Equal Opportunities Officer - Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research

Equal Opportunities at UFZ

Diversity and Inclusion

„Equality means equal opportunities for women and men in all areas of society.“¹

The Equal Opportunities Officer has the mandate to promote equality between women and men at the UFZ and to identify and counteract existing and future discrimination based on gender and gender identity. read more…

She is involved in all personnel, organizational and social measures concerning the equality of women and men, the reconciliation of care work and the workplace, and protection against sexual harassment in the workplace. In this context, she also provides advice and support to individual employees.

The legal mandate of the Equal Opportunities Officer is to counteract discrimination against women in the workplace. At the same time, the legal situation is changing dynamically and gradually approaching reality, e.g. through increasing attention to gender diversity. The Equal Opportunities Officer supports the UFZ in the resulting adaptation processes. Despite the binary formulation of the legal basis, it is the claim to include the concerns and representation of non-binary and trans persons in the equal opportunities work as much as possible.

¹Third Equality Report of the Federal Government, p. 4

Legal and Institutional Basis

GEP - Action Plan Gender Equality

Agreement for the promotion of equal opportunities at the UFZ

General Equal Treatment Act (AGG)

Federal Act on Gender Equality (BGleiG)

Implementation Agreement (german) (AV-Glei) of the BGleiG for non-university research organisations by the Joint Science Conference (GWK)

Spotlight topic: Antifeminism

Anti-feminism means fighting or rejecting feminist causes and positions in a blanket, active and often organised manner. It thus legitimises discrimination against specific groups of people and is clearly anti-democratic. Anyone who would like to explore the topic further after the presentation by the Equal Opportunities Officer and her deputy can find material and concrete recommendations for action both inside and outside the professional context here.	Supplementary Material Supplemantary reader on antifeminism Slides on antifeminism (including recommondations for action) Further information Report cases of antifeminism to the "Meldestelle Antifeminismus" Help on finding arguments against antifeminism The dossier "Feminist voices connected" explores the threat of antifeminism from different perspectives with experts from around the world.

Election of the Equal Opportunities Officer 2024

This fall, the Equal Opportunities Officer and her deputy will be newly elected by all female employees. The current representative, Dr Ines Thronicker, will no longer be available for the coming election period. As this is an important position at the UFZ, we would like to inform you in advance and encourage you to consider standing for election. Further information Telegraph article (Intranet) Election website (Intranet)

Things to know about Gender Equality

	Guidelines & Action Plan GEP Guideline: gender sensitive language at UFZ (german) Guideline: gender inclusive form of address in e-mails Checklist: diversity sensitive recruitment Regulation regarding a family friendly meeting management Guidelines on respectful treatment of trans, non-binary, intersex and queer people GEP - Action Plan Gender Equality
	Material and information Gender Equality in Science Sexualized discrimination and violence Equal Pay Diversity Lectures Shortclips Gender and Covid-19 Interview with the Equal Opportunities Officer Things to know about equality Download: Tool for calculating your Academic Age information sheet: Databases for female scientists Feel free to send hints and suggestions to diversity.equality@ufz.de
	Equality: What can I do? What do equality and equal opportunities have to do with me and my behaviour? How do I create good conditions for everyone? Who is seen, who is not? How can I get involved? Concrete suggestions: Diversity and Equal Opportunities at the UFZ - What can I do? The Third Sex Option in the Civil Status Register: Consequences and Guidance for Everyday Work
	For UFZ-Employees in the Intranet Anonymous contact form Diversity Monitoring and Key Indicator Report Diversity Lectures - Lecture slides

To the Subject

DGB survey: Sexual harassment in the workplace

DGB, 2024

The survey aims to identify the forms, characteristics and indications of violence and (sexual) harassment in the workplace. Unfortunately the text of the survey is only available in German.

Sexualised harassment refers to actions, gestures, jokes and words of a sexual nature that are perceived as unpleasant and unwanted.

Link to the survey

Of Course! & Of Course² - Two Comics about inspiring female scientists

© 2021 Waves to Weather Audine Laurian's comics address the problem of gender-specific loss rates in scientific careers. Both female and male role models play an important role for pupils, students and young scientists.

Two comic books, called "Of course!" and "Of course²" present the personal careers of fifteen scientists. They have all experienced gender bias and unbalanced team compositions firsthand at home, at school, and during their training, as well as in their workplaces. They all made positive changes with courageous decisions and now lead satisfied and fulfilling lives as scientists and scholars. (https://www.wavestoweather.de)

Download OF COURSE! (2021)
Download Of course² (2022)

About the author