Kerstin Melzer Amsterdam,

Kerstin Melzer Amsterdam, 28.03.2017
Between gender equality, family support and recruiting: 10 years Dual Career Support Kerstin Melzer Amsterdam,

Dual Career Support in Konstanz
© left: S. Hammer/123rf.com; right: Universität Konstanz Dual Career Seminar, Amsterdam

Universität Konstanz young : founded in 1966 as a reform university small : students (BA & MA) approx. 200 professors academic staff and professional services 3 big faculties (natural sciences, humanities and social sciences with 13 departments) happy: promoting equality of men and women since 1990 health promotion since 2005 family-friendly university since 2006 excellent top level research since 2007 diversity audit since 2016 internationalization history and culture strong interdisciplinary approach and exchange top position among the best 10 universities in the „Times Higher Education Ranking“ for univerisities under 50 years obligatory by the law – but as paper is patient, you can do gender equality passively or actively and we decided to take the progressive path partnerships with universities worldwide: more than 250 cooperations (mainly in Europe), around 500 students participate in the ERASMUS program each year (about the same amount is coming to Konstanz), staff mobility of researchers and professional services Dual Career Seminar, Amsterdam

Impressions of the campus lean back and enjoy the slide-show Dual Career Seminar, Amsterdam

Dual Career Seminar, Amsterdam
© Universität Konstanz/R. Metzger bird‘s view Dual Career Seminar, Amsterdam

Vernetzungsworkshop Dortmund
© Universität Konstanz/University Sports Sports off campus: snow shoeing in the nearby Alps Vernetzungsworkshop Dortmund

Vernetzungsworkshop Dortmund
© Universität Konstanz/S. Greitemeier Leisure time atmosphere in the courtyard Vernetzungsworkshop Dortmund

How it all started Attention for situation of dual career couples rised in the middle of the 2000 years 2 scenarios Second moving (female) partners stranded in Konstanz and couldn‘t continue their career paths Appointed professors preferred the Tue|Wed|Thu-model and commuted to the family’s place Solution to minimize the losses: establishing a dual career service in 2007 Gender equality: promoting career paths of women and equal partnerships Family support: enabling couples to live and work in the same town Their alternative was to commute between Konstanz and the family‘s place; as a consequence they would stay Tuesday till Thursday at the university and the rest of the week with the family. On first sight, the second option sound reasonable but has quite negative effects on all stake-holders: The professors were forced to do all the university tasks in only three than five days (e.g. teaching, advising students and research member groups, taking part in committees, organizing administrative tasks) The students, doctoral or postdoctoral researchers, secretaries, administration were under the pressure to “catch” the professor during these three intensive days; often couldn’t get the answers they wanted so processes would be postponed and prolonged And the wifes at the home had to lead a single-mom life during the absence of the husbands resp. fathers So you can imagine that this situation was far away from being good. It became clear that the situation had changed and that women either wouldn’t move so easily with their husbands as they did the decades before. And if they move, this means a high risk for their career paths. One of the first dual career service, probably the 1st serious taken dual career service with a full position in Germany. In terms of gender equality = promoting careers of women and in terms of family support = enabling couples to life and to work together at one place, the University of Konstanz started its dual career service 2007. Establishment: funds of the International Lake Constance University (network of 30 universities around the lake in Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and the Principality of Liechtenstein) and the Ministry for Research of Baden- Württemberg Dual Career Seminar, Amsterdam

Target groups More than 300 accompanied couples Group Strategy behind Newly appointed professors Recruiting excellent researchers Female postdocs Promotion of women in academia Young researchers with kids Family support Members of professional services in key positions Staff development Dual Career Seminar, Amsterdam

Structure of the dual career support Office for Equal Opportunity and Family Support 20 hours/week for information, advise and counselling 20 hours/month support of a student assistant Close cooperation with other in-house services Welcome Center (relocation and language courses) Family-friendly university (childcare, schools) Research support (grant proposal writing) Academic staff development (advise, coaching, trainings) Embedded in the Office for… Dual Career Seminar, Amsterdam

Actions on 3 levels Individual Support Networking Dual Career Policy individual - structural Dual Career Seminar, Amsterdam

Individual Support for the partners Information and advise on Finding job posts and potential employers Application standards and process Interview practice Contract negotiations Counseling on Profile of competences Career development Reconciliation of work and family Hands-on help CV update Contacts to HR executives Transfer of civil servants In single cases: funding for temporary positions © University of Konstanz Job posts: job portals, job fairs, associations Application process: self-marketing Contract negotiation: how do I find out, if the salary is okay, how can I agree by contract flexible working conditions (like home office, flex-time) Dual Career Seminar, Amsterdam

