Fifth TOTAL E-Quality award bestowed at ceremony held on Westend Campus
Goethe University Frankfurt received its fifth TOTAL E-QUALITY award, and as a result also was bestowed with the association’s sustainability prize. It is one of 60 organizations from all over Germany that are being honored for their commitment to equal opportunities in the workplace. For the first time, the award ceremony was held at Goethe University, accompanied by a relevant lecture program.
“Goethe University’s application outlines a convincing equal opportunities strategy that perfectly meets the TOTAL E-QUALITY standards in our various fields of action,” the jury’s statement read, placing particular emphasis on the “innovative and organization-specific measures” of career support: the “RMU Weeks for Equal Opportunities”, the “Kurswechsel” career fair and the recently founded network for female scientists with several years of research experience and newly appointed female professors. With the Cornelia Goethe Center for Gender Studies, Goethe University Frankfurt has its own center for women’s and gender studies, which conducts intersectional and interdisciplinary research and develops corresponding teaching content and formats.
Held at different locations annually, this year’s award ceremony took place at Goethe University Frankfurt. Having been honored for the fifth time in a row, Goethe University also received the association’s sustainability award. “We are delighted to receive this award and to have our ongoing commitment recognized. It is truly an incentive to see our projects and initiatives set impulses for the entire scientific community,” said Prof. Sabine Andresen, Goethe University Vice President Equal Opportunities, Career Development & Advancement, Diversity and Gender Equality.
“The jury rightly highlighted the intersectional approach of equal opportunities work at Goethe University,” said Dr. Katrin Springsgut, Deputy Head of the Office for Equal Opportunities. The ELLVIS project has proven particularly popular: It aims to counteract structural discrimination and disadvantage, particularly in studies and teaching, and to establish sustainable structures and measures against discrimination. It is within this framework that the university’s faculties are provided with tools to strengthen gender and diversity skills within the respective faculties. The training and advisory services are in high demand, Springsgut said, pointing also to the university’s 10-point paper raising awareness of gender and diversity in research. By working on equal opportunities issues within the network of Rhine-Main Universities (RMU), innovative approaches can be disseminated more quickly and efficiently, she added.
A total of 60 awards were presented this year, eleven of them for the first time. “We would like to thank all award winners for their commitment,” said Dr. Ulla Weber, chairwoman of TOTAL E-QUALITY’s executive board. “Each constitutes an outstanding example of an equal opportunities HR policy geared towards current and future challenges. Their successful application serves as testimony to the fact that equal opportunities and diversity are an integral part of their organizational culture. They present themselves as attractive employers in the competition for committed, qualified specialists. At the same time, scientific institutions also highlight equal opportunities as part of their excellence.”
The presentations accompanying the award ceremony focused on the topic of “top sharing”, a type of work in which two people share a management position. A strong driver for implementing this work model, according to the TOTAL E-QUALITY association, is the individual desire for a qualified job with a simultaneous reduction in working hours. There is an added value beyond that, however, emphasized Ulla Weber: “Top sharing also opens up opportunities from an organizational perspective. Two people promise a variety of perspectives, twice the amount of energy and a wider range of qualifications.” The opportunities, risks and challenges of this management model were discussed under the heading “Top sharing – shared leadership, lived opportunities”.
The TOTAL E-QUALITY award is granted for three years at a time by the TOTAL E-QUALITY association, whose founding members include the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. Application is open for organizations from business, science and the public sector as well as associations with at least 15 employees. An independent jury examines the application documents on behalf of the association and decides on the award. The award is renewed if a later application proves that the path to equal opportunities is sustainable and that further progress has been made.
TOTAL E-QUALITY Deutschland e.V. has handed out more than 1,000 awards since 1997. Fifth-time award recipients also receive the sustainability award.
Further information on the award and Goethe University’s Equal Opportunities Office.
