Federal Family Minister Honors Siegen University

Diversity first: The University of Siegen receives a certificate with permanent character in Berlin for audit berufundfamilie (job and family)/ audit familiengerechte hochschule (family-friendly university).

The University of Siegen has been committed to combining studies/career with family for years. In 2006, the university was awarded the title of "Family-Friendly University" for the first time. The necessary audit is repeated regularly. In 2019, the university once again met all the criteria and received on 25 June 2019 in Berlin the certificate for the audit berufundfamilie/audit familiengerechte hochschule from the Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Dr Franziska Giffey, and Oliver Schmitz, Managing Director of berufundfamilie Service GmbH. It is the fifth award for the University of Siegen.

The university had previously successfully completed the dialogue procedure for the audit, which is open to employers who, with the audit, have been pursuing a strategic family and life-phase conscious personnel policy for at least nine years. The successful re-audits were followed by the dialogue procedure, which is rewarded with a certificate of lasting character.

"The award with the new certificate is a great success, it confirms the long-standing family-oriented direction of the university and the creation of sustainable structures to support students and employees with family tasks. It also contributes to the continuous further development of the topic of compatibility of work/study and family at our university," said Dr. Elisabeth Heinrich, Equal Opportunities Officer at the University of Siegen. Important goals for the coming years are the expansion of the family-friendly infrastructure at the university's new locations in the city center and the implementation in the university's internal quality management of the topic family-friendly university.

For students and employees with children, the University of Siegen offers numerous care and counselling services. These include the student union's day-care center with a total of 70 places, the flexible "Flexi" childcare facility, holiday childcare and the parents' initiative "Krabbelstube". The Family Service Office, which was established in 2007, is the contact point for all university members who do family work. For example, they receive free and individual advice on all questions concerning the compatibility of family and career.

University employees also have the option of flexible work hours or, depending on the area of work, the option of working up to 50 percent of their time in their home office. In addition, there are regular information events on topics such as "parental allowance" or "nursing care".

Here you will find offers and contact persons of the Family Service Office.

The audit "berufundfamilie" or "familygerechte Hochschule" is offered and carried out by berufundfamilie Service GmbH. This year, 325 employers nationwide - 171 companies, 131 institutions and 23 universities - received the audit certificate.

Federal Family Minister Franziska Giffey (l.) presented the certificates to the representatives of the universities in Bamberg, Aschaffenburg, Paderborn, Bielefeld and Siegen. Dr. Elisabeth Heinrich (2nd from right) accepted the award on behalf of the University of Siegen. On the right John-Philip Hammersen (Managing Director of the non-profit Hertie Foundation). Photo: berufundfamilie, Thomas Ruddies / Christoph Petras.