RUB » Women Professors Forum » Strategies

Goals

GENDER BALANCE
Promote a gender equality and family affairs policy, thus helping to increase the RUB female faculty. A wider understanding of pregnancy and maternity rights and regulations in the workplace (RUB) for employer and employee shall be conveyed. Additionally, the WPF aims to support RUB in its quest to constantly improve day care (“family-friendly university ProKids”) and flexible childcare for university members (“Childcare services at RUB”).

with regard to


  • ACCESS:
    Ensure a gender balance in all academic fields available at RUB.

  • HIRING:
    Support transparent hiring procedures within the institutional structures of RUB: Foster external international hiring committees that promote an equal-diversity recruiting strategy. Offer a family-friendly environment, with day career opportunities and a dual-career strategy as part of the hiring process. Active recruiting, including special funds for the recruitment of female scientists, will be part of this strategy.

  • AWARDS:
    Nominate and promote outstanding female students/scientists for awards to increase the number of prize-winning female researchers at the RUB, thus making the contribution of female scientists more visible.


Strategies


  • SUPPORT:
    Foster female researchers’ scientific careers and develop their leadership skills by supporting undergrads, grads, PhDs, postdocs, junior professors with mentoring, training workshops, networking, etc. Listen to their needs, issues, and concerns.

  • COLLABORATION:
    Institutionalize the WPF in the organizational structure of the RUB; improve women membership in steering committees. Connect with existing (national and international) similar initiatives (ETH, Yale).

  • NETWORKING:
    Promote the excellent scientific research done by all RUB females in all faculties worldwide (at conferences, workshops, meetings, etc.). Also, regular (twice a semester) scientific lunches and/or meetings take place within the WPF, allowing exchange between our members. Participation is voluntary. This should be a place where younger, inexperienced colleagues can ask for advice and assistance.

  • CELEBRATE:
    As an international community, we would like to share our diversity, find solutions and even have fun! Also, we want to explore and promote environmental and cultural differences in all RUB’s scientific institutes.

  • BEST PRACTICE EXAMPLES:
    For example, in RESOLV a laboratory assistant service is financed to help pregnant women during pregnancy, maternity leave, and their re-entry into their scientific careers.

    WPF collaborates with other university institutions, e.g.
    RUB mentoring
    RUB equal opportunity office