Dr. Annette Schavan
Federal Minister of Education and Research
The skills and talents of the people in our country are the key to answering the great questions of our time. Without equal opportunities, we will not be able to maintain our country’s international competitiveness or ensure its future viability. Industry, politics, science and research simply cannot afford to do without the ideas and skills of women.
The German science and technology sector is already suffering from a shortage of skilled labour. That is why we want to persuade well-qualified young men and women to pursue a career in Germany on a long-term basis. But in order to ensure that women too become more interested in MINT subjects, we need to initiate changes in the working culture of companies and science and research institutions.
Various policies are in place to encourage these changes: equal opportunities are a quality criterion of the Initiative for Excellence, the Joint Initiative for Research and Innovation, and the Higher Education Pact 2020. The Programme for Women Professors, which was jointly launched by the Federal Government and the Länder, only supports universities that have outstanding equal opportunities strategies.
The Total E-Quality Award gives industry and science incentives to promote equal opportunities and the conditions for balancing a career and family life. In this way, Total E-Quality e.V. makes an important contribution to making the German labour market more attractive to highly qualified specialists.