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Our resources page provides information on what we are keeping up with. Take a look through our dropdown menus to learn more about gender related issues both at ETH and beyond. We also provide links to external groups, websites, or partners that SWiSH collaborates with.

Gender at ETH

If you encounter gender-related or other personal or professional problems at D-GESS, consider contacting the GESS Help!Point.

Members of D-GESS recently founded the WIDE group, focusing on Well-being, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity. Their website also provides a useful collection of resources on related topics at D-GESS or ETH more general.

EQUAL! is the equal opportunities office at ETH. Its goal is to offer women and men equal opportunities to successfully study, do research and work at ETH Zurich. Feel free to contact the Diversity Team for any questions by email.

Find everything on the Gender Action Plan (GAP) at ETH here and read the 2021-2024 Gender strategy here.

The ETH Code of Conduct acts as a guideline for how members of the ETH community should treat each other and can serve as a resource for you to understand when staff or students are behaving inappropriately. The ETH Respect page provides more information on what to do in the case of misconduct. Specifically, they offer two info sheets on what to do in the event of inappropriate behavior. One for students and one for staff.

ETH offers gender-neutral toilets in some of its buildings. You can find a list here.

A short history of women at ETH Zurich created by the ETH Library about the institution's female trailblazers of the past and the present.

 

 

Statistics in Switzerland

Reports from the Federal Statistics Office on gender equality: 

50 years of women's suffrage and 30 years of voting rights at age 18 (FSO, 2021)

The year 2021 marks 50 years of the introduction of women's suffrage and 30 years of the lowering of the civic majority to 18 years. Two events that this publication takes advantage of to bring together statistics on the subject in a meaningful way. The detailed analysis of the voting results shows the evolution of the opinion expressed at the ballot box on the question of the right to vote throughout Switzerland. Indeed, both the authors of the initiative in favor of women's suffrage and those of the initiative for the right to vote at 18 had to try twice to obtain a majority at the federal level.

Swiss Labor Force Survey (ESPA) 

Wage inequality between women and men. Understanding the global labor income gap and other indicators:

Allies to Equality

At ETH, and generally at any level of academia, gender equality is still a highly discussed topic. The higher up you go on the academic ladder, the fewer wom*n you will encounter. Until today, it is more common for men to hold leading positions in academia than for wom*n.

We think that achieving gender equality is not a task wom*n have to accomplish by themselves - it requires joint effort of all genders. Even small changes in behavior can help to promote and subsequently achieve gender equality for everyone. Men standing up for equal rights is a phenomenon that is becoming more and more common with movements such as ‘He for She’ (UN) or in Switzerland ‘WE/MEN’ and ‘Feministen’. Find Swiss Feminist Science Association News page in French and German.

That is why we have put together some suggestions for small changes that can be integrated into daily life. These are for anyone who wants to promote more sensitivity to, and show solidarity with, the struggle for gender equality:

  1. Acknowledge male privilege
    People are used to the system they are born into. If you are in a privileged position, the privilege often goes unnoticed and is taken for granted. For example, our social norms today often allow men to take up more physical space and dominate conversations while not being expected to continually smile or apologize. Further, representation in media and data is still male-dominated. Rethinking your own position in a given system and critically reflecting on how it differs from others is the first step to a more equal future. We invite cis men[1] to actively try to identify situations in which you had fewer disadvantages in contrast to colleagues with other genders. By acknowledging male privilege in our own society, whether in politics, economy or education, we become more aware of and challenge the patriarchal system we were born into.
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  2. Show Solidarity and Speak up
    To achieve a better and more equal future, it is not only necessary to acknowledge the problem, but to also stand with wom*n in everyday life. If you observe that a female colleague is not taken seriously in a meeting or does not have a chance to share her perspective in the same way your male colleagues do, you should consider talking to her about the unequal treatment you have observed. In any case, ask her whether she would appreciate it if you point out these unconscious gender biases publicly whenever they happen, or if she prefers you speak with your colleagues in private about it. Offer to talk to your male colleagues about their behavior to prevent similar situations in the future in order to make her more comfortable.
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  3. Encourage and support wom*n to take the lead in a project
    Give wom*n the room to volunteer for the most prestigious positions and/or actively encourage them to take on such a role when tasks are distributed in your team.
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  4. Talk about gender equality with others
    It is important to encourage dialogue about gender equality, in particular among those who hold privileges. If you consider yourself privileged (which you probably are due to your gender, background, family, etc.), you are in a unique position to start such a conversation. For wom*n it can be difficult to bring up this topic, partly because they can be stigmatized as too aggressive or annoying. It is also tiring for wom*n to always advocate for this topic when they are constantly met with negative reactions. We encourage you to actively start this conversation, and to critically reflect on your own defensive reactions if a wom*n raises the topic.
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  5. Look for fair treatment
    As early as primary school, girls are more often interrupted and less likely to be given credit for their ideas. Further, the work of wom*n and men are often unconsciously evaluated differently (e.g. given less credit for a good idea, being called/perceived as annoying when disagreeing with a male colleague, etc.). With this awareness, you can actively analyze your behavior and the behavior of your colleagues during your next team meeting or evaluation. Can you see the – often unconscious – biases in your own or others’ behavior? Ask yourself how you would react in the same situation if the colleague had been male. For instance, do you react differently depending on whether a man or a wom*n questions your point of view? Subsequently, try to change your behavior to ensure an equal treatment of wom*n and men.
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  6. Educate yourself
    Gender discrimination is complex, intersectional, often structural rather than direct, and shows huge variation across settings. Likewise, achieving gender equality is also not straightforward. Therefore, it is important to educate yourself about this topic: read a book, listen to a podcast, attend panel discussions, or join other activities. Below, we have included some resources which can help.

