Diversity

To strengthen gender equality work at all levels of the Department, a Parity Board was established by the Department of Architecture at the end of 2019. It is to jointly develop goals and strategies for an equal-opportunities working environment at the TUM Department of Architecture. The initial goals are to anchor the Department’s principles of equality and conduct continuous gender parity monitoring of the Department, as well as achieve a clear institutional anchoring of the board. 

The Parity Board is made up of members of the student body, junior staff, administration, and faculty staff. It is currently an open body with no fixed number of members

The Parity Jour Fixe (PJF) is a platform with the objective to foster a fair, diverse and inclusive work- and research culture at the TUM Department of Architecture. Currently the Gender Equality Officers annually organize five to six events. These raise the awareness on supremacy and inequality regarding the distribution of knowledge, money, and visibility in architecture. They also offer the opportunity to discuss equal opportunities, gender equity and diversity with invited guests from other universities. 

In Germany the distribution of gender at architecture schools has been equal since the 1990s. Today there is more women graduating with a degree in architecture than men. But this distribution is neither being reflected in leading positions of architecture firms nor in professors at universities, where women are still underrepresented. 

Asking the question of why let to the study “Women in Architecture” which combines different research methods to create an overlook of the current situation of female architects. Among other things the authors focused on the question whether there were subject-specific mechanisms of exclusion, that lead to a discrimination of women and a drop-out of female architecture graduates. The quantitative part with Figures, Data, Facts outlines the situation of female architects at universities as well as in the economy. The statistical data is being supplemented by expert interviews. The conversations with 21 professionals that strayed from the traditional architectural career path, so called “drop-outs”, complements the statistic with personal experiences, possible career choices and reviews on the compatibility of family and job.

The study states clearly that there are extensive deficits regarding the topic: many questions regarding gender and architecture remain unanswered and the data availability is insufficient. The aim of the authors is to phrase a research proposal on the grounds of this study, researching the whereabouts of architecture graduates, the compatibility of Care-work and the architecture job as well as the mechanisms of the architectural field.
PDF of the full study

Teaching assignments in the winter semester 2024/25
- Gender Studies in Architecture
- Aktuelle Fragestellungen aus Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft

We look forward to your application!

In order to strengthen and convey equality, diversity and inclusion in architecture teaching, two teaching