Results

Recruiting

Most of the professors who were appointed or promoted at ETH Zurich within the last five years indicated that they were satisfied with how they were integrated into their department (78 points) and into the institution as a whole (76 points) (see figure 1). A large majority of participants (80 percent) stated that they were provided with the facilities and equipment agreed upon in their negotiations. Forty-five percent of the professors had thought about leaving ETH Zurich at some point in the past. For those who selected “other” as their sex, this figure was 72 percent.

Decisions and processes

The topic of decision-making and processes received very mixed ratings but on the whole ranged from slightly positive to positive. Survey participants rated their influence on important decisions within their department as good (77 points), while their ability to influence decisions on the institutional level received lower marks (54 points) (see figure 2). Those who selected “other” as their sex gave a very negative assessment of their ability to influence decisions on the institutional level (29 points).
A similar trend was observed with regard to the transparency and plausibility of key hiring decisions: here professors rated their influence on the departmental level more highly (78 points) than on the institutional level (59 points). The question of whether tasks outside of the research and teaching remit are distributed fairly among professors within the department received the lowest rating (55 points) in this category. 

Cooperation

Professors rated teamwork and cooperation within ETH Zurich highly, ranging from positive to very positive. Cooperation with colleagues (93 points) and interactions with students (86 points) are areas that seem to be working very well according to those surveyed (see figure 3). The working relationship with central administrative functions received a somewhat lower rating but one that was still rather positive (75 points). People who identified as “other” rated their cooperation with central administrative functions only as slightly positive (60 points).

Work-life balance

On questions of work-life balance, the majority of professors said that they can cope well with their workload at ETH Zurich (70 points). People who identified as “other” gave a slightly positive rating (54 points) to the workload question.
Professors had a rather critical view of how individual departments and the institution as a whole are improving the work-life balance situation. Here women (55 points) are less satisfied than men (62 points) (see figure 4). 

Working atmosphere

Male and female professors had different responses to questions about the working atmosphere. Over 90 percent of those surveyed confirmed that they feel respected as individuals within their departments. However, the rating of male professors (86 points) was slightly higher than that of female professors (78 points). Female respondents also gave much lower marks to equal treatment within their departments regarding age and sex (women: 70 and 71 points, respectively; men: 87 and 90 points, respectively) (see figure 5).
There were also clear differences between the answers of women and men when it came to assessing career progression and development opportunities. More than half of the female professors perceive opportunities for women to be worse or slightly worse. Twenty percent of the male professors also have this view. Thirteen percent of male respondents believe that women have better career opportunities than men at ETH Zurich.

Handling of complaints

Around 23 percent of female professors and 29 percent of those who identify as “other” indicated that they felt discriminated against at ETH Zurich within the previous two years (see figure 6). For male professors, this figure was much lower at five percent. When it comes to the appropriate handling of complaints, female professors have less confidence in the system at ETH Zurich than their male counterparts (48 points vs. 65 points). Women also rated the contact persons and specialist units for inappropriate behaviour and complaint processes lower than men (42 points compared to 61 points). Here rather low ratings were also given by people who identified as “other”, people who did not indicate their sex, and non-tenure track assistant professors.