The universities affiliated under UA Ruhr provide best opportunities to academics for individual career development. For the successful implementation of equal opportunities strategies, the UA Ruhr universities have been repeatedly awarded in the context of the DFG’s Research-Oriented Standards on Gender Equality and the Women Professor Program implemented by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Visible proof of a successful equal opportunities policy is the percentage of women academics in all areas of research and teaching, which has been on an upward trajectory at UA Ruhr over the last ten years and has risen to approx. 38%, as well as the percentage of women professors, which has seen the same dynamic growth and currently amounts to approx. 25%.

Equal opportunities at UA Ruhr cover a broad spectrum, apply to all stages of the academic career, and are protected by reliable structures. Together, the UA Ruhr universities have broken new ground: with its mentoring³ program module that has been running for over a decade, the Research Academy Ruhr has become the first personnel development program for women researchers in Germany’s academic landscape under joint responsibility; it is now complemented by the Dual Career Network Ruhr.

Daycare centers, short-term and holiday care, as well as parent service offices support families no matter what their circumstances. Gender Studies established at UA Ruhr offer a broad academic foundation for nurturing equal opportunities and reflecting over social structures and processes with regard to gender aspects.