Diversity
As a university, we practice diversity management in order to fulfill our legal mandate for science in research and teaching in the best possible way. Diversity management shapes and ensures equal opportunities and accessibility and is proactive anti-discrimination.
Self-report of TU Dortmund University on the re-audit "Vielfalt gestalten" by the "Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft", 2017, p. 2, Original in German.
TU Dortmund University supports socially sustainable developments with its diversity and equal opportunities management. Its activities to improve equal opportunities and promote a culture of diversity are wide-ranging, secured by reliable structures and systematically anchored in mainstreaming processes. For TU Dortmund University, diversity and disability mainstreaming means that relevant organizational units work in a diversity- and inclusion-sensitive manner. For example, accessibility is always taken into account in new buildings and in the IT infrastructure. Another established standard is the consideration of diversity aspects in the context of
- organizational and personnel development, e.g. in career advice or as content in further training,
- personnel selection in order to avoid bias in selection decisions,
- the accreditation of new degree programmes in order to develop course content and study organization with diversity aspects in mind from the outset,
- research proposal advice, so that research proposals directly incorporate equal opportunities and diversity aspects into their content and structures, and
- press and public relations work, so that diversity at TU Dortmund University becomes clear in written and visual form.
TU Dortmund University pays particular attention to ensuring that people of all genders with comparable qualifications are given equal opportunities and that the formation of opinions is not impaired by discrimination. To this end, it has set up a Central Advice Center for Protection Against Discrimination and Sexualized Violence. TU Dortmund University also attaches particular importance to the transparency of appointment procedures and ensures that compensation for disadvantages is implemented.
TU Dortmund University provides the best study and working conditions with family-friendliness: It is a family-friendly university as defined by the "Family in the University" charter, offers support for pregnant students, childcare, advice from the Family Service and dual career offers. TU Dortmund University offers various childcare facilities close to campus for the children of students and employees. TU Dortmund University has 27 places directly available in large day care centers. There are 8 places in the morning and 8 in the afternoon in short-term childcare. In addition, a total of 7 weeks of vacation care for children aged between 6 and 13 were offered in 2022. Three parent-child rooms can be used by anyone who wants to work, study or stay on campus with a child.
As part of the family service, there is the option of family counseling, which was used by 106 participants in 2022. There were also ten consultations on the topic of care. A total of 55 people took part in ten sessions of the supplementary parents' café.
Interactive Graphic. Source: Staff Unit Equal Opportunites, Family, and Diversity/TU Dortmund University
In the last two years, the possibility of an early first name change for trans* students was introduced, a network of queer* employees was founded and in 2023 there was a Diversity Month in May for the first time, which focuses on the topic of diversity with many activities. There is also a wide range of activities for and with LGBTTIAQ(+) people.