.png){kind=logo}
equality
position paper
On November 16, 2022, the VSUZH adopted the following position paper on equality:
Actions FOR EPD 2023
The Equal Pay Day (EPD) will take place on February 18, 2023 this year and will make the wage difference between men and women visible. In relation to the median wage, women earn 14.4% less than men (source: LSE 2018). Converted into time, this means that women work without pay until February 18 before you too are paid for your work. This is despite the fact that wage discrimination is illegal in Switzerland under the Gender Equality Act. In order to draw attention to this problem, the Equal Opportunities Commission is organising a campaign with events on wage inequality, finance and equality from February 27th to March 1st, 2023. On Instagram or here you can find more information about the EPD.
​
Program
Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th February: Stand action
On these two days we have a stand in the atrium where you can get information about equality. Members of the VSUZH Equal Opportunities Commission will be there to answer your questions and show what we are committed to. We also have goodies that you can pick up.
Time: 9:45-14:15 both days
​
Tuesday 28 February: Wage Negotiation Workshop
How do I negotiate a reasonable starting salary? The Fachstelle Equal Opportunities of the Canton of Zurich mediates in their Wage Negotiation Workshop how to confidently and convincingly negotiate your salary.
​
Location:
-
at Zentrum, the exact location will be announced soon
Time:
-
18:15-19:45
​
If you can't come by:
Even if the approach to closing the gender pay gap should be "fix the system" and not "fix the woman", there are still some important things that you can take into your own hands. We'll show you on Instagram important tips and useful resources, with which you can prevent the Gender Pay Gap and the Gender Pension Gap.
​
​
Review of past EPD
​
​
The VSUZH equality Commission
In recent years, gender equality has come more and more into the spotlight and is now an extremely important topic for students, which includes rethinking of the current situation.
Meeting each other on an equal footing is key for the exchange that we learn at the university. There is no place for unequal treatment. The aim is that no one experiences any disadvantages.
The VSUZH equality Commission
To give a quick overview of what we are doing, here are some of the current topics:
-
Why do fewer women than men run for the VSUZH Council?
-
Why do women stand up less for commissions and other organs?
-
Why do women talk less than men during meetings?
-
Why does the proportion of women at UZH gradually decrease among the higher positions?
-
Why are women a minority after the doctoral level at the latest?
-
The higher the position, the more say, influence and decision-making powers. Do women not want that or why are there fewer women with this responsibility?
-
How can this process be counteracted starting in the VSUZH Council?
Would you like to work with us to find solutions to these and other questions? Then you are at the right place!
What do we do?
As a student commission, the GSK is actively committed to gender equality at the University of Zurich. Equality means equal opportunities, equal rights and equal participation of everyone in (university) life - regardless of gender, romantic and sexual orientation as well as cultural and sexual identity. Social categories of identity, sexuality, origin, relationships and the body shape us humans and influence social roles. These roles can be very restrictive and are often the source of (structural and individual) discrimination. We want to raise awareness of these issues and take action against discrimination at these levels. We see ourselves as a contact point for students who are affected by discrimination in any way, but also as a place for students who want to get involved in the interests of our goals. To this end, we work together with the Department of Equality and Diversity at the University of Zurich and the equality commissions of other Swiss student bodies.
And what exactly?
One of the core tasks of the GSK is the annual Equal Pay Day (EPD) at UZH. For this purpose, stand campaigns are organized in order to make as many students as possible aware of the gender-specific wage differences between men and women. In Switzerland, men earn an average of 14.6% (2016) more salary than women. In other words, after a year of work, women would have to continue to work for 14.6% of the year to get the same wage. The date of the EPD symbolically marks the gender-specific difference in pay and changes from year to year. Assuming men and women get the same hourly wage: Then the EPD stands for the day up to which women work for free, while men have been paid for their work since January 1st. If you want to help with the organization, please write to us at: gsk@vsuzh.ch
You can find more information about the EPD here.
In addition, the GSK advocates gender equality measures at the UZH and VSUZH. This ranges from awareness-raising measures (e.g. use of gender-neutral language in public speeches and the administration at UZH) to legal and regulatory measures, such as the uncomplicated change of one's own gender entry (e.g. on the student ID), to direct measures (e.g. Diaper changing tables accessible to all genders in the UZH buildings).
What do we offer?
We offer space for debates on current issues as well as current discourses in gender research. We would also like to offer the opportunity to try out and develop your own identity within a protected space.
We publish current dates and events of other associations on the topic of equality on our Facebook page and Instagram.
Gender-neutral language at UZH
The gender of a person is not apparent. People can be cis, trans, binary, non-binary, or a-gender. So how do you talk about them?
There are two guidelines for gender-sensitive language available to members of the University of Zurich.
Small glossary
Referent_in, Referent*in (possible spelling in german)
cis - person who identifies with the gender assigned at / before birth
trans - person does not identify with the gender assigned at / before birth
binary - person is male or female
non-binary - person is not or not only male or female
asexual - person is outside the gender spectrum