Equality between women and men

In accordance with the Thuringian Equal Opportunities Act, Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences contributes to the constitutionally guaranteed equal rights of women and men. The aim is to realise equal participation of women and men of all status groups at the university and to ensure equal development opportunities for women and men. The advancement of women is seen as an integral part of personnel development in order to eliminate structurally induced disadvantages for women and to further improve the working and study situation of women at the university. In particular, the aim is to increase the proportion of women through suitable organisational, personnel and training measures in those areas in which women are underrepresented. Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences is committed to making it easier for its employees to combine work and family life. The aforementioned objectives expressly apply equally to women and men.

Equal opportunities plan of the HSN

In accordance with Section 4 of the Thuringian Equal Opportunities Act (ThürGleichG) and Section 6 (1) sentence 2 of the Thuringian Higher Education Act (ThürHG), each department with at least 50 employees draws up an equal opportunities plan for six years with the early involvement of the Equal Opportunities Officer. It must be adjusted after three years based on the statistics of current developments.

The current Gender Equality Plan for the years 2023-2025 is based on the cut-off date 30 June 2023 and was approved by the University Assembly of Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences. According to Section 2 ThürGleichG, the actual equality of women and men in all areas of public life is to be promoted and ensured through appropriate measures.

Women and men shall be promoted in accordance with this Act in order to achieve equality.

The aim of the funding is in particular

• the creation of conditions that enable both genders to reconcile work and family life,
• the compensation of disadvantages that arise as a result of a gender-specific division of labour,
• increasing the proportion of women or men where they are underrepresented in individual areas, and
• the equal participation of women and men in bodies for which the state or the administrative authorities of the local authorities have appointment or delegation rights.

The equality plan includes, in particular, measures to promote equality between women and men, the compatibility of work and family life, including care and nursing, and to increase the proportion of women or men in areas in which they are underrepresented.

Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences has developed qualitative gender equality goals for a gender-equitable organisational and academic culture, which are set out in the Gender Equality Plan. HSN consistently anchors gender equality as a quality criterion in its guiding objectives and organisation. This raises awareness of implicit and explicit discrimination in order to strengthen the fairness and gender equality of existing structures.

The university also organises its promotion of young talent and personnel development in a gender-equitable manner in order to support young female academics on their academic career path and to keep the proportion of women stable across all academic qualification levels. This should also make it possible to reconcile science, studies and work with family responsibilities.

With the Gender Equality Plan, Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences is making a contribution to the constitutionally guaranteed equal rights of women and men. The aim is to realise equal participation of women and men of all status groups at the university and to ensure equal development opportunities for women and men. The advancement of women is seen as an integral part of personnel development in order to eliminate structurally induced disadvantages for women and to further improve the working and study situation of women at the university. In particular, the aim is to increase the proportion of women through suitable organisational, personnel and training measures in those areas in which women are underrepresented.

Diversity

The person responsible for diversity supports Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences in taking into account the diversity of its employees and students and works in coordination with the university's Family and Equal Opportunities Officer.
The consideration of diversity is about, among other things Aspects such as origin, gender, religion or ideology, disability, age, gender identity or sexual orientation.

As a prelude, a Diversity Action Plan was drawn up for Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences, which specifies goals and measures to take diversity into account as well as measures to prevent and eliminate disadvantages.
The relevant interest groups (e.g. StuRa, Equal Opportunities Officer, Representative for Severely Disabled Students, Inclusion Officer and Staff Council) are involved in the further development and updating of this plan. It is also necessary to develop measures to prevent and remove obstacles that have a negative impact on the participation of students and staff. The latter should, for example, draw attention to discrimination and disadvantages with the interest groups and/or counselling services (student services, general student counselling, counselling services of the Studierendenwerk, etc.) as soon as they become aware of them.

The university must take diversity categories into account both with regard to recognising the needs of employees and students and with regard to preventing and eliminating discrimination (ThürHG §5 para. 7 and 8). The task within the scope of the diversity mandate is therefore to be carried out within the framework of Anti-discrimination and abstention is located here. Responsibilities within the scope of this task arise primarily from the provisions of the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) and, in particular for the university sector, from the Thuringian Higher Education Act and the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.