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Diversity in Numbers at UFZ

What you can find on this page

How does the UFZ compare to other German institutions in terms of gender equality? Do all employees have the same career and advancement opportunities? Are all employees equally visible and represented in committees? And does the UFZ provide favourable conditions for combining care and work?

On these pages, the office of the Equal Opportunities Officer provides detailed and transparent information on the current status of equality, equal opportunities and discrimination at the UFZ.

Each area has several indicators with graphs, which you can view by clicking on the respective indicator on the intranet. Due to the sensitive nature of the data, these are only accessible to UFZ employees. You will find a summary on this page.

Areas and Indicators

Positioning and Perception of the UFZ

The UFZ is committed to promoting and living diversity and equal opportunities as a fundamental principle and strength of the centre, and thus to act as a role model. Reflection and feedback are necessary to continuously review the achievement of objectives and the effectiveness of measures. Rankings and indices that compare the efforts and successes of various research institutions in their work to promote equality provide guidance in this regard.

The UFZ's position has hardly changed compared to last year: Within the Helmholtz Association, the UFZ ranks in the middle in terms of its efforts and successes in promoting gender equality, and it lags behind compared to universities in Germany. The employment of people with severe disabilities continues to decline

Recruitment and Career Development

Personnel selection and career development are areas where inequalities are particularly evident. Characteristics such as gender, nationality or social background play a significant role in selection processes and are often the starting point for structural disadvantages, which are reflected in the following indicators. Criteria-based selection and assessment forms can minimise the influence of distorting factors and counteract discrimination.

Positively, women were not disadvantaged in the personnel selection process and that several management levels and pay groups have moved closer to the goal of parity, so that some of the cascade targets for 2025 can be achieved. The proportion of people with non-German citizenship has also continued to rise. Nevertheless, women continue to be structurally disadvantaged in terms of scientific career development, salary structure and permanent employment contracts.

Visibility and Participation

Despite equal performance, men and women are represented very differently as they climb the career ladder. There are various reasons for this. Some inequalities can be explained by the power of habit and the relevance of (lack of) role models. Improving gender relations therefore also means creating sustainable role models, recognising achievements, increasing visibility and enabling participation. The following indicators show the current status of equal opportunities in terms of visibility and participation at the UFZ.

Various indicators show an improvement in the participation of women, particularly in decision-making bodies, councils and advisory boards, as well as in personnel selection committees. The gender distribution among the winners of the UFZ prizes is more equal than in previous years. However, other indicators of equal visibility of women's achievements still show a significant imbalance and require particular attention.

Reconcilability of Care Work and Paid Work

The area reconcilability comprises indicators that are meaningful for the gendered distribution of care work and paid work.

Women continue to take on a disproportionate share of care work, which is reflected in the distribution of parental leave and part-time positions. Parental leave of more than one year is taken exclusively by women, and even fewer men have taken parental leave compared to the previous year.

Indicators and Figures (Intranet)

Part-time employment
Parental leave

Key Indicator Reports 2020-2023 (Intranet)

Message from the Executive Management

The current Key Indicator Report 2024 continues the UFZ's positive tradition of promoting equality and inclusion through transparent presentation.
The past few years have shown that improvements are not achieved in leaps and bounds but in small steps. We are, therefore, all the more pleased that some of these small steps were retaken in 2024. For example, some cascade targets were achieved, several management levels and pay groups have come closer to parity, and there are more women among the UFZ award winners than in previous years.
None of this should hide that there is room and a need for improvement in many areas. For example, women still perform most of the care work, which is reflected in the distribution of parental leave and part-time employment. The Key Indicator Report is valuable in identifying and taking further steps. 


The management

Prof. Dr. Katrin Böhning-Gaese and Dr. Sabine König

Acknowledgement

Preparing the Key Indicator Report 2024 would not have been possible without the dedicated support of numerous colleagues at the UFZ. Our special thanks go to the staff of the Human Resources Department (PACE/PACO), Controlling (ZENCO), Research Funding (FOR), and the Graduate School (HIGRADE), whose careful data collection and preparation significantly contributed to the quality of this report.