Networking to raise the job opportunities of the partners Network “Promoting Dual Careers” 7 universities (of applied sciences) in the region of Lake Constance (Switzerland and Germany) Collapse after funding ran out Since 2011 Network 2careers 12 partners from universities (of applied sciences), companies and public administration Bilateral cooperation between University of Konstanz and the Municipality of Konstanz Dual career partners are directly invited to the job interviews © gajus/123rf.com week alone, strong together Funded by the International Lake Constance University and the Ministry for Research Baden-Württemberg Goal: sensitizing for the needs of dual career couples with the perspective on gender equality by establishing contact points at each university to advise the dual career partners in finding job opportunities and to lead the dialogue with decision makers What had happened: At 3 universities of applied sciences the dual career topic was too specific and the rectorate not really open for family support and not at all for gender meassures 1 university didn’t want to want to connect their dual career approach with gender equality 1 university found out the the need for dual career support is very low because they recruit mainly people from the region At the end: only 2 universities continued with dual career support (Konstanz) and for the university of applied sciences in Konstanz this project gave an important impulse to start a family audit. 2careers: practical network without political goals idea to increase job opportunities for dual career partners by sending the CVs to fitting network members who evaluate the partners’ profiles benevolently Dual Career Seminar, Amsterdam

Networking with dual career experts Activities of the Dual Career Network Germany Exchange of good practice, training and much more To be continued this afternoon… Stay tuned! Dual Career Seminar, Amsterdam

Sensitizing for dual career issues: From a discredited topic to a good image 2008/09/12: Conferences : Research projects in psychology and sociology 2009: Foundation of the Dual Career Network Germany 2011: Implementation of the dual career policy In the beginning: dual career had a quite bad image because people would think of nepotism. Ideas that the wife of a professor will get a position without having her profile being proofed. It took a lot of confidential conversations, talks in committees and events to convince the decision makers of the rectorate, the departments and the administration that dual career is a good thing and not harming anybody and to get to a cultural shift so that dual career has now a positive image. The policy in 2011 can be seen as transparent guidelines for the handling of dual career cases. It manifested a dual career-friendly environment, explaining that applications of dual career partners are welcome and that they will be invited to the job interviews in case they fulfill the requirements. And it still has an impact on the image of dual career couples today. To support dual career couples, even by employing them, is highly accepted, and the partners don’t have the “smell” of “she just got that job because her husband is a professor” anymore. This cultural shift was a huge milestone. Don’t get me wrong: the University of Konstanz doesn’t employ dual career partners just because of their status. The partners have to apply on a job announcement – like all other applicants – and they will be invited to the job interview if they fulfill the requirements. Here, they have to convince the committee of their profile and compete on the same level with the other candidates. Neither the rectorate nor the dual career service puts pressure on the committee. Psychology Panel study with 210 couples: Resources and burdens of dual career couples in academia The panel study spots on the leading questions: Does academic success depend on the partner? How are the lives of the partners in a dual career couple linked with each other? They interviewed junior scientists and their partners 3 times in a period of around 2 years and examined how the rush hour of life affects their partnership, how they can achieve academic success, how they handle the high pressure in academia caused through the device “publish or perish” and how they deal with big life decisions (founding a family now, later or maybe never? Whose careers is leading? Who follows whom?). Results Success in academia depends first and foremost on a high investment of time. Private obligations (child care, housekeeping, tax computation, birthday of the mother in law etc.) take time. Men are more likely to consider private obligations as distracting while women are more likely to consider them as life-enhancing. Career-oriented women have a positive effect on their male partners’ careers while on the other hand career-oriented men have a negative influence on their female partners’ careers. b. Diary study with 134 couples: Coordination of labor and private life in daily routine c. Conception and evaluation of a work-life-training for dual career partners in academia Sociology Hinz and his group surveyed more than scientists of all levels in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria who were living in a relationship then. In this study they used hypothetical job offers in academia which would require a relocation to find out what is needed as an incentive to move with the partner or the family to a new place. The so called vignettes differed in reputation of the university, teaching duty, infrastructure, fixed-term contract versus tenure, but also in child care opportunities and dual career support. Results: Male scientists focus more on their own career chances, while women seek mutual compromise (probably not so surprising for you) while on the other hand For female scientists, relocation disposition depends on the career opportunities of their male partner (in other words: if the male partner doesn’t find good job options at the new place in a short time, she will turn down the job offer) Women are more disposed to follow their husband to a new location even if they don‘t have a job perspective of their own there This means: 1st: In partnerships male careers seem to be leading 2nd: Living in a partnership seems to block the career paths of women (at least when they are together with career-oriented men) and 3rd: dual career support can destroy careers of women The last point is very provocative. It refers to the scenario that women‘s higher readiness to move is further increased when the new location offers dual career support. Men, then, have one more (strong) argument to convince their female partners to move with them, by saying „You are going to get support there; they will help you in finding something new“. If the dual career support then doesn‘t turn out in real career options (like an adequate position), the women find themselves in a dead end, which can interrupt und threaten their career. But let’s put it in a positive way: this means that dual career programs need to be well equipped – with financial resources to offer concrete job positions, and especially with personnel resources, namely a professional dual career consultant who’s well trained and connected in the region. Dual career support is a full-time-job an cannot be done “on the side” by the universities’ executives. Dual Career Seminar, Amsterdam

Conclusions: Successful dual career support depends on… Commitment of the university’s leaders Professional advice with gender and diversity awareness Constant training Cooperations with employers in the region Transparent processes Positive talk on cases Embedment in the university’s structures © psdesign1/fotolia.com Dual Career Seminar, Amsterdam

Thank you for your attention Kerstin Melzer
Staff development & Dual Career Tel.: +49 (0) 75 31/ - uni-konstanz.de/dcc

Kerstin Melzer Amsterdam,

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