Gender Week: valuable suggestions and appreciative exchange

The Gender Equality Office and the Equal Opportunities Officer of the University of Stuttgart look back on an eventful week of events. The goal was to look at equal opportunities and gender from different perspectives.

Gender Week in numbers

  • 16 events
  • more than 12 different topics
  • round 270 participants
  • 1.620 minutes of talk and discussion

Glossary Gender-Terms

Gender can be expressed in many ways. Do women have a bigger "mental load" (due to their roles)? Why is exhaustion a natural aspect of female reality? Are gender role models rigid social constructions? What if I face barriers in everyday life because of my gender or gender identity? And what if I don't feel affected by this issue, but want to show my solidarity to improve the situation for others who are affected by it?

A look back at Gender Week

Gender Week, which took place at the University of Stuttgart from November 7 to 11, 2022, explored the various aspects of gender, gender equality, and equal opportunities and made it clear how they affect all of us in our daily lives and workplaces.

“In its vision, the University of Stuttgart strives for a sustainable society and emphasizes the importance of diverse perspectives. With Gender Week, we wanted to create space for interested participants to explore these perspectives,” says Grazia Lamanna, Gender Equality Officer and organizer of the week of events. “Participants provided valuable input on how we can all work together to make the university an open and appreciative place for all of its members. One of the participants reported that it had been quite beneficial for him to shed light on feminism from a male perspective.”

Great interest as well as positive feedback and suggestions

The team of the Gender Equality Office and the Vice Rectorate for Diversity and Internationalization is extremely satisfied with the response of the participants. In particular, the great interest in the topics of gender equality and forms of discrimination as well as the lively participation motivate us to continue the dialog and work together towards an equal opportunity university. It shows how important it is to discuss these issues – even within the university and the workplace.

“…a start toward more togetherness between women and men.”

One of the participants

Looking at gender equality from the perspective of all genders – and especially from the perspective of men – led to new insights and opened up further options for action. At various events, participants expressed interest in more engagement on these issues. One participant commented: “Certain events should be mandatory for faculty or staff in positions of responsibility so that it’s not just people who are already dealing with the issue anyway.”

Gender Week addressed all university members and provided various impulses for more equal opportunities at the university and beyond. This indispensable exchange has been successfully initiated at many levels. Lamanna and her team are enthusiastic about the week of events: “We assembled a balanced and diverse program. In addition to online content, we held some face-to-face events – and both formats were well received. I’m sure there was something here for everyone.”

Gender equality and equal opportunities at the university

Are you interested in the topics of gender equality, diversity, and equal opportunities at the University of Stuttgart? Feel free to check out the websites of the different actors with the different offers. 

The Gender Equality Office and the Equal Opportunity Officer offer various services for all university employees. Contact the Gender Equality Office so that you can take advantage of these services.

Glossary Gender-Terms
What is behind terms like asexuality or diversity? The Gender Equality Office has compiled a glossary that explains gender terms in a simple and comprehensible way. If you are interested, the team of the Gender Equality Office will provide you with the glossary by e-mail upon request.

Contact

This image shows Grazia Lamanna

Grazia Lamanna

Dr.

Gender Equality Officer

 

uniqUS – Unit for Inclusive University Culture

Azenbergstraße 12, 70174 Stuttgart

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