Women in science: Equality remains a challenge!

Women in science: Equality remains a challenge!

International Women's Day will be celebrated worldwide on March 8, 2025, a day that draws attention to the achievements and challenges of women. Progress is clearly noticeable at the University of Greifswald, but the challenges remain significant. According to a report from the University of Greifswald, 62 percent of students and 51 percent of doctoral candidates are women. Nevertheless, a different picture emerges in the professoriate: the proportion of women is almost 30 percent and is therefore in line with the national average, but falls short of the desired goal of parity.

Ruth Terodde, the university's central equal opportunities officer, highlights the efforts that have led to an 18 percent increase in the proportion of women in professorships over the last 12 years. However, these positive developments come against the backdrop of significant hurdles facing women in science. Balancing work and family remains a major challenge that needs to be overcome.

Support measures and mentoring programs

To support women in science, various funding measures and mentoring programs have been launched. These programs aim to prepare women for careers in science and place them in top positions in the long term. The 2030 Professor Program is a central component of this. It not only includes a re-entry program after parental leave, but is also intended to strengthen the commitment of universities to equality.

The female professor program promotes equality between women and men in German universities and was launched in 2008. So far, over 850 professorships have been funded, which helps combat the “leaky pipeline”. This describes the decline of women in science after their doctorate, as an analysis shows: While 46 percent of female doctoral students remain in the system, this proportion drops to 28 percent of female professors. This problem highlights the need for additional measures to promote women in top academic positions.

Public engagement and outlook

In order to properly celebrate International Women's Day, the University of Greifswald, in cooperation with the equal opportunities officers of the city and university medicine, is organizing a public reading evening entitled "Women reading from women" on March 11th at 6:00 p.m. in St. Spiritus. Such events are important to raise awareness of women's concerns and actively promote equality in society.

The federal government has also made extensive financial resources available to increase equality in science. For the current program phase until 2030, 320 million euros are planned to support projects that promote the balance between men and women in leadership positions. Universities that are particularly successful in implementing equality concepts can also be recognized as a “university with strong equality”.

Overall, these developments show that progress is being made in equality, but that there is still much work to be done to achieve true balance in all areas of science and beyond. A holistic approach across education, industry and society is essential to closing the gender gap.

For more information about the programs and initiatives, please visit University of Greifswald, the BMBF and academics.de.