Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - English

The Berlin University Alliance has set itself the goal of developing and implementing a systematic strategy to promote diversity and diversity research among all its partners. The Berlin Science Survey of 2024 provides the first differentiated data on diversity in the institutions of the Berlin University Alliance. A comparison of status groups shows that diversity decreases with increasing career level.

In the Berlin Science Survey, diversity characteristics were assessed using an item battery that allows identifying various subgroups. The battery is based on the Minimal Item Set (Stadler et al. 2023) and was converted into a short scale for the science sector.

Therefore, for the first time questions about various characteristics were asked that allow statements to be made about diversity in the institutions of the Berlin University Alliance. This is a novelty in that the institutions themselves do not keep such data in their personnel statistics to this extent.

Figure 1 shows the distribution of diversity characteristics for the BUA. According to this, 42.5% of respondents from the BUA stated that they were first-generation academics. This was defined as being an academic in first generation with neither parent having a university degree. When asked whether they themselves or their parents were born outside Germany, a fairly high proportion (33.1%) answered in the affirmative. Comparing the distributions of the various diversity characteristics with a comparative sample of external universities of excellence (see Figure 2) reveals almost the same picture. Only scientists from the former GDR, people who identify as LGBTIG+, those with long-term physical illnesses, and those with care responsibilities are slightly more strongly represented at Berlin universities than at external universities.

Figure 1 Diversity in the BUA

Figure 2 Diversity at external universities of excellence

Diversity by status group

Looking at the distribution of diversity in the BUA by status group, it becomes apparent that women tend to “drop out” of the system over the course of their careers. Although almost half (49.6%) of academic staff without a doctorate are female (see Figure 3) and 47.8% of postdocs are female (see Figure 4), the proportion drops to 38.7% among professors (see Figure 5).

In gender equality debates, this phenomenon is also referred to as the leaky pipeline. However, these figures do not necessarily reflect current discrimination, but may reflect earlier selection and self-selection processes that have resulted from existing gender stereotypes and the systematic discrimination of women based on these stereotypes. Due to the long career path to a professorship, the success of current equality programs, such as gender equality in professorships, will only become apparent in an estimated 10 years.

For other diversity characteristics, too, it is apparent that diversity in the composition of staff decreases on the path to a professorship.

At the pre-doc level, 42.6% are first-generation academics, at the post-doc level the figure is as high as 43.1%, and at the professorship level it is 40.9%.

A similar effect can be seen among scientists of East German origin: 24.3% of predocs, 25.6% of postdocs, but only 16% of professors state that they themselves or their parents lived in the GDR.

The proportion of people who identify as part of the LGBTIG+ community also decreases with increasing career level. Among predocs, the figure is 12.9%, among postdocs 9% (see Figure 4), and among professors only 5.5%.

Only in the area of care work do the proportions increase with rising status. Only 17.5% of predocs provide care for one or more children or adults, compared to 43.8% of postdocs, while this applies to every second professor.

When asked about long-term physical illnesses or disabilities, the percentages are roughly comparable across all status groups.

Figure 3 Diversity characteristics of predocs

Figure 4 Diversity characteristics of postdocs

Figure 5 Diversity characteristics of professors

These examples show that not all diversity characteristics can be viewed in the same way. The differences between the three status groups – professors, postdocs, and predocs – reflect not only different stages on a career ladder, but also different age cohorts and the associated different life situations.

However, the diversity data may also indicate that certain groups of people have limited access to high positions in academia. This may point to discriminatory research cultures in the field of science. The extent to which the Berlin University Alliance and its efforts to promote diversity can change this will become apparent in the coming years.

Literature:

Stadler, G., Chesaniuk, M., Haering, S. et al. (2023). Diversified innovations in the health sciences: Proposal for a Diversity Minimal Item Set (DiMIS), Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy, 33.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scp.2023.101072

The Berlin Science Survey

The Berlin Science Survey (BSS) is a scientific trend study on cultural change in the Berlin research landscape. To this end, the Robert K. Merton Center for Science and Technology Studies at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin regularly surveys the experiences and assessments of scientists in the Berlin research area online. 2,776 female scientists in the Berlin research area took part in the most recent study. We would like to express our sincere thanks to everyone who took part in the study.

The whole report with all topics can be found here:
https://www.berlinsciencesurvey.de/en/results24/sum

The data from the 2024 wave of the BSS are available for download as a scientific use file from the HU's open-access publication server: https://doi.org/10.18452/32547