Every three years, the Max Planck Society creates and evaluates its plans. The results for 2024 show significant improvements
The Max Planck Society aims to maintain consistently high standards in gender equality work while considering professional and regional diversity. Through the Gender Equality Plan (GEP), each institute has the flexibility to adapt gender equality standards to its specific needs and conditions. These plans are developed and evaluated every three years and include a comprehensive analysis and presentation of strategies, incorporating quantitative gender-specific metrics such as publications and conference participation. As such, they serve as a valuable tool for MPIs to track and refine their gender equality initiatives.
In the evaluation of the gender equality plans, 35% of the MPIs were able to improve by one level, and 8% even advanced by two levels, from bronze to gold.
© MPG
The current evaluation shows clear progress: 31 institutes received the gold label, 39 silver and 12 bronze. 35 percent of Max Planck Institutes improved by one level, 8 percent even by two. The heads of the institutes are informed of the results and receive an individual report with advice on how they can improve their gender equality plan before the next update.
The assessment is carried out by the "Quality Management of Max Planck Gender Equality Plans" committee. The members of this commission, which is chaired by the Central Gender Equality Officer, are Max Planck Gender Equality Officers, a representative of the Human Resources Development and Opportunities Department and one or two external members of the Alliance of Gender Equality Officers of non-university research organizations (AGbaF). They assess the plans based on the criteria of completeness, institute-specificity and sustainability.
The existence of a gender equality plan is a prerequisite for an institute or institution to benefit from central gender equality programmes and funds of the Max Planck Society.
Voices from the institutes
Gender equality officers from two institutes comment on the positive impact that gender equality plans can have on the working environment at the institutes:
"The establishment of a Gender & Diversity working group, which includes various stakeholders such as the works council, public relations, doctoral students and postdocs, administration, representatives of individuals with disabilities, the managing director's advisor, group leaders, and other interested employees, has greatly facilitated the implementation of our ambitious gender equality plan. This success is due to the broad, collaborative approach, which has created numerous synergies." (Petra Winterholler, MPI for Biological Intelligence)
"Some of the most impactful measures in the MPI-IS Gender Equality Plan (GEP) have been gender statistics reporting and internal surveys, which help raise awareness and shape more data-driven policies. We've also focused on advancing women's careers through targeted recruitment for Principal Investigator (PI) positions and encouraging nominations of women for key programs-both of which have led to improved representation. Additionally, we've worked to foster a stronger community by creating more opportunities for open dialogue, such as organizing events. Recent community-building efforts have sparked important conversations about inclusive language and how we can make our workplace more welcoming and equitable." (Carolin Lewis and Vani Hiremath Sundaram, MPI for Intelligent Systems)
"While developing our plan, the equal opportunities team decided to carefully assess the specific needs within our institute. We quickly realized that we could only offer our own perspective-we needed to open up a conversation. This led to the creation of the 'EquiTea' format at the start of the planning period. Every six to eight weeks, we meet with institute members to discuss different aspects of gender equality work. Sometimes with external input, sometimes without. These informal meetings provide a space for personal concerns and cover a wide range of topics-from challenges during illness waves and academic housekeeping to issues related to queerness and menopause, to name just a few. We quickly realized how effective this simple format is. It has allowed us to address challenges more directly and disseminate knowledge about our work in a meaningful way." (Maria Einhorn, MPI for Human Development)
