Hands holding threads
Mario Irrmischer

Structural and Strategic Embedding

As an overarching policy, diversity is a strategic cross-sectional issue and a declared management task firmly anchored in the university's structure.

At the rectorate level, the Vice-Rector for Human Resources Managemen and Development is in particular responsible for the structural and strategic embedding. She cooperates closely with the Vice-Rector for Internationalization, the Equal Opportunities Office and rectorate staff unit Inclusion, Gender and Diversity Management (IGaD), which is responsible for diversity management at RWTH.

Development and Milestones

2007 With Mobilising People, a measure from Institutional Strategy I (Institutional Strategy I. RWTH 2020: Meeting Global Challenges. The Integrated Interdisciplinary University of Technology. Measure 3: Mobilising People - Introduction of a university-wide personnel and organizational development concept) of the Excellence Initiative, RWTH committed itself to a People Policy in which the special appreciation and promotion of diversity is defined as a contribution to the success of RWTH. The core of the measure is the establishment of the rector's staff office Integration Team - Human Resources, Gender and Diversity Management, IGaD (IGaD advises and supports all higher education institutions in the integration of gender and diversity perspectives. It accompanies the development or implementation of appropriate measures and thus makes an important contribution to a sustainable change in the university culture, in which the diversity of people is understood as potential and opportunity).

2008 RWTH's first female prorector begins her work in the newly created Prorectorate for Human Resources and Young Academics. The focus is on the recruitment and development of professors and other academic staff, taking into account professional excellence, leadership skills, internationality and equal opportunities.

2009 RWTH signs the Diversity Charter, to whose goals it remains committed to this day.
For the first time, RWTH passes the "audit familiengerechte hochschule". Successful re-audits take place in 2012, 2015 and 2018. In 2019, RWTH receives the certificate on a permanent basis, but goes through a so-called dialogue procedure every three years to ensure sustainable success. A successful evaluation takes place in 2022.

2010 The equal opportunities office initiates the alliance Equal Treatment and Nondiscrimination Round Table, which meets at least once each semester.

2012 RWTH builds on its successful diversity policy with Place to Be, a measure from Institutional Strategy II. (Institutional Strategy II. RWTH 2020: Meeting Global Challenges. The Integrated Interdisciplinary University of Technology. Measure 3: Place to Be - Supporting university staff in research and teaching to develop their full potential at the highest level. Place to Be included the (now completed) projects Diversity Funds to promote the awarding of doctoral positions to graduates with diverse backgrounds and re-entry positions to support a rapid re-entry for young scientists after parental leave)

2013 The first (internal) diversity concept of RWTH With diversity into the future aims to implement specific measures to ensure accessibility, educational equity, family equity, gender equity and internationalization. During its term until 2018, the concept withstood regular reflections upon and further developed.
RWTH continues to develop the Guideline for Conduct in Partnership at RWTH Aachen University (2001) and publishes the Guideline for Protection against Discrimination in Accordance with the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) at RWTH Aachen University. This creates a transparent complaints procedure and closes legal protection gaps for students.

2015 IGaD initiates forumDIVERSITY, a central exchange body for reflection and coordination of RWTH's diversity policy (IGaD and forumDIVERSITY jointly realign RWTH's diversity management: The development takes place from the knowledge of diversity to integration of diversity, from anti-discrimination and equal treatment to recognition and appreciation of diversity. The fields of action "opening of the university", "initiating (and later "continuation of") a cultural change", "fostering the individual gender- and diversity-competences, and "design of life-phase-oriented personnel policy" are introduced).

2016 Together with forumDIVERSITY, IGaD realizes the "Diversity Days" for the first time, which have since taken place every two years.

2017 The Senate adopts the Equality Action Plan 2017-2022 (fields of action: Cultural change (cross-sectional task), gender governance, gender monitoring, university as a place of work, equal treatment, and research & teaching) as well as the first staff development concept (gender & diversity are integrated as a cross-sectional task into the action fields of appointment policy, recruitment strategy, employment conditions, qualification concept, and internationalization, and are additionally anchored as a separate action field) of RWTH.

2018 RWTH, the University of Cologne, Cologne University of Technology, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH and the German Aerospace Center sign the Joint Guidelines on Equal Opportunities.

The task force inclusion, a committee of university experts that makes recommendations to the Senate and the Rectorate, begins its work. The goal is to develop RWTH more into an inclusive university.
In the course of the change in university management, a Vice-rectorate for Internationalization is established. With the new incumbent, there are now two female prorectors at RWTH. RWTH conducts an internal diversity audit as part of the family-friendly university audit (the process is accompanied by the long-standing auditor of the "audit familiengerechte hochschule").

2019 RWTH's application for funding as a university of excellence gains approval. In the measure Nurture Talents & Teams - Boost People, several funding measures (including the management of the task force inclusion, diversity consulting for the faculties, the central institutions and the central university administration, as well as the continuation of gender and diversity consulting for research applicants) in the area of diversity are established.

2020 RWTH publishes a statement against racism and discrimination. Discussions start in forumDIVERSITY concerning the creation of a new Diversity-strategy.

2021 The Senate adopts the Action Plan Inclusion 2021−2026, which aims to reduce barriers, gain perspectives and value diversity, as well as the Internationalization Strategy, which contributes to adding international dimensions to all facets of RWTH in order to make the university a place of inclusion.

RWTH becomes part of the university alliance ENHANCE (together with six other technical universities, RWTH Aachen founded the European Alliance "ENHANCE" at the end of 2020, pursuing the vision of a European university that, as an important part of European society, promotes a common identity, transcends national borders and strengthens innovation, inclusion, creativity and responsibility) and is responsible for the crosscutting tasks of gender and diversity within this framework.

2022 The RWTH sustainability report, which addresses the cross-sectional task of gender and diversity, transfer, internationalization and interculturality as well as family friendliness, accessibility, inclusion and educational equity in the chapter Society - Internationalization – Social Initiatives, is published digitally.

The Senate adopts on 08.12.2022 the Diversity-Strategy (2022−2027).