 

It is important for us to reiterate that these tips are not only for cis men, but for everyone who wants to speak up and fight against gender as well as other forms of inequality.

 

Sources and Information on the Topic

Websites :

 

Books and Articles :

  • The ‘She Figures’ publication provides a range of indicators on gender equality in research and innovation at a pan-European level. It aims to give an overview of the gender equality situation, using a wide range of indicators to examine the impact and effectiveness of policies implemented in this area
  • 2019/2020 Equality Monitoring report of ETH in which  they present the current data pertaining to the situation of gender equality at ETH in general and in the different departments.
  • Wom*n and Men at Swiss Universities: Indicator Report on Equal Opportunities in Study Programs and Academic Careers (German)
  • 11 children’s books to teach kids about gender equality.
  • How to empower yourself as a wom*n
    This article presents seven useful tips on how wom*n can empower themselves.
  • Invisible Women. Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men. By Caroline Criado Perez.
    This Sunday Times Bestseller reveals our world largely built by men for men, half of the population is systematically ignored. In the book different case studies are brought together which show different ways in which women are forgotten and the impact it has on all of us.

 

Podcasts :

These podcasts offer insights for men who want to be gender equity allies and champions. From lively discussions about evolving ideas of masculinity to nitty-gritty advice for navigating office situations, these podcast episodes offer thoughtful takeaways for men.

(Disclaimer: Not all recommendations on these lists were checked by us)

 

Some more options in German :

 

[1] More information under: https://www.nyu.edu/life/global-inclusion-and-diversity/learning-and-development/toolkits/glossary.html or https://www.glaad.org/reference/transgender

Links

What do others do and think about?

entropie
a blog by ETH students on how knowledge changes our society and the other way around

Gender campus
a platform for gender studies, equality, and diversity at Swiss institutions for higher education ; if you're a student, check out in particular their national course directory that lists gender-related courses across Swiss universities for each semester

Histnoire
a project documenting black wom*n's presence in the Swiss public sphere in the past and in the present

Society for Women in Philosophy in Switzerland
a supportive network of wom*n philosophers working in the scientific field

The Lily
The first US newspaper by and for wom*n

Wom*n's Strike

Every year on June 14th, wom*n across Switzerland strike.

On June 6, 2019, wom*n across Switzerland went on strike to demand gender equality and justice. The wom*n's strike collective of ETH Zurich issued an open manifesto, which formulates a list of demands to the institution. SWiSH fully supports the contents of this manifesto:

Open letter: demands on the ETH

In international university rankings, ETH Zurich is among the top ranks and is proud to assume a leading role in terms of research and teaching. However, the view of the federal model institution becomes clouded as soon as one devotes oneself to social issues and in particular to the question of gender equality. In contrast to other leading universities in the world, the ETH has neither an effective cross-departmental plan to implement equality with concrete measures, nor a guideline for dealing with cases of discrimination or sexual harassment and violence. In international comparison, the resources that ETH invests in combating gender inequality are negligible.

We demand that ETH Zurich be aware of its responsibility as a leading teaching and research institution in social matters. It should take gender equality issues seriously and commit itself to effectively addressing the challenges ahead.

Gender mainstreaming at all levels instead of ineffective projects and workshops

With the Gender Action Plan adopted in February 2014, ETH Zurich has set itself ambitious goals. Among other things, a balanced gender balance should be achieved at all academic career levels at ETH. Specifically, little has changed since then. This is shown by the internal ETH statistics of the gender monitoring published annually. If, for example, the occupations of full and associate professorships are considered, the proportion of wom*n rose from 10.2% to 12.1% between 2014 and 2017 (ETH Gender Monitoring, 2017).

This shows that the current equality strategy at ETH is not effective. If ETH actually wants to achieve the goals it has set itself, these must urgently be reconsidered. We therefore call for a paradigm shift in the equality strategy of the ETH in terms of gender mainstreaming: away from the current equality work geared to targeted projects towards a holistic strategy that understands gender as a cross-cutting issue. This includes taking into account the different life situations, requirements and interests of all genders when making decisions at all levels.

We demand:

  • Elimination of the structural gender bias at the highest level, for example by introducing a quota for shortlists and appointment commissions.
  • Compulsory leadership training for managers and professors at ETH Zurich, in which gender training (sensitisation and further training in relation to gender discrimination and promotion) forms an important part.
  • "Gender-mainstreamed" teaching:
    • (1) Introduce gender-sensitive forms of teaching as a pedagogical practice: Improve the design and delivery of teaching activities, e.g. when it comes to the allocation of speaking time, and the introduction of anonymous exams
    • (2) Incorporate gender equality into the choice of subject content: Equality in relation to the subject, course literature and other teaching materials
  • Addressing and recognising the existence of multiple gender identities instead of the strict dichotomy of genders (binary thinking)
  • An independent commission/office that reviews all relevant, existing and future documents, principles of thought and action at ETH (strategy, mission statement, etc.) for discriminatory formulations and representations and, if necessary, adapts them.
  • Consistent use of gender-equitable language in all ETH documents and on the website.
  • Increase in financial and personnel resources in the area of gender equality promotion and expansion of the Equal Opportunities Office to at least 200 per cent.

Effectively preventing and combating sexualised harassment instead of empty words

"ETH Zurich strictly does not tolerate any form of sexual harassment or discrimination based on gender" (Gender Action Plan ETH Zurich, 2014). Media-effective incidents in recent months have shown that this promise does not have much to do with the reality at ETH. ETH must not only speak out against sexualised violence and harassment, but also provide an adequate infrastructure and agree on a clear procedure in cases of harassment, violence and discrimination.

We demand:

  • The introduction of contact points with qualified counsellors who are independent of ETH Zurich
  • The possibility of personal and anonymous reporting
  • Respectful and serious handling of submitted reports
  • Binding and publicly accessible guidelines for dealing with sexualised harassment and violence
  • Measures to sensitise ETH employees, especially managers and professors (training, guidelines, workshops, etc.)

All universities with which ETH likes to measure itself internationally - from Harvard, Cambridge, Stanford and Oxford to MIT, Caltech and Imperial College London - already have the aforementioned institutional facilities and guidelines. Most of these top universities also have a 24/7 reporting service for cases of sexualised harassment and in-house and external lawyers for those affected. In October 2017, Cambridge also launched a broad-based campaign to combat sexualised harassment under the name "Breaking the silence", which is having a noticeable effect. ETH is in danger of losing top female candidates because they feel more welcome at another university. It is time for ETH to take a leading position in gender equality issues as well.

Education and care work as a responsibility for society as a whole instead of focussing on women and mothers

ETH Zurich already has a very broad-based programme to promote the compatibility of family and career. These range from crèche places to events for parents, family rooms, counselling and financial support. However, the ETH strategy in the area of work-life balance is too focussed on women* and mothers. ETH thus implicitly supports the assumption that parenting and care work should still largely be carried out by women*, without critically reflecting on this attitude.

We call for ETH to explicitly state that parenting and care work must be a responsibility of society as a whole. This includes, among other things, affirming men* in their role as fathers. The fact that Switzerland is at the bottom of the league internationally in terms of paid parental leave should not prevent ETH from introducing progressive regulations. On the contrary, ETH could take on a "pioneering role" in this area.

We demand:

  • Paid parental leave of 38 weeks, with paternity leave of at least 8 weeks. This proposal corresponds to the recommendations of the Federal Coordination
  • Commission for Family Affairs (2018) based on scientifically sound arguments and is well below the OECD average of 54 weeks of parental leave
  • Adjusted maximum assistance time in which the time for care work is deducted from the assistance time performed

We demand that ETH put our demands into practice. We therefore expect a specific proposal by 2020 as to the measures ETH will take to address the upcoming challenges with regard to gender equality.​​

-- Wom*n's Strike Collective of the Zurich Universities, AG ETH