Gender equality checker launched

North Rhine-Westphalia has set up an online service that the state says will help universities achieve gender equality goals.

The service, launched on 6 March, will show universities how close they are to meeting targets set by the German government, and provide advice on how to promote gender equality. It will calculate how many male and female professors are needed in a given department to achieve the minimum equality standard, and suggest a suitable gender balance for committees and senior management.

North Rhine-Westphalia adopted a set of gender equality guidelines in October, many of which are connected to hiring a minimum number of women into senior academic positions. The targets will be reassessed and amended every three years.