Women account for 49% of all employees at the ZHAW. At first glance, this suggests parity. A closer look, however, reveals a different picture: women are significantly less likely to hold a professorship or a leadership position at the ZHAW, accounting for 36% of professors and 41% of managers at the end of 2024. This is particularly notable given that women now make up the majority of students at the ZHAW. Their share increased from 50% in 2020 to 54% in 2024.
This pattern, whereby the proportion of women steadily declines from student level to professorships and onwards into senior leadership has a name: the leaky pipeline. This describes the systematic loss of women along the academic career path. The ZHAW has set itself the long-term target of ensuring that the difference between the proportion of female students and the proportion of female professors and women in leadership positions does not exceed 10 percentage points. At the end of 2024, the gap across the ZHAW as a whole still stood at 18 percentage points for professorships and 13 percentage points for leadership positions. Depending on the School, however, the gap ranges from as little as 2 percentage points to as much as 36 percentage points.
Leadership positions by management level and sex
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ML I Men | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 |
| ML I Women | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| ML II Men | 30 | 30 | 31 | 31 | 29 | 31 | 29 | 27 | 26 |
| ML II Women | 14 | 15 | 18 | 17 | 19 | 23 | 21 | 21 | 21 |
| ML III Men | 233 | 234 | 242 | 254 | 268 | 273 | 280 | 285 | 301 |
| ML III Women | 180 | 192 | 191 | 186 | 188 | 191 | 211 | 201 | 213 |
| Men in management positions | 272 | 273 | 283 | 294 | 306 | 313 | 318 | 321 | 335 |
| Women in management positions | 197 | 210 | 210 | 204 | 208 | 215 | 233 | 224 | 237 |
Svenja Witzig
Head of the Diversity Unit and the ZHAW internal support service, ZHAW President’s Office
“The ZHAW is constantly learning that gender equality can only work as a cross-cutting issue for which everyone has to take responsibility. Achieving this requires not only critical reflection on accepted norms and implicit assumptions, but also clear structures, processes, responsibilities, objectives and data – together with a mindset that recognises equal opportunities as a defining indicator of quality.”
Establishing new foundations for recruitment
The ZHAW focuses on recruitment because it is a critical lever in determining who is reached and feels encouraged to apply in the first place and who makes it into the pipeline. To this end, the university has revised its recruitment principles and incorporated the numerous measures taken by the Executive Board in recent years within a new set of guidelines: a guide to equitable recruitment practices, supporting tools and resources, a new job advertisement template, and the appointment of a designated diversity representative on search and selection committees.
The purpose of this role is to accompany the entire recruitment process with a critical perspective – from the job advertisement through to the interview questions and the final hiring decision. The diversity representative is expected to raise questions such as whether a CV with gaps or leadership experience gained in part-time roles is assessed in the same way as a linear career path, or what unconscious biases might be influencing the recruitment process.
To ensure that these tools do not merely exist on paper, the Diversity Unit put together introductory training programmes for management. In early 2024, around 60 managers took part in the relevant webinars; senior staff at the School of Management and Law and the School of Engineering had already received training in 2023. In June 2025, an in-depth workshop was held with the School management team at the School of Life Sciences and Facility Management. Depending on interest, comparable workshops may be rolled out across additional Schools.
Visible progress at two Schools
Development is most advanced in those areas where focussed efforts have been sustained over the longest period. At the School of Engineering, where structural change is known to take time, the proportion of female professors reached its highest level in five years in 2024. The SheroES employee network meets regularly to exchange ideas and experiences. At the same time, female role models from the School of Engineering are increasingly being showcased on LinkedIn. Meanwhile, students have launched an initiative of their own: She Shapes Tech. The initiative aims to strengthen networks, increase support and enhance visibility for women in technology at the School of Engineering and beyond. The project is supported by the Sustainable Impact Programme as part of its Instant Impact Fund and Student Project Fund.
At the School of Management and Law, a dedicated academic mentoring programme is being implemented to support female talent. The programme has shown encouraging results. Since 2026, the programme has also been open to male teaching and research staff. However, where candidates possess the same qualifications, applications from women continue to be given preference.
Thanks to the federal programme for equal opportunities, it is also possible, for the first time, to evaluate whether ZHAW-wide measures are actually being applied and how effective they are in practice. A further sub-project is evaluating the specific measures implemented at the School of Engineering in order to gain insights into their impact, cultural acceptance and the future structures required to strengthen gender equality initiatives over the long term.
Achieving appropriate representation of women in management positions and professorships will continue to require joint efforts. The conscious and critical examination of recruitment processes also promotes transparency and professionalism, which is why equal opportunities ultimately benefit everyone.
