Abstract
The Women Professors Program, which was initiated in Germany in 2008, aims to increase the proportion of women professors and to promote structural change in favour of gender equality at higher education institutions (HEIs). It is one of the central gender equality policies in higher education in Germany. The present study evaluates the impact of the program by estimating its causal effects on the proportion of women professors. By adopting a quasi-experimental approach and using a unique dataset—a long term census of German HEIs—the study proves that the proportion of women professors increased more than would have been expected in the absence of the program. Although the evaluation includes preliminary estimates of mechanisms driving the described impacts, the integration of context factors and mechanisms into the assessment of the impact of gender equality policies remains a desideratum. The study shows that the program is working, and it contributes to redressing the lack of impact studies on gender equality in science and research.
Highlights
As in many other countries, women are still underrepresented in leadership positions at higher education institutions (HEIs) in Germany
The Women Professors Program was initiated in Germany in 2008 with the aim of increasing the proportion of women professors and fostering structural change in favour of gender equality at HEIs (Zippel et al 2016)
By using long time series data on academic staff differentiated by individual HEIs, it was possible to carry out an impact evaluation of the German Women Professors Program employing a quasi-experimental research design
Summary
As in many other countries, women are still underrepresented in leadership positions at higher education institutions (HEIs) in Germany. The Women Professors Program was initiated in Germany in 2008 with the aim of increasing the proportion of women professors and fostering structural change in favour of gender equality at HEIs (Zippel et al 2016). One of the central gender equality policies in higher education in Germany, the program is financed jointly by the Federal Government and the Laender (federal states). An amount of 150 million euros was made available for the first and second phases of the program (2008–2012, 2013–2017). Funding was increased to 200 million euros for the third phase (2018–2022). The program combines structural changes—the implementation of a gender action plan—with financial incentives to appoint women to professorships. The first two program phases have been successfully evaluated (Löther and Glanz 2017; Zimmermann 2012)
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