Prof. Christian Poets and Prof. Tobias Renner receive Equality Award

We warmly congratulate the award winners Professor Dr. Christian Poets, Executive Medical Director of the Department of Pediatrics and Medical Director of the Department of Neonatology, and Professor Dr. Tobias Renner, Medical Director of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and thank them for their outstanding commitment to the advancement of women, equal opportunities, and the compatibility of career and family.

The award was presented by Professor Dr. Ulrike Ernemann, Medical Director of the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, in her capacity as Deputy Chair of the Equal Opportunity Commission.

For the first time, there was a split equality prize, as both prize winners were equally convincing to the Equal Opportunities Commission, which forms the jury for this prize.

Unfortunately, there is still a glaring imbalance in career development between men and women at universities and hospitals. For example, the proportion of women at the higher career levels, especially from the threshold of senior physician or professor, is shockingly low. This makes it all the more important to show that equality is already being implemented and lived very well in many areas at the Medical Faculty.

For example, both award winners were able to significantly and demonstrably increase the proportion of women in their management teams. Senior physicians can also hold this leading position on a part-time basis. The award winners are themselves fathers who have taken parental leave and set a good example for their employees in terms of work-life balance. For example, they allow their employees flexible working time models such as job sharing and top sharing.

In the nomination, Professor Poets' team also praised the fact that a "family-friendly" workplace has been created in his department for mornings and without weekend services, which is increasingly used by people returning to work after parental leave.

Professor Renner was also praised by his team for making it possible to bring children to team meetings when there is no childcare available and for organizing childcare for the Christmas party, for example.

More info on the Equality Award and an overview of previous award winners since 2011 can be found at: https://www.medizin.uni-tuebingen.de/de/medizinische-fakultaet/gleichstellung#gleichstellungspreis

Author: Daniela Neu, Equality Officer