Measures at German federal and state level
This section provides a list of gender equality measures promoted or funded by the German federal government or individual federal states.
Nationwide measures
The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (abbreviation in German: BMBF) funds the initiative Gleichstellung und Vielfalt im Wissenschaftssystem (gender equality and diversity in the higher education system) in five areas.
| Women Professors Programme | The goal of the Women Professors Programme of the federal and state governments is to increase the number of female professors and implement specific measures to bolster gender equality structures at German universities. The "Professorinnenprogramm 2030", the fourth phase of the program, was launched in 2023 and will run for eight years until 2030 with a total funding volume of € 320 million. |
| Focus on innovative women - Innovative Frauen im Fokus (IFIF) | The aim of the funding guideline is to sustainably improve structures and framework conditions for the visibility of innovative women. |
| MissionSTEM - MissionMINT | The measure focuses on young women in the study and career choice phase and aims to activate their academic STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) potential. |
| Gender aspects in view - Geschlechteraspekte im Blick (GiB) | With this funding guideline, the BMBF is committed to promoting the structural anchoring and needs-oriented consideration of gender aspects in and for excellent research in all subject areas. |
| Girl's Day | An opportunity for girls to find out more about training paths and study opportunities in professions where women are under-represented (IT, trades, natural sciences and engineering). |
Measures in federal states
| Federal State | Title / Link | Brief description |
| Baden-Württemberg | scientifica | Central information portal on possibilities for improving career opportunities for women in research, in particular in STEM disciplines. |
| Baden-Württemberg | meccanica feminale | Spring academy for female students and women working in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and industrial engineering. |
| Baden-Württemberg | informatica feminale | Summer academy for female students and women interested in the research area of computer science and associated disciplines. |
| Baden-Württemberg | Exhibition (14 roll-up banners) on the topic of women, innovation and technology available for rental. | |
| Baden-Württemberg | Mathilde-Planck-Lehrauftragsprogramm (MPL) | The program funds teaching positions for women academics in Baden-Württemberg with the goal of increasing the number of female professors. |
| Baden-Württemberg | Auf dem Weg zur Professur (HAW/DHBW) (On the way to a professorship) | An information and qualification service for women academics interested in a professorship at a university of applied science, including information evenings, workshops and seminars on topics such as careers, appointment requirements, appointment procedures, doctorates and university teaching. |
| Baden-Württemberg | Datenbank Professorin (HAW/DHBW) (Database for women professors) | The database is aimed at female academics on the way to a professorship (applicants) and university members who would like to increase the proportion of female professors there. It is a supra-regional job exchange for professorships at universities of applied sciences. |
| Baden-Württemberg | Margarete von Wrangell program to promote young women university lecturers | The program gives junior women professors the opportunity to recruit a position as a research assistant. |
| Baden-Württemberg | MuT – Mentoring and Training | A mentoring and training program to provide women who are highly qualified early career researchers with support and funding alongside employment. |
| Baden-Württemberg | Women professors ESF Plus | The program aims to inspire more women to become professors at universities of applied sciences (HAW), universities of cooperative education (DHBW) and universities of art and music (KMH) and to support them on their specific career paths with mentoring and advisory services all the way to their appointments. |
| Bavaria | rein-in-die-hörsäle (Into the lecture halls!) | The qualification program supports qualified female university graduates who are seeking a career as a professor at a university of applied science. |
| Bavaria | BayernMentoring (Bavaria Mentoring) | Support program for girls and young women studying or working primarily in STEM fields. The qualification program supports qualified female university graduates who are seeking a career as a professor at a university of applied science. The mentoring program usually runs for one year. |
| Bavaria | Doctoral fellowships | The scholarship program offers three different scholarships to support women financially in their doctoral studies: a qualification scholarship as preparation for a doctorate as well as doctoral scholarships for women with professional experience and for graduates. |
| Bavaria | Bavarian Gender Equality Grant (BGF) | Since 2008, the Free State of Bavaria has been using state funds to support young female researchers with a doctorate in the form of scholarships for postdoctoral researchers, habilitation scholarships and scholarships for excellent young researchers (post habilitation) for a maximum period of 12 months. |
| Berlin | Berliner Chancengleichheits-Programm 2021 – 2026 (Berlin Equal Opportunities Program) | The program supports young female academics with various objectives: early successor appointments; counter-financing of early successor appointments; appointments to temporary W2 professorships; support for innovative cross-university projects; qualification and professionalization of female academics and artists for a professorship; stabilization of women‘s academic careers in the postdoctoral phase; implementation of gender aspects in research and teaching and the creation of gender-equitable structures and cultures. |
| Brandenburg | Qualitätsstandards Chancengleichheit und Familienorientierung an brandenburgischen Hochschulen (Quality standards for equal opportunites and family orientation at universities in Brandenburg) | Quality standards and recommendations for the implementation of five action areas have been developed as part of a collaborative approach by the Ministry for Science, Research and Culture, the Brandenburg Rectors’ Conference, the State Conference of Equal Opportunity Officers at Brandenburg Universities and the “Familie und Hochschule im Land Brandenburg” (family life and university in the State of Brandenburg) network. |
| Bremen | Orientierungshilfe für eine gendergerechte Sprache an den Hochschulen im Land Bremen (Orientation guide for gender-fair language at universities in the state of Bremen) | The Bremen State Conference of Women‘s Officers and the Rectors’ Conference recommend the use of the orientation guide for gender-fair language by all university members. The guide provides suggestions for a creative approach to formulation alternatives and for the development of new language routines in higher education. |
| Hamburg | Pro Exzellenzia Plus | The Hamburg Career Competence Center for Women supports highly qualified women researchers from the fields of STEM, art, music and architecture with the help of scholarships, workshops and lecture events. In addition, highly qualified migrant women are supported in acquiring strategies for a career in the research system. |
| Hesse | Hessen-Technikum | The Hessen-Technikum is a technical and scientific orientation program for female prospective students at the transition from school to university and is offered at all Hessian universities of applied sciences with STEM fields. |
| Hesse | Women’s Studies at Universities of Applied Science | Funding of research projects on the topic of “women's and gender studies” at universities of applied science. |
| Hesse | Women’s Studies at Universities | Funding of research projects on the topic of “dimensions of the category of gender – women’s and gender studies in Hessen” at universities. |
| Hesse | Mentoring Hessen | Joint project by Hessian universities to advance women’s career paths in research and industry in cooperation with companies and non-university research institutions. Four funding lines are available: “ProCareer.MINT”, “ProCareer.Doc”, “ProAcademia” and “ProProfessur”. |
| Hesse | Open Universities - Utilizing Potential, Preparing Transitions | Funding of model projects to develop and test new integrative and/or practice-oriented qualification and support services for international students, students from a migration background, socially disadvantaged students, women, students with disabilities and students/graduates at a critical point in their training, for example, potentially dropping out of their courses or before transitioning to employment through funding from the European Social Fund. |
| Lower Saxony | Niedersachsen-Technikum | The program aims to help young women gain study and work experience in a technical discipline. |
| Lower Saxony | Dialoginitiative Geschlechtergerechte Hochschulkultur (Dialogue initiative on gender-fair university culture) | Since 2014, the initiative has allowed close collaboration in equal opportunity policy by the Lower Saxony State University Conference, lakog niedersachsen (State Conference of Equal Opportunity Officers) and the Ministry of Science and Culture with the aim of removing structural and habitual barriers to achieve balanced participation and contribution of women and men in teaching, research and management. The key topics are: gender-fair staff development, gender-fair management culture and gender-fair participation culture. |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | State program for equal opportunity universities | The aim of the program is to support the work of the central equal opportunities officers at the universities in terms of content and structure (FF-Hochschule). The FF-Med programme aims to provide structural and systematic support for decentralized gender equality work in the medical faculties in North Rhine-Westphalia and to support young female researchers on their career path with the help of scholarships. |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | Gender report on gender (in)equality at universities in North Rhine-Westphalia | The report is published every three years and presents a summary of various analyses on developments at universities, equal opportunity practices and one focal topic in each issue. It provides an up-to-date overview of gender (in)equality at universities in North-Rhine Westphalia from different perspectives. |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | Handout on the gender equality quota in appointment procedures | The Ministry of Culture and Science provides a guide on the gender equality quota in appointment procedures. |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | Database on gender equality projects | The portal of the Women‘s and Gender Studies Network NRW provides a systematic overview of gender equality policy projects at universities in North-Rhine Westphalia. |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | Rita Süssmuth Research Award | With the Rita Süssmuth Research Award, the state of NRW recognizes and supports researchers from various disciplines whose gender-related work has made a significant contribution to the understanding of the respective subject area or social contexts. |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | Joint declaration on the gender pay gap | The joint declaration regulates a structured and comprehensive monitoring process. For example, universities commit to putting rules and processes for awarding performance-related pay in writing and publishing them. |
| Rhineland-Palatinate | Ada Lovelace project | Support for girls and young women in the form of mentoring, information and workshops with the goal of encouraging them to opt for courses of study and careers in scientific and technical fields. |
| Rhineland-Palatinate | Mary Somerville lectureship program at universities of applied sciences | Funding for the allocation of teaching positions at universities of applied science. |
| Thuringia | Rowena Morse mentoring program | The mentoring program is aimed at young female researchers and young female artists at universities and supports female doctoral candidates in the final phase of their doctorate and postdocs in planning their individual career paths over a period of 12 months. |
Funding number: 01FP1901
