Background
As an international university, Constructor University has a strong interest in promoting diversity in order for the university to reflect the wide range of cultural, national, and religious origins of its students – it is important that our students see themselves reflected in our employees. Secondly, as an accredited university in Germany, subject to German law, the university is obliged to develop a plan to promote gender equality and diversity in the institution. Lastly, as a progressive and forward-looking employer, the university wishes to promote advancement for historically disadvantaged individuals. This Gender Equality and Diversity Plan provides a concrete framework for advancing these ambitions.
For many years, the university has maintained an Equality, Diversity, & Inclusion (EQ) Committee that has guided the institution and supported its HR department on these topics. Together, the EQ Committee and the HR department engaged representatives of all stakeholders at the university (leadership, faculty, staff and students) in developing this plan.
Six strategic drivers have been identified to improve gender parity and equal treatment, and enhance diversity, for each of which targets or ambitions, coupled to priority actions have been developed:
- Systematized post establishment to avoid gender pay gaps
- Gender representation in faculty, staff, students and decision & representative bodies
- Gender equality in faculty hiring procedures
- Gender equality in faculty career progression
- Discrimination and training
- International representation in faculty, staff, students and decision & representative bodies
The gender equality and diversity plan presented herewith is complemented by a more detailed action plan, which is reviewed and adjusted annually, to take into account possible changes in the operating environment.
Strategic drivers
Gender pay gaps
In any organization the absence of a transparent and systematic post establishment with corresponding job profiles, grading and associated salary structure enhances the likelihood of bias in remuneration levels; gender pay gaps are a well-known manifestation of this. To enable objective comparison of rates of pay as a necessary condition to eliminate gender-based or other forms of bias in remuneration practices, Constructor University will develop and implement a job grading system. Objective factors such as level of authority and responsibility, extent of risk to the business, length of relevant job experience, years at Constructor University, and formal and nonformal qualifications inform the grading of positions, and on this basis relevant adjustments will be made to reduce the gender pay gap below 2.5% within each employment category. Regular salary statistics will be created to monitor the development.
Gender representation
Within its available means and the constraints of the pool from which changes must be made in order to improve gender and diversity parity, Constructor University strives to:
- achieve equal gender representation within decision-making and representative bodies by aligning as necessary the relevant rules, procedures and practices within the ambit of the respective bodies;
- increase the percentage of non-male faculty by 10% (overall and within each of the three schools) by applying active recruitment including gender-neutral job advertisement and active searches for applicants to ensure a balanced funnel throughout the selection process, and by enhancing the attractiveness of a post at Constructor University for female candidates (e.g., family friendliness);
- increase the percentage of the under-represented gender of staff to a balanced level but at least by 10% with a specific focus on areas of extreme under-representation of both non-male and non-female staff, e.g., among research staff and the complement of heads of administrative departments, respectively) through active recruitment and by enhancing the attractiveness of a post at Constructor University for the under-represented gender per category; and
- increase the percentage of non-male students by at least 10% in areas of particular underrepresentation and to 50% overall, for example, by expanding existing STEM activities and/or offering more scholarships for non-male students in such areas.
Gender equality in faculty hiring procedures
Within its available means and the prevailing market for non-male recruits, Constructor University strives to increase the percentage of hired non-male candidates for faculty positions to 50% in new hirings. This objective will be pursued by applying active recruitment and targeted advertisement, encouraging more internal applications from non-male, early-stage researchers, and by inviting equal numbers of men and women/diverse to interviews. Moreover, the legal possibility of announcing faculty positions open only to non-male applicants for an initial 6 months will be explored.
Gender equality in faculty career progression
To investigate existing promotion gender bias, two indicators comparing different genders were developed: likelihood to get promoted (percentage of approved promotion applications) and time to get promoted (years to promotion). Currently there are insufficient data to establish the extent of possible bias in terms of these indicators. Therefore, the promotion review process will be monitored within the next five years and corresponding data will be collected. Moreover, non-male faculty will be encouraged to apply for promotion and take part in existing training for research grant applications. Finally, transparent rules of procedure governing promotion will be introduced (e.g., to include an observer from the EQ Committee).
Discrimination and training
Within its available means Constructor University strives to:
- reduce the percentage of students perceiving discrimination below 5%, for example by making existing intercultural and anti-discrimination training mandatory; and
- increase the number of equality trainings for Bachelor and Master students to one per year, and for all other community members to one every five years.
International representation
Within its available means Constructor University strives to:
- increase international representation within decision-making and representative bodies to a balanced level but at least to a third by encouraging the representative bodies to introduce rules and procedures which ensure that these percentages are reached;
- increase the percentage of international faculty to a balanced level but at least by 10% (overall and within each of the three schools) while ensuring diversity in the national origins of faculty, by applying active recruitment and by enhancing the attractiveness for international candidates (e.g., reallocation support, German courses);
- increase the percentage of international heads of administrative departments to a balanced level but at least by 10% by applying active recruitment and by enhancing the attractiveness for international candidates (e.g., reallocation support, German courses); and
- maintain the percentage of international students over 80% through relevant recruitment and marketing strategies.
Monitoring
The data for all indicators will be collected and analyzed once a year (at the beginning of the 4th quarter). The progress made towards achieving the set targets will be assessed and the agreed actions will be adjusted accordingly
Executive Board
Constructor University