Active recruitment in the appointment process

A key objective of the University's gender equality policy is to increase the number of female professors, and thus to appoint and actively recruit female academics to professorships. Within this framework, the faculties have committed themselves to comparing the proportion of female applicants received for each appointment procedure with the nationwide proportion of women with a habilitation in the subject. If the proportion of female applicants is below the nationwide proportion of women with a habilitation in the subject, suitable female academics are identified and actively encouraged to apply, based on the so-called cascade model.

The invitation to apply does not give the actively recruited persons any advantage over the other candidates in the procedure. Rather, the aim is to ensure that female scientists with the appropriate qualifications are made aware of the vacancy and the University of Heidelberg and are informed that they are considered interesting candidates. This is the task of the appointment committee for the professorship to be filled. To facilitate the process, a guide with recommendations for implementing active recruitment, a documentation template and a list of databases for searching for suitable candidates are available. These materials can be found in the Appointment Procedure Toolbox provided by the University's Human Resources Department.