Is It Working? An Impact Evaluation of the German “Women Professors Program”

Abstract

The Women Professors Program, which was initiated in Germany in 2008, aims to increase the proportion of women professors and to promote structural change in favour of gender equality at higher education institutions (HEIs). It is one of the central gender equality policies in higher education in Germany. The present study evaluates the impact of the program by estimating its causal effects on the proportion of women professors. By adopting a quasi-experimental approach and using a unique dataset—a long term census of German HEIs—the study proves that the proportion of women professors increased more than would have been expected in the absence of the program. Although the evaluation includes preliminary estimates of mechanisms driving the described impacts, the integration of context factors and mechanisms into the assessment of the impact of gender equality policies remains a desideratum. The study shows that the program is working, and it contributes to redressing the lack of impact studies on gender equality in science and research.

Gendered and diversified? Leadership in global hospitality and tourism academia

“…Germany, Austria and Switzerland still display significant disparities regarding executive positions in hospitality and tourism, consistent with previous research on persisting gender inequalities in conservative academic structures (Kunadt et al, 2014;Löther, 2019). Ethnic and age diversity can be found in some lower levels of academic hierarchy, but not its highest echelons, as confirmed by other studies examining various academic disciplines.…”

“…Moreover, some countries exhibit more pronounced patterns of inequalities associated with diversity aspects than others, by staying closed to those who do not really fit into the ingrained structures, thus depriving the environment of original solutions to contemporary challenges. Germany, Austria and Switzerland still display significant disparities regarding executive positions in hospitality and tourism, consistent with previous research on persisting gender inequalities in conservative academic structures (Kunadt et al, 2014;Löther, 2019). Ethnic and age diversity can be found in some lower levels of academic hierarchy, but not its highest echelons, as confirmed by other studies examining various academic disciplines.…”

The state of academic careers in OECD countries

“…It is widely expected among academics and their employers that academics will work long hours and take on additional duties (Melin et al, 2018[42]). The culture of long working hours has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with further additional work at home established as a norm (Horta et al, 2022 [121]) with little resistance from academics (Sang et al, 2015[122]). Mean weekly working hours in many higher education systems included in Table 6 far exceed 40 hours.…”

Challenging the intuition: Is a same-gender supervisor beneficial for doctoral students?

“…The share of women among professors is relatively low compared to other European countries (European Commission 2021) and this continues to be raised as a pressing challenge on the political agenda (most recently e.g., Konsortium Bundesbericht Wissenschaftlicher Nachwuchs 2021). At the same time, Germany addresses this issue with policy measures and, which, in fact, do seem to contribute to recent improvements (Löther 2019).…”