ZEW Awarded Title for Equal Opportunities at Work

The Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) has been granted the official title "TOTAL E-QUALITY" for the first time and is thus considered an employer who is particularly committed to ensuring equal opportunities for men and women in the workplace. The title acknowledges ZEW as an institute that sets a good example in the reconciliation of work and family life. Every year the award, presented in Hamburg by the association TOTAL E-QUALITY Germany, honours economic, scientific and administrative organisations and associations that make a sustainable contribution to ensuring equal opportunities. The title will now hold for a period of three years, until 2017.

"The TOTAL E-QUALITY title proves that equal opportunities have  already been a reality at our institute for many years," says Thomas Kohl, ZEW's Director of Business and Administration. "At ZEW we attach great importance to ensuring that women have access to the same excellent career opportunities as men, and also to helping men and women strike a better balance between their future career and family life. We don't want to become complacent in view of what we have already achieved in this area, however. We do aim to further develop and strengthen our standards."

In addition to facilitating a good work-life balance, ZEW prioritises fair recruitment and development practices, promotes cooperative behaviour in the workplace, and acknowledges equal opportunities in its corporate principles. One of ZEW's most valuable policies is the flexibility it offers its employees it terms of how they organise their working time. There are numerous individual agreements on working volumes and times, which are tailored to the  individual needs of employees and which thus provide the reconciliation of work and family life with optimal support.

The jury of TOTAL E-QUALITY Germany explained its decision to award ZEW: "Over the past five years, ZEW has increased its share of women in management positions by 14 per cent by appointing one female professor and supporting the successful completion of a habilitation thesis by a female senior researcher. The proportion of women among ZEW's research staff, doctoral candidates and postdocs could be kept at above 30 per cent across all levels of qualification. This is an impressive result and shows the accomplishments of an exemplary, well-structured career and staff development policy. ZEW has also developed many well-established recruitment and staffing practices to ensure equality between men and women."

For more information please contact

Katrin Schindler, Phone +49(0)621/1235-252, E-mail schindler@zew.de