The principle of equality of opportunity is an inherent part of MedUni Vienna's culture and a central pillar of its HR development.
MedUni Vienna is committed to ensuring that the diversity of its staff members is respected and it has established a framework to promote cooperation between diverse elements. Breaking down barriers, increasing awareness and combating discrimination are key aspects of this.
The Medical University of Vienna is committed to openness to all people, regardless of their origin and color, and to tolerance in matters of national provenance and faith. The university rejects discrimination on the basis of ethnic, national, religious or sexual prejudice.
In addition to comprehensive efforts in the area of Diversity Management, which have already earned the Administrative Prize of the Austrian Federal Chancellery, the Meritus Award on the subject of sexual orientation and the IRIS Award for conflict culture, promotion of women is an important goal for MedUni Vienna.
Gender mainstreaming and promotion of women at MedUni Vienna
The staff unit for Gender Mainstreaming and Diversity supports and advises the Rectorate and all managers on matters of equality and promotion of women, in particular to remove structural obstacles to women in science at MedUni Vienna and to increase the proportion of women at all qualification stages, and in particular in management positions (including medical management functions).
Special programmes and targeted measures to promote women are implemented to encourage women to take up scientific careers and to support them in this endeavor. The staff unit therefore designs, coordinates and supports all organisational units to develop and implement special measures and programmes for women: with the aim of achieving a balanced ratio of men and women in all staff positions and eliminating any underrepresentation or disadvantaging of women, and also strengthening the professional status of women in science.
Gender-specific research and teaching
The Gender Mainstreaming and Diversity unit is also responsible for implementing the tasks relating to the interdisciplinary subject of Women's Health and Gender-based Medicine, laid down in the medical studies curriculum.
It supports the Vice-Director for Research and the heads of organisational units and research clusters in initiating projects relating to research into women's health and gender. Another of the staff unit's tasks is to pool, coordinate and network any research activities relating to women's health and gender-based research at MedUni Vienna.
The Gender Research remit of the Gender Mainstreaming unit includes:
- Pooling and networking activities relating to women's health and gender-based research within MedUni Vienna
- Organising conferences, symposia and congresses
- National and international networking
- Scientific works on the subject of women in research: The aim is to apply a process of continuous reflection to the university's work and to lay the foundations for the design of specific measures. These might include, for example, investigating the concrete situation of female employees and the retrospective analysis of data on specific issues.
- Gender medicine research
Gender medicine at MedUni Vienna
As part of its university education and further training, MedUni Vienna aims to teach its students skills in the field of Gender Medicine. With this in mind, every semester, the Gender Mainstreaming Service offers two three-hour lecture series on topics relating to Gender Medicine, which students can complete as part of their elective subjects.
In addition to this, MedUni Vienna also plans to include Gender Medicine in the compulsory curriculum by creating a chair in the subject. Gender Mainstreaming staff therefore work with lecturers on an outreach basis to raise awareness and provide support.