Goethe University Frankfurt’s Equal Opportunities Office now comprises four working areas, with Inclusion joining the existing three – Equality, Family & Dual Career, Diversity Policies & Anti-Discrimination. To ensure equal representation of all areas and work more intersectional, the office also will mark this year’s Diversity Day by giving itself a new German name (formerly Gleichstellungsbüro; now Büro für Chancengerechtigkeit).
“The new name better reflects not only the different areas of work, but also the team’s intersectional work, going beyond the term ‘equality’, which historically stands primarily for gender equality,” Dr. Anja Wolde, who heads the Equal Opportunities Office, explains. She welcomes the new name, which signifies both innovation and future orientation. Wolde adds that unifying the various fields of work “will enable us to look at topics from different perspectives and create synergies in the work processes, which will hopefully make the work even more substantive and at the same time more productive”.
The importance of equal opportunities is outlined in Goethe University Frankfurt’s mission statement. Beyond counteracting discrimination, this understanding also encompasses creating an inclusive working, teaching, learning and research environment, and being a place that values diversity. Goethe University wants to recognize the different realities and lives of its university members, address needs and promote different potentials. Simply treating university members equally is not enough to transform the university into a place of equal opportunities, since no individual has the same starting point or conditions. That is why the university pursues a comprehensive approach aimed at structural and cultural change, and includes individual support offers. The Equal Opportunities Office is the central unit for implementing this work at Goethe University Frankfurt.
Further information is available online: www.equity.uni-frankfurt.de
