methods and approaches of gender monitoring. We display the reflection and further developments of the different approaches for practitioners in gender equality fields. Every second year, we publish the ranking of higher education institutions by gender aspects (in German). CEWS also displays the progress of gender equality in academic careers in retrospective life course graphs.
Within GESIS, CEWS belongs to the scientific department Data and Research on Society (DRS), and its field of activity is international. Both German and EU projects are carried out independently and together with other institutions. A list of current and completed third-party funded projects can be found here.
Download the latest CEWS flyer (198 kB)
