Equal opportunities monitoring

The University of Basel has been committed to equal opportunities since 1998 and began setting up a gender equality monitoring system in 2006. Since the redesign of the SAP database in 2013, the gender equality data has been updated in its current form. At the same time, measures and initiatives to achieve equal opportunities have been more broadly anchored and intensified in order to increase the proportion of women at higher academic career levels and in management positions.

Report 2023

Dr. Sabine Büchler

Project Leader Diversity & Inclusion

Sabine Büchler University of Basel Diversity & Inclusion Steinengraben 5, Postfach
4001 Basel
Switzerland workTel. +41 61 207 13 79
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The annual gender equality monitoring documents the targeted increase in the proportion of women at higher academic career levels. The following charts provide an initial insight into the development up to December 2023.

Development of professorships

Professorships

The proportion of female professors at the University of Basel is steadily increasing, so that from 2022 to 2023 the proportion of female professors rose by 2% from 27% to 29%, as in the previous year. At the end of 2023, there were 113 female professors and 280 male professors across all professorship categories at the University of Basel.

Professorship categories

The largest increase in 2023 was at Associate Professor level: Compared to the previous year, the proportion of women increased from 28% to 37%. This is an important signal for a sustainable change in the gender ratio of professorships, as all associate professors generally achieve a full professorship. And even at the previous level of «Assistant Professor with Tenure Track», the proportion of female professors is still over 40%. The positive development in the proportion of women in the «Clinical Professorships» category should also be emphasized. An increase of 4.6% was achieved here last year.

Faculties

In almost all faculties, the gender ratio of professorships continued to converge in 2023, whereby this development is influenced by two factors: on the one hand, the departure of professors and, on the other, the appointment of female professors. At the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, the proportion of female professors has risen steadily over the last five years, by 1.5% to 48.5% in 2023. The same applies to the Faculty of Science, where it rose from 19% to 21%. At the Faculty of Medicine, the proportion of female professors rose from 21% to 23% last year, the highest figure since gender equality monitoring began. In the smaller faculties, significant fluctuations are to be expected over the years due to the small number of professorships; however, from 2022 to 2023, there were increases in the proportion of female professors in almost all faculties: At the Faculty of Theology from 25% to 30%, at the Faculty of Law from 33% to 39% and at the Faculty of Psychology from 18% to 22%. At the Faculty of Business and Economics, it remained at 23%.

Committees and Commissions

The proportion of women in the Senate rose by 6% in 2023 and now stands at 40%. The proportion of women on university-wide committees is 30%. In the governing bodies (President’s Board, University Council, President’s Conference and Faculty Boards), the proportion of women has risen from 19% to 23%. The Faculty Boards (deans, deans of studies, deans of research) are still mostly male, with three female deans and 20 male deans. At the management level of the 52 departments and institutes, the proportion of women is an impressive 44%.

Leaky Pipeline

The leaky pipeline shows the gender ratio across all career stages. While women outnumber men at the degree level, the ratio reverses at the professorship level. The University of Basel continues to take measures to retain female scientists on its track and thus increase the proportion of women at all academic levels, especially at the level of professorships (Action Plan Equality, Diversity & Inclusion 2022-2025).