Families at University
Universities aren’t simply places to work and learn, but are also places to live, where people spend many years setting the overarching course of their further lives. As a result, in addition to their primary task of providing young people with the best education possible, universities also take on special responsibilities when it comes to family policy. As such, they can create favorable conditions for highly qualified people to start a family during this stage of their lives. In light of current demographic changes, being family oriented and family friendly are becoming increasingly important arguments for German universities in the competition for students and academic staff.
Since its inception in 2008, the “Families at University” program - launched by the Robert Bosch Stiftung together with Germany’s Federal Commissioner for the New German States and in collaboration with the Center for University Development - has taken steps to improve the compatibility of family life, attending university, and an academic career. As an institution, universities should become more family friendly overall and should develop appropriate practical services, which allow students to coordinate having a family and attending university. In general, an environment needs to be created at universities that makes it easier for academics who are already in a degree program to start a family. In the project’s initial phase from 2008 to 2010, eight select universities joined forces and formed a “Best Practice Club” to pursue this goal.
After its successful start, the goal of the program’s second phase is to stabilize the quality and reach of the “Best Practice Club” – which in the meantime has been expanded to include 12 universities – by the end of 2012. Specifically, the goal here is to increase the number of program advocates by disseminating the results gained, as well as to improve the long-term family focus of unversities by generating widespread public interest in the club’s work.
The 12 universities in the club are working together on the following main topics:
Since its inception in 2008, the “Families at University” program - launched by the Robert Bosch Stiftung together with Germany’s Federal Commissioner for the New German States and in collaboration with the Center for University Development - has taken steps to improve the compatibility of family life, attending university, and an academic career. As an institution, universities should become more family friendly overall and should develop appropriate practical services, which allow students to coordinate having a family and attending university. In general, an environment needs to be created at universities that makes it easier for academics who are already in a degree program to start a family. In the project’s initial phase from 2008 to 2010, eight select universities joined forces and formed a “Best Practice Club” to pursue this goal.
After its successful start, the goal of the program’s second phase is to stabilize the quality and reach of the “Best Practice Club” – which in the meantime has been expanded to include 12 universities – by the end of 2012. Specifically, the goal here is to increase the number of program advocates by disseminating the results gained, as well as to improve the long-term family focus of unversities by generating widespread public interest in the club’s work.
The 12 universities in the club are working together on the following main topics:
The Selected Universities and Their Projects
Contact at CHE
CHE Consult GmbH
Markus F. Langer
Verler Straße 6
33332 Gütersloh
Phone: +49 (0)5241 21179-31
Fax +49 (0)5241 21179-52
Markus F. Langer
Verler Straße 6
33332 Gütersloh
Phone: +49 (0)5241 21179-31
Fax +49 (0)5241 21179-52
Contact at the Foundation
Heike Baumgaertner
Phone: +49 (0)711 46084-970
Phone: +49 (0)711 46084-970
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