The Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen (THM) has scored highly with its gender equality concept in the federal and state governments' Professorinnenprogramm 2030 (Professorship Program for Women 2030). In the third and final round of the selection process, 44 out of 51 universities convinced the independent review panel: The selected universities can now apply for start-up funding for the initial appointment of female scientists to permanent professorships.

For THM , this success is confirmation of many years of work. The university implements gender equality as a strategic, cross-cutting task and enshrines it in its current women's advancement and gender equality plan. This plan explicitly identifies the significant underrepresentation of female professors as a key area for action. To this end, framework conditions are to be created that facilitate career paths for women: flexible working hours and mobile work, support for part-time employees, and a family-friendly university structure with childcare facilities and parent-child rooms.

The focus is on promoting women's careers in academia and actively reaching out to potential female candidates. THM offers doctoral candidates scholarships, grants, and laboratory support, guides their career paths through scouting and mentoring programs, and aims to raise the profile of talented women from their studies to their professorship. For this reason, the university is a member of the Mentoring Hessen network, which systematically coordinates career advancement for women through support, guidance, and training. Funding programs include ProAcademia and ProProfessur; the training program is designed to support women on their path to an academic career or the transition to a professorship.

THM benefits from a comprehensive equality architecture: family-friendly counseling, childcare options, support for caregiving and family responsibilities, and initiatives promoting a diverse university culture are firmly anchored in the equality plan. "We want to systematically consider equality in recruitment, appointment procedures, career development, and the filling of leadership positions," says President Prof. Dr. Matthias Willems, expressing his gratitude for the commitment of the university's women's and equality officers, Elsa Roos and Tina Trede, as well as in the selection process for the Professorinnenprogramm 2030 (Professorship Program for Women 2030). Their success in this program confirms the chosen path and, in times of tight budgets, opens up additional opportunities to further expand equality while simultaneously ensuring quality in teaching and research for the benefit of students.