Inclusion for female PhD students

In order to further the inclusion of female PhD students, the Göttingen Graduate Schools for Social Sciences and Humanities, in cooperation with the Commissioner for students with disabilities or chronic diseases, have successfully applied for a pilot project at Göttingen University’s Equal Opportunities Innovation Funding. The scheduled activities are intended to gather, connect and exchange information on the needs of female PhD students with disabilities or chronic diseases. Furthermore, the project aims to identify both barriers, and beneficial conditions for successful PhD studies for this target group. And in addition, it wants to initiate networking and identify further potentials for inclusion. There are only few similar projects in Germany which focus on PhD students with disabilities or chronic diseases, but the focus on female PhD students seems to be truly novel, according to our inquiry.
This project is based at the „Fachkolleg Inklusion an Hochschulen – gendergerecht“ (‚Association for Inclusion in Higher Education – regarding gender equality‘) of the Hildegardis Verein e.V. The association aims to shape scientific research in a way that allows for an equal participation of academics with disabilities, and wants to strengthen the ideal of a campus that values inclusion and gender equality.
Within this project there are plans to develop and test various measures and activites in and at German universities until winter 2019. These measures are aimed at improving the situation of female students with disabilities and chronic diseases or care commitments, on an individual as well as structural level. Results will be presented on a national expert conference and discussed and evaluated by a professional audience. Furthermore, a final publication will sum up effects and results of the project.
Contact: Dr. Britta Korkowsky, ggg@uni-goettingen.de