Summary
Internal networking forum designed to improve understanding of gender issues in the arts, academia, teaching, and administration.
Target groups
general staff/administrative staff / managerial staff / scientific staff / artistic-scientific staff / University Management /
Implementing organization
University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna - Administrative Department for Equality, Gender Studies & Diversity /Contact
Dr. Andrea Ellmeier; ellmeier-a@mdw.ac.at
Implemented/introduced
Implemented at University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna since 2011
Relation to gender equality targets
Supports all objectives of the Women’s Advancement Plan – gender-balanced language, transmitting gender related news.
The objective(s) of the tool
Discussions and anouncements of matters gender/queer throughout the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw)
Declaration and communication of the gender and diversity principles established by the ministry
Announcements for all events relevant to gender and queer issues; diversity issues also included since 2015 (new Rectorate)
Promotion of interdepartmental projects
Sharing of good practice
Dissemination of all information needed for gender-related work, dialogue, suggestions, imitation effect
Description of the tool
Gender_mdw is an internal forum for the promotion of gender sensitivity and understanding in the arts, academia, teaching and administration. It was initiated in 2011 by Ulrike Sych, then Vice Rector for Academic Affairs and the Advancement of Women. Since its first meeting in December 2011, the forum has continued to meet twice every semester: in October, January, March and May of every academic year.
Agenda and minutes are prepared by the Administrative Department for Equality, Gender Studies and Diversity. Per department, department heads nominate one to three people as representative(s) for gender/queer issues, who report back to their departments. There are 24 departments at mdw. On average 25-30 people attend each meeting.
An agenda is prepared for each meeting, setting a focal point and (almost) always including the item “reports from members.” Topics already covered include: homosexuality – psychotherapeutic, historic and social contexts; presentation of gender/queer-call projects; current challenges for the Working Group on Equal Treatment Issues at mdw; mdw initiatives for refugees (www.mdw.ac.at/refugees_mdw); contextualization and report on “Materialities and gender” – 6th Conference of the German Gender Studies Association in Berlin, February 12-13, 2016; Hannah Sophie Lindmaier – “Masculine” or “feminine”? Guitar and gender around 1900 – with discussion; launch of the leaflet “Equality-based scholarship: informed argumentation for gender studies”; workshop with Vlatka Frketić (adult educator) – What do we mean by diversity? What constitutes a diverse university? What can diversity do? Walking the tightrope between attitudes, perspectives and expectations. Minutes of the meetings are sent to all members.
How the tool works, practical experience
The Gender_mdw forum is well-suited to a performing arts university because it offers easy access to gender and diversity-issues and thus includes as many people as possible in the transition to a gender-balanced university. The Gender_mdw forum invites not only members of the academic staff, but also arts and administration staff, to come together to discuss gender and diversity issues, to network together, and perhaps to devise and conduct joint projects. Events are an integral part of the curriculum at a university for music and performing arts because presentation and performance are skills required of any performer. Therefore, one of the objectives of the forum is represented in the sharing of ideas, intended to render considerations of gender aspects for every performance event more natural for colleagues.
About 25-30 people attend each meeting, and sometimes the forum is open to other selected colleagues from within the university (administration, academic staff, students) – as for example when the topic was “What do we mean by diversity? What constitutes a diverse university? What advantages does diversity offer? Walking the tightrope between attitudes, perspectives and expectations.”
Experiences: The forum has substantially contributed to interdisciplinary team building: for example, the project “A place for Fanny Hensel,” which involved 8 of the 24 mdw departments and resulted in a lasting cooperation between colleagues from arts and sciences.
Special Thanks:
…to Ulrike Sych, formerly Vice Rector and now Rector of mdw, who founded the Gender_mdw forum in 2011. Thank you also to the Vice Rector for Academic Affairs and the Advancement of Women, Claudia Walkensteiner-Preschl, whose initiative in creating the Gender Issues lecture series, documented in the “mdw Gender Wissen” book series, made a substantial contribution to the creation of GenderKnowledge at mdw.
Attachments
Click here to visit the forum Website Gender_mdw (in German only)