International Conference on Equal Opportunities: Gender Summit 2021

The agenda of the conference, which brings together gender expertise, science and policy for the 10th time this year, focuses on how to achieve gender equality and excellence in science and innovation, especially in light of the increased inequalities caused by the Corona pandemic. The Gender Summit 21 offers the Max Planck Society the opportunity to present some of its recent strategic and substantive equal opportunities successes. For example, the goals of the voluntary commitment have largely been achieved, a comprehensive monitoring of the equality plans has been successfully introduced and a Max Planck-wide understanding of diversity has been adopted in 2019.

In the field of "Gendered Innovations", the integration of gender and diversity dimensions into research content, Max Planck is represented by two speakers: Ksenia Keplinger, research group leader at the MPI for Intelligent Systems, will hold a workshop on "Diversity and Excellence in Research". Isabel Valera, research group leader at the MPI for Intelligent Systems, will speak about her research on discrimination-free algorithms. Another contribution comes from the legal scholar Gunda Wößner, MPI for the Study of Crime, Security and Law. Verena Mauch from the Department of Human Resources Development reports on insights and measures for shaping an equal-opportunity work culture.

Vice President Ulman Lindenberger discusses "Promoting collective action to include gender and intersectionality dimensions in research and innovation and in science policy" in a roundtable. And via video message, President Martin Stratmann comments on the MPG's career measures for female scientists and the danger of career breaks in times of Corona.

Interested persons from science and also from the general public can participate in the entire programme of the GS21. The preliminary programme of the Gender Summit includes eight workshops on 14.4. From 15.4 onwards, eight plenary and five parallel sessions with 80 international speakers will take place. The topics are diverse and revolve, for example, around how research excellence can be better recognised and promoted, how gender dimensions can be integrated into research content or how gender stereotypes in science can be prevented from becoming entrenched or re-emerging. Central to this: What has changed as a result of the Corona pandemic and what lessons can be learned from it?

Because it is clear: integrating gender equality, diversity and inclusion goals into scientific methods and mechanisms bring significant successes for the quality and productivity of research results, international cooperation and interaction. And they contribute to enhancing scientific excellence.

About the Gender Summit 2021

This time, the GS21 is a joint initiative of the Gender Summit/Portia as well as acatech and the following members of the Alliance of Science Organisations in Germany: Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, German Research Foundation (DFG), Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Helmholtz Association, German Rectors' Conference (HRK), Leibniz Association, National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, Max Planck Society and Science Council.

The Gender Summit is a platform for dialogue between science, gender expertise and politics, which was founded in 2011 as a result of the FP7-funded project "Increasing capacity for implementing gender action plans in science" (GenSET). The event has already been held in various countries on almost all continents.

Registration is free and open to all interested staff.

The event language is English.