Appointment and habilitation committees

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The AKG is represented on appointment and habilitation committees in an advisory function.

Following constitution, the gender composition of the committee is to be immediately reported to the AKG for verification of the 50% female quota.

The AKG is to be invited to all committee meetings in a timely manner.

All written documents, particularly protocols, applications, expert reports, etc., are to be sent to the office of the AKG.

In appointment procedures, the text of the job advertisement must be immediately submitted to the AKG for its inspection.

If the AKG has any reason to believe that a decision made by the appointments or habilitation committee constitutes discrimination, it shall be entitled to appeal to the arbitration committee within a period of three weeks.

From the time when a complaint is filed with the arbitration committee, the university body is prohibited from executing the decision.

Duties of the Appointment Committees in relation to the AKG

Members of the AKG must be invited to all meetings in due time (ideally simultaneously with the members of the appointment committee).
With regard to structure, the AKG must be informed immediately of the composition of the board so that a 50% quota of women may be reviewed. The quota is calculated according to § 20a (2) UG:
“In the case of collegial bodies with an uneven number of members, the calculation is carried out by reducing the number of members by one, and determining the required proportion of women for this number.”
In the case of a collegial body consisting of nine members, the quota is fulfilled if at least four main members are female. The corresponding form can be found at the bottom of this page.
All written documents, such as applications, minutes, reports, etc., must be sent to the AKG office (ideally as drafts for review and reaction by the AKG before being approved by the board of appeals).

Duties of the AKG in Appointment Committees

The representatives of the AKG are members of the appointment committees in an advisory capacity. The AKG is not involved in specialist decision making, but performs the duty of preventing discrimination. In particular, this includes:

Counteracting gender-based discrimination (female and male)
Counteracting discrimination based on ethnicity, religion, worldview, age, or sexual orientation
Counteracting prohibited selection criteria (B-GlBG 2004 No. 65 § 5, Paragraph 4, Women’s Advancement Plan at the mdw § 22, Paragraph 4)
Mandate the use of gender-fair language, prescribed by law, in all written documents (Women’s Advancement Plan § 1)

Lodging a Complaint with the Arbitration Commission

In the event of incorrect composition of the collegial body, the AKG has the opportunity to lodge a complaint with the arbitration commission within four weeks. The duties of the arbitration commission can be found in UG, § 43.
If the AKG has reason to believe that a decision passed by the appointment committee constitutes discrimination, it is entitled to appeal to the arbitration commission within three weeks.
Once an appeal has been submitted to the arbitration commission, all decisions of the appointment committees are deemed invalid until clarification by the arbitration commission has been reached.

Legal Bases

Austrian University Act 2002 (UG)

According to the University Act, equality is one of the university's guiding principles and duties. The University Act stipulates that all members of collegial bodies are bound to nondisclosure (§ 48), and regulates the rights and duties of appointment committees in relation to the AKG (§ 98).

Austrian Equal Opportunities Act (B-GlBG)

The Equal Opportunities Act regulates the equality of women and men, the promotion of women, and equal treatment without distinction by ethnic origin, religion or worldview, age, or sexual orientation (anti-discrimination) in employment and training, as well as the prohibition of discrimination in connection with studies.

Women’s Advancement Plan (FFP)

The aim of the women’s Advancement plan is to eliminate existing under-representations of women in all organisational units, at all hierarchical levels, in all capacities and activities, and to implement equality and the promotion of women in personnel policy, distribution of resources, research, development of the arts, and teaching. In addition, the women’s advancement plan contains provisions for gender-equitable language, gender mainstreaming, and the establishment and expansion of women’s research and gender studies at the mdw. The FFP also contains provisions for position announcements and invitations for applications, selection criteria, and the rights and duties of appointment committees (§ 21-23).

We look forward to productive and collegial collaboration!

Further information on appeal procedures at mdw can be found on mdw.ac.at/berufungsverfahren.