Gender Equality Policy: Austria, Germany, and Switzerland

Gender equality policies in higher education pursue a 3-fold goal: They aim to abolish all forms of discrimination in access to higher education as well as in career progression, change the gender-biased university culture, and strengthen the gender dimension in research content and [Page 601]teaching. This goes beyond the aims of gender equity, which seeks fairness and justice in access to resources and the distribution of benefits and responsibilities between women and men but does not require cultural change and the integration of the gender dimension in content.

This entry provides an overview of gender equality policies in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, including their shared need for such policies and then explores the importance of women’s studies, the promotion of women, and gender mainstreaming to strengthen ...