Women's power at universities: Berlin sets new standards for equality!

Women's power at universities: Berlin sets new standards for equality!

The Berlin University Alliance has set itself the goal of sustainably increasing the proportion of women in professorships. This is happening as part of the ProFiL program, which will be officially launched on July 8, 2025 in the Senate Hall of the Humboldt University of Berlin. At this start there will be a discussion on the topic of “Reforming career paths and personnel structures in science”, with Prof. Dr. Julia von Blumenthal as well as experts such as Prof. Dr. Doris Segets and Dr. Roland Bloch will take part. Dorothea Jansen from the Technical University of Berlin will moderate the event. The aim of the event is to discuss the creation of permanent positions for scientists and the international attractiveness of job profiles.

The ProFiL program is a crucial component in supporting highly qualified female scientists on their way to professorships. The proportion of women at Humboldt University has increased continuously since 2008, from 20.5% to 39.8% in 2023, which underlines the success of the program. To further improve young talent support, the number of available places in the ProFiL program will be increased from 36 to 66, including a new English-speaking line to appeal to international female scientists.

The female professor program and its successes

In addition to the ProFiL program, the professorship program offers a comprehensive funding concept that has supported over 900 professorships since its introduction in 2008. The aim of the program is to increase the proportion of women in top scientific positions and thus counteract the so-called “leaky pipeline”, which describes the fact that women increasingly leave the scientific system during their academic careers. BMBF reports that the proportion of women in professorships is currently 29%, while the program is intended to strengthen women-friendly equality structures at universities.

Overall, the development of the last few years shows a positive trend. The proportion of women in professorships has increased from 16.2% in 2007 to 28% in 2022, demonstrating progress in equality. GESIS emphasizes that the CEWS university ranking, which is published every two years, serves as an additional tool for quality assurance of equality at universities and makes progress in this area transparent.

Future challenges and perspectives

The success of the programs is reflected not only in the increased proportion of women, but also in the assumed structural improvements at the universities. They provide lasting support for women's academic careers. The submission round for the 2030 Professor Program runs until August 31, 2025. Universities must create equality concepts in order to receive funding. In this phase, all state and state-recognized universities in Germany should take part in the funding measures.

In summary, it can be said that the Berlin University Alliance and the BMBF make an important contribution to gender equality in the German higher education system through their targeted programs and initiatives. These efforts are not only important for the academic landscape in Germany, but also provide significant impetus for international research contexts.