The event will focus on the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on academic careers in Germany. In particular for scholars in fixed-term qualification positions and tenure-track professorships, time-consuming conversion to online teaching, significantly reduced or cancelled research time, the cessation of stays abroad, and the limitation of networking opportunities often lead to lower publication output and a smaller number of third-party grant applications and consequently to new career risks. For academics with care-giving responsibilities, the multiple burdens caused by working from home, childcare, homeschooling and looking after sick relatives exacerbate already existing inequality dynamics. Particularly women, who take on care-giving tasks for children and family members to a disproportionately greater extent than their male colleagues, pay for this additional care work not only with a further deterioration of their work-life balance but also with a reduction of their academic productivity and, as a result, a reduction of their chances of success in review processes and in staffing and appointment procedures.

At the event, we intend to discuss measures to sensibly and effectively counteract these new inequality dynamics and to secure fair career opportunities. After the welcoming by HU President Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dr. Sabine Kunst, the introductory lecture will be held by Prof. Dr. Anja Steinbeck, spokesperson for the Universities’ Member Group on the Executive Board of the German Rectors’ Conference and rector of Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf. In the ensuing panel discussion, the following guests will share their insights:

• Dr. Maria Keil, School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, University of Bristol
• Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dr. Sabine Kunst, president of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and spokesperson for the Berlin University Alliance
• Prof. Dr. Almut Peukert, Department of Sociology, Universität Hamburg
• Prof. Dr. Anja Steinbeck, spokesperson for the Universities' Member Group on the Executive Board of the German Rectors' Conference and Rector of Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf

Moderation: Dr. Antje Dallmann, coordinator of the English ProFiL Line, and Dorothea Jansen, head of the ProFiL Programme