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Gender Action Plan

In its Gender Action Plan, ETH Zurich specifies in a binding manner how it aims to achieve a gender balance and who is responsible for the implementation.

In spring 2014 the Executive Board adopted a Download Gender Action Plan and gave instructions for its implementation. ETH Zurich openly defines its position on equal opportunities for women and men in this action plan. At the same time, the action plan contains the key measures with which ETH plans to anchor a gender balance in the institution and in the in day-to-day routine in the long term. Clear responsibilities are part of this.

The implementation of the Gender Action Plan has been evaluated in 2020 for the fourth time at ETH Zurich. 

Four Areas of Action

The measures listed in the Gender Action Plan continue ETH Zurich’s previous activities towards more equal opportunities and supplement them with new ones. They break down across four areas of action:

Careers and Career Development in the Academic Area

Career development (action area 1) is about career building and mentoring programmes as well as information and networking events for professors, postdocs, doctoral students and students. Further measures relate to motivating pupils to take up studies in natural sciences and technology, excellence grant programmes for women, exchanging experiences with ETH graduates and equal opportunities in application procedures and when filling ETH-wide committees and management positions.

For further information check out our Homepage section about career development and kids & MINT. Additionally, the Office of Faculty Affairs at ETH published a gender strategy.

Integration of Gender-Specific Aspects in Research and Teaching

As regards the rolling out of gender aspects in research and teaching (action area 2), the GAP specifies various measures that start with gender-specific interests:

  • the focus in teaching is on developing teaching and examination methods which are equally good for both women and men, and enriching courses or curricula with gender-specific aspects,
  • in research, this involves taking into account a gender criterion for research contents to achieve more innovation and a better research quality,
  • gender criteria are also taken into account in department evaluations, and awareness for the significance of gender differences is raised among ETH employees.

“If ETH Zurich takes gender-specific differences in teaching, research and knowledge transfer more strongly into account, it will manage to attract more women and base research results on a broader foundation,” says Renate Schubert, Associate Vice President Equal Opportunities.

Gender-Specific Aspects in Research

Gender-Specific Aspects in Teaching

Facilitation of Work/Life Balance

With a view to balancing family and career (action area 3), the Executive Board has also decided to provide additional funding for child care in day nurseries to supplement and support families from autumn 2014. This funding will in the future enable ETH employees to bring in line the costs for babies under the age of 18 months with the costs for children older than 18 months. Furthermore, the day nursery bottleneck at the Hönggerberg site will be eased.

“A sufficient number of good-quality day nursery places and affordable child care to supplement and support families is also part of promoting women in science and improving the balance between family, career and studies,” says Lino Guzzella, President of ETH Zurich.

For further information check out our Homepage sections about reconciliation and the ETH family portal.

Prevention and Combat of Sexual Harassment and Discrimination

ETH Zurich has a strict zero-tolerance policy of any form of sexual harassment or discrimination on the basis of gender (action area 4). If such problems become known, ETH takes an active and resolved approach. Contact centres for ETH employees are the Office of Equal Opportunities, the ombudspersons, the Human Resources department or the Legal department. The Compliance Guide provides information on the corresponding codes of conduct.

For further information about respectful conduct check out our dedicated website.

Have you already been a victim of sexual harassement or discrimination? The internal and external advice and conciliation services for all ETH members can provide advice and support if you witness, or are personally affected by, inappropriate behaviour.

Code of Conduct of the Informatics Department (german only).

ETH Zurich wants to use the GAP to increase the proportion of women on all levels of the academic career. Furthermore, learning and working conditions for all students and employees that allow reconciling studies, work and family are to be created.

Realisation of the Gender Action Plan

The implementation of the GAP has progressed further. There is a regular evaluation and reporting for the ETH Board. The latest reporting was handed in in spring 2024.

In March 2020, the Office for Equal Opportunities and Diversity at ETH Zurich asked the 16 Departments to list their (new) measures to implement the GAP. 

Since summer 2018, the implementation of the GAP in the departments has further progressed. Many measures will continue to be implemented in a decentralised manner and tailored to the needs of the various departments. For the period of 2018 until 2020, it is notable that most departments focused their efforts on career development for women and on supporting girls (direct professorial appointments, mentoring, initiatives for school-aged girls) along with founding/supporting female associations and gender and diversity groups. Only few departmental measures focused on the work/study/family balance or on sexual harassment. Some departments increasingly tackled issues of discrimination and stereotypes and offered training courses on dealing with stereotypes.

You will find further information on the respective measures in the Download report (PDF, 720 KB).

In March 2018, the Office for Equal Opportunities at ETH Zurich asked the 16 Departments for a listing of their new measures to implement the GAP. Since spring 2016, the implementation of the GAP in the departments has further progressed. More decentral measures than before have been put into effect. These measures are customised to the individual needs of the different departments. Over all, the number of active departments and of measures taken has increased compared with 2016. The differences in the level of departmental activities, that had been recorded already in 2016, have rather increased than decreased.

It is notable that, in 2018, in the majority of the departments we find associations of (primarily) female students, doctoral students and postdocs, so-called «Female Associations». In many cases these associations receive financial support from their respective department. Since the evaluation in 2016, more departments have established contact points and contact persons for counselling in cases of discrimination or sexual harassment.
You will find further information on the respective measures in the Download report (PDF, 2 MB).
 

Between February and April 2016, Equal has conducted interviews on experiences with the Gender Action Plan and implementation activities with heads of the 16 departments of ETH Zurich (usually, the department head and coordinator were present). Furthermore, numerous administrative units and university organizations (PEKO, AVETH, VSETH, Alumni) were interviewed.

Overall, dialogue partners have expressed positive opinions on the Gender Action Plan and pointed out that its existence has significantly increased awareness on the importance of the topic throughout ETH. Individual departments have implemented and pursued measures, some very innovative, to different extents and in different amounts. More detailed information on respective measures can be found in the current Download report (PDF, 144 KB) (German only) and the ETH News.

Implementation within the Departments and the Administrative Division

In Summer of 2014, all 16 departments of ETH Zurich submitted either a report or a relatively detailed strategy on the implementation of the Gender Action Plan (GAP). Many departments presented various and in some cases very innovative measures in their reports and some of the topic areas even exceeded those in the GAP. The administration units “Educational Development and Technology“ (LET), “Student Services“ (StS), the Scientific coordination and the Career Center submitted their reports on the GAP. Plans for the year of 2015 complemented those reports in autumn of 2014.

In the detailed Download report on the realisation of the GAP (PDF, 96 KB), several promising strategies to be put in place by the departments and the administration are presented arranged according to the fields of action in the GAP. We direct attention to the D-BAUG which stands out due to its active and professional approach to the implementation of the GAP within the department. 

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