The new edition of the CEWS ranking reflects the successful gender equality work at the University of Würzburg. JMU has now achieved top ratings in a number of areas.
The gender equality work at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) is once again bearing fruit, as the latest edition of the CEWS ranking according to gender equality aspects shows. With a ranking in group 4 out of a total of 12, JMU is one of the top Bavarian universities in terms of equality.
The CEWS ranking - the acronym stands for the "Competence Centre for Women in Science and Research" - has provided information on the performance of German universities in terms of gender equality every two years since 2003 on the basis of current data from the Federal Statistical Office. To this end, it uses six individual indicators, each of which provides information on the proportion of women or its development at a university for different qualification levels of the academic career (from degree programme to professorship). The aim is to "present gender equality successes and fields of action at universities in a nationwide comparison", as the CEWS explains in its report.
The Most Important Results of the JMU
In the recently published edition of the ranking, the University of Würzburg achieved top scores in four out of six areas: In "Doctorates", "Postdocs", "Increase in full-time academic staff compared to 2018" and "Increase in the proportion of women among professors compared to 2018", it lands in the top group in each case.
For example, of the total of 1,544 doctorates at JMU in the period from 2021 to 2023, almost 48.4 per cent were submitted by women; the national average in this area is 46 per cent. And in terms of increasing the proportion of women among professors, JMU has improved from 20.2 per cent in 2018 to 25.4 per cent two years later. This percentage has since risen further: as of 1 December 2024, 141 of JMU's 483 professorships were held by women. This corresponds to a share of 29.2 per cent.
Measures are Having an Effect
"This shows that the measures set out in our gender equality concept for 2021 to 2025 are having the desired effect," says Professor Helga Stopper, commenting on the good results. Stopper has been JMU's University Women's Representative since 1 October 2023 and was recently confirmed in the position by the Senate for a further two years. "We are very pleased that we have succeeded in significantly increasing the proportion of female professors at our university in recent years," said Stopper. This is an important step towards more equal opportunities and diversity in science.
