Initial situation

Career development at the TUM Faculty of Medicine

Taking a look at the career development at the TUM Faculty of Medicine, a gap between men and women becomes apparent. Despite the fact that more women than men begin their studies, it is mainly men who climb the career ladder to professorship.

The comparison between 2013 and 2022 clearly shows that the situation has improved somewhat in recent years, yet there is still a need for action. Therefore, KeCK will continue to support and promote equal opportunities in science in a targeted manner.

Inequality between men and women is also reflected in the number of habilitations completed in each case: Between 2013 and 2022, significantly more men than women completed their habilitation every year.

Objectives and measures

Germany’s most female-friendly technical university

"We want to become the most female-friendly technical university in Germany." This is the ambitious goal set by Prof. Wolfgang A. Herrmann, President of the Technical University of Munich (TUM), and he has concluded separate Diversity target agreements with the departments in 2012 for a period of five years. In 2013, KeCK was created to implement the planned measures: the Coordination Office for Equal Opportunity and Career Planning. Since that time, the KeCK team has been committed to implementing the agreed measures in cooperation with the Gender Equality Officers, departmental representatives, Equal Opportunity Officers, the Staff Unit TUM Equal Opportunities and the Dean and the Vice Dean for Diversity & Talent Management of the Faculty of Medicine. As the goal of equal opportunities had not yet been achieved after five years, the Faculty and the Klinikum committed themselves to new target agreements 2019-2023.

TUM Gender Equality Plan

The TUM Gender Equality Plan is another measure of the TUM to support diversity and equal opportunities. The GEP for the TUM has been compiled under the direction of Prof. Dr. Claudia Peus, Senior Vice President for Talent Management and Diversity, in coordination with the TUM Gender Equality Officer and the TUM Equal Opportunity Officer. KeCK was also involved in its development. The Gender Equality Plan was published in December 2021 in German and English, see Link above.

The reason for this is that the European Commission is intensifying its efforts to promote gender equality. In this context, institutions seeking to participate in Horizon Europe, the European Union’s key funding program for research and innovation, and to act as hosts of an European Research Council (ERC) grant holder from 2022 are required to present a “Gender Equality Plan” (GEP) before signing the agreement.

Leading positions and also having a family

"It is very encouraging," says Prof. Janine Diehl-Schmid (Gender Equality Officer 2008-2016), "that the Faculty of Medicine has now taken concrete measures to support women on their way to senior positions. The survey of medical staff at the Klinikum rechts der Isar (Cramer et al. 2016 Küche, Kinder, Professur.pdf) has shown that there are clear differences in the career paths of women and men, and that the compatibility of career and family in medical careers is still a considerable challenge."