Diversity and equality

As part of the FHNW's diversity policy, the School of Engineering and Environment is committed to recognising and utilising the diversity of its students and staff as well as its various departments as a potential and resource.

We are committed to equal opportunities and barrier-free access to higher education, as well as generally ensuring that access to higher education is open to students with different backgrounds and educational backgrounds. One of the challenges we face is that women in particular are still underrepresented in engineering and computer science.

Selected offers of the FHNW School of Engineering and Environment

Various programmes and offers help to make the student body more diverse:

Individualisation of the study programme

An important prerequisite for diversity in the sense of variety is the recognition of individuality and the consideration of different lifestyles. The modular training concept of the FHNW School of Engineering enables prospective students to customise their studies, both in terms of content and time. There is a choice of full-time, part-time and part-time study models.

Barrier-free studies

We also endeavour to enable all students to study without barriers and offer various forms of support depending on the individual's needs.

International exchange

There are also various opportunities to broaden your international horizons, for example through exchange semesters, international tracks for selected degree programmes or trinational degree programmes. We also offer exchange students from abroad a wide range of attractive study programmes: from exchange semesters to fully-fledged Bachelor's degree programmes or the Master in Engineering.

International
Exchange semesters, industrial internships, or international tracks: we offer a wide range of options for students to broaden their horizons internationally.

Equality, anti-discrimination and equal opportunities for employees

The FHNW School of Engineering and Environment is not only committed to equality, anti-discrimination and equal opportunities for its students, but also for its employees. In addition to access to education, we also want to open up access to careers and networks. Obstacles that restrict the participation of certain groups of people should be removed.

We support the compatibility of different phases and cycles of life (studies, career, family, etc.) by allowing different working models and (co-)developing and providing concrete, practical support programmes and projects.

The aim is to anchor diversity and inclusion at all levels and across all subject areas. It is important to build on commonalities and not emphasise differences. In order to anchor diversity and inclusion in the FHNW School of Engineering and Environment in the long term, the topics should be integrated into all service areas wherever possible. Below are a few examples of projects and activities in the area of diversity and inclusion:

Research projects with diversity aspects

Diversity is increasingly becoming an important topic in research and development projects, often implicitly, but more and more often explicitly. Some research projects in the technical field also pursue very specific diversity objectives. Prof Dr Silvia Mastellone, for example, in addition to her role as project manager in the National Centre of Competence in Research NCCR ‘Dependable Ubiquitous Automation’, also works as an equal opportunities officer.

The added value of diverse teams is also undisputed and has been proven by numerous studies and examples. People with very different backgrounds and origins also work together at the FHNW School of Engineering and Environment.

Networking and mentoring

Together with the ZHAW, the OST and other FHNW universities, the FHNW School of Engineering and Environment is involved in the SteppingInto cooperation programme. This career programme supports STEM students in actively tackling their professional careers. All areas of life are included right from the start. The FHNW School of Engineering is also a supporting member of the Swiss Association of Women Engineers SVIN, a nationwide association that brings together women in scientific and technical professions.

The SVIN supports the network for female IT professionals donna informatica, in which female computer scientists from the FHNW are also active. Its ICT mentoring programme is aimed at all women who work in the IT field, are interested in IT or are training in this area.