Common use of Institutional Context Clause in Contracts

Institutional Context. KIT has already established structures and a broad range of measures to promote gender equality. The diversity management team in the HR department is in charge of the strategic work for and implementation of gender equality. Based on a legal requirement there have also been equal opportunity officers established who participate in recruitment processes, appointment committees and other bodies. A Committee for Equal Opportunities and Diversity has been also set up. KIT is legally required to have a gender equality plan (GEP). The first GEP was implemented in 2014 and is binding until the end of 2018. All five divisions of KIT are supposed to make a written statement regarding the current gender equality situation in their disciplines. These statements are part of the GEP. The proportion of women is low in all career stages, but KIT aims at increasing the share of women and creates annual gender monitoring reports summarizing measures taken and progress made. There have already been implemented a wide range of measures for gender equality (e.g. mentoring, telework, childcare-facilities, gender-sensitive publicity content). Still, interview partners identified room for further improvement especially regarding the practical implementation of measures and the level of awareness and engagement at the divisional level. It became evident that not only measures but also cultural change is needed.