The History of GenderNet at Freie Universität Berlin

From 2011 to 2015, the communication and innovation network GenderNet facilitated collaboration among the various individuals and institutions at Freie Universität Berlin involved in Gender Studies and gender equality. At the same time, GenderNet provided flexible, project-based structures for defining the tasks at hand in teaching, research, support for junior researchers, and organizational development; for pursuing these tasks academically; and for developing concepts to surmount current challenges.

In keeping with Freie Universität’s overriding concept as the “International Network University”, this meant cultivating Gender Studies and advancing a practice of equality and inclusion that is mindful of cultural, social, national, and religious diversity in their many facets while boosting international exchange and transnational cooperation.

Project teams placed their focus on the following areas and produced corresponding recommendations and draft resolutions for the university leadership:

• Gender in teaching
• Internationalization
• Diversity
• Gender in mathematics, IT, natural sciences, and technology
• Collaboration in the application for the German Universities Excellence Initiative’s second line of funding and in executing Freie Universität Berlin’s winning future concepts

The GenderNet management team coordinated the work of the project teams as a supervisory committee. One of its central duties was to guide the planning and organization of the process that gradually merged the establishments promoting Gender Studies at Freie Universität Berlin into the Margherita von Brentano Center.

The officeholders of equality and Gender Studies at Freie Universität Berlin who were represented on the GenderNet management team are carrying forward their collaboration on the Margherita von Brentano Center Board of Directors.