Men at H-BRS: Strong together for gender equality

The classic gender role model demands "strength" from men at all costs.

They often pay with their own health.

Many men conceal or suppress their mental health problems. They neither tell their family nor seek professional support.

-73% of suicides in Germany in 2023 were committed by men.^[1]

-68% of homeless people in Germany in 2022 were men.^[2]

-83% of drug-related deaths in Germany in 2022 were male.^[3]

-82% of those convicted in Germany in 2023 were men.^[4]

More and more men are of the opinion that "equality is important for social cohesion."^[5] They are questioning traditional role models and defining for themselves how they want to live and love. See also Men and parental leave.

More and more fathers are receiving parental allowance (22.7% in 2016, 26.1% in 2022). ^[6]

-Fathers who take parental leave still spend more time with their children years later compared to fathers who have worked continuously.^[7] More time with their children has a positive influence on job satisfaction for fathers.^[8]

-The more equal a country, the higher the life expectancy of men and women. ^[9]

Men also benefit when we move away from outdated role models: they are under less psychological strain, have closer relationships, enjoy more freedom to organise their own lives according to their own ideas and not according to strictly prescribed role models. Those who support equality are therefore also working on their own health and quality of life.

Invisible mechanisms (unconscious bias)

Discrimination often happens unconsciously and without malicious intent. Traditional gender roles and automatic associations lead us to think that men are smarter and more competent (Gender bias). How do you imagine a classical genius, for example? Most people think of Albert Einstein rather than a person read as a woman.

Structural disadvantages (career, citations, promotion)

Women make up around half of all Bachelor's and Master's students in Germany, but the gap between men and women widens after the doctorate. At universities in NRW, women will make up around 45% of doctoral graduates, 33% of post-doctoral graduates and only 30% of professors in 2023.^[10] On a personal level, this means that women are losing opportunities, while on a societal level, the risk of a shortage of skilled workers and a loss of quality is increasing.

At H-BRS, too, the higher the academic level, the lower the proportion of women.

Women academics often receive less promotion and recognition than men despite having the same or even better qualifications and performance.^[11] For this reason, the women's quota according to Section 7 LGG NRW is not a favouritism, but a necessary compensation for disadvantages.

Citation gap: Women are systematically cited less than men. Men cite themselves up to 70% more often than women do.^[12] Following gender stereotypes, we tend to expect scientific authors to be men, so that female scientists are often incorrectly cited with male pronouns when using initials (e.g. "Dr B. Apple").^[13] This contributes to the systematic underestimation and invisibilisation of women's achievements in science.

Unequal division of labour (care work)

Women in Germany spend an average of 44% more time on unpaid care work than men (this includes childcare, housework and looking after relatives in need of care).^[14]

Since women shoulder the main burden of unpaid care work, they often work part-time (involuntarily), have fewer career advancement opportunities and are exposed to a higher risk of poverty in old age ("gender pension gap").^[15]

-Sharing care work as partners is an important prerequisite for equal opportunities for women and men in the labour market (see Men on parental leave).

Care work is not just limited to private life, however. "Office housework" describes unpaid activities such as taking minutes, preparing rooms or organising coffee and is usually expected of female team members, who therefore have less time for their paid work.^[16]

Violence (most drastic form of inequality of opportunity)

Gender-based violence: Women and non-binary people in particular are affected by gender-based violence at universities. According to a representative UniSAFE study, 37% of the women and 44% of the non-binary people surveyed had already been sexually harassed at universities and named men as the perpetrators in 78% of cases.^[17]

Imagine the following situation among 10 men:

• 1 Man makes a sexist joke about women.
• 2 Men laugh.
• 3 don't find it funny, but laugh to be part of it.
• 4 say nothing and pretend they haven't heard anything.

The result: Nobody stops the discriminatory behaviour. Afterwards, all 9 men (except the joke teller) believe they are part of the "good majority".

The reality for women: The laughter and silence create the same environment in which boundary violations are normalised.

If direct intervention is difficult (e.g. due to hierarchies): Show solidarity to the person concerned in private afterwards. Alternatively, you can raise the incident with superiors or the equal opportunities officer in order to actively help shape structures.

Not every man harasses women. But many men - consciously or unconsciously - protect the system that enables harassment by not intervening. Gender equality needs men who break this silence and take responsibility for fair coexistence

Equality is a gain for all genders. However, the path to gender parity requires men to become aware of their social privileges and reflect on them. This is because the current system is not neutral - it gives men systematic advantages in many areas, while women and other genders are structurally disadvantaged. It is important to emphasise this: Individual men are not to blame for the fact that this system has evolved historically and favours them in certain areas. Nevertheless, he has a responsibility to question these advantages and to deal with the structures that reproduce inequality.

The focus is therefore not on criticising individual men, but on reflecting together on the existing power relations and our own role within them. If we want highly qualified mothers to have the same career opportunities as fathers, care work must no longer fall predominantly unpaid on the shoulders of women - it must be distributed more fairly and/or remunerated fairly. If professorships are to truly reflect the qualifications of all genders and half of graduates are female, men cannot continue to hold around 70% of professorships. As long as men form the overwhelming majority in decision-making positions, they benefit - consciously or unconsciously - from a system that secures them more visibility, influence and power, often at the expense of others.

Men as allies therefore play a central role: they can use their privileged position to make existing inequalities visible, demand change and actively take responsibility for care work, equality and fair structures. Those who are committed to fair structures are not only working for a fairer university, but also for the implementation of SDG 5, making it clear that gender equality is a key issue for sustainable social progress.