Equal Opportunities
At the BCDSS we believe that gender equality (for all genders and gender identities) and equal opportunity strategies are a key component of promoting diversity and achieving excellence in science, academia and research.
Equal distribution of appointments
The BCDSS actively aims to recruit a minimum of 50% female researchers and staff across organizational levels. To date, we have exceeded our own aims by achieving an overall percentage of 63,5% of female recruitment.
Mentoring & Training Program
In cooperation with the University of Bonn’s Equal Opportunity Office, the BCDSS offers mentoring and training within the MeTra program especially for female post-docs. To ensure that all BCDSS members have access to mentoring and training, the BCDSS offers consulting on how to identify a mentor. The BCDSS also offers trainings and seminars on leadership, recruitment training, supervision of theses, time management, etc. for our members.
Secure contracts for early career researchers
In light of ongoing debates on precarious work conditions in academic job positions, we at the BCDSS have decided to offer secure postdoctoral contracts until the end of the funding period to all early career researchers (i.e. up to 7-year contracts) and make 4-year contracts the standard duration for PhD candidate contracts.
Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the BCDSS Steering Committee decided on 30 June 2021 to extend PhD researcher’s contracts for up to 12 months upon application to the BCDSS Steering Committee. Through this measure we ensure the opportunity to successfully finish PhD projects that are interrupted or had to be changed altogether due to Covid-19.
The BCDSS Steering Committee also decided that the contracts of employees who take parental leave will be extended for the duration of the parental leave.
Equal Opportunities in Learning
Our MA programs not only create awareness and encourage reflections on the connections between (historical) strong asymmetrical dependencies and discrimination and social injustice through their contents, we also aim to reduce unequal access to them and to create equal opportunities among the student community by digitization and financial support.
We work towards a hybrid mode of teaching in order to also make our programs accessible for students with disabilities or those who are carers for children or family members.
Limited financial means can create inequality and discrimination when it comes to international students. In order to include students who cannot afford to move to Germany, we offer positions for student assistants and actively support applicants in finding funding for their studies in Germany. In addition, we also lend laptops to financially disadvantaged students to ensure they are able to fully engage in their MA studies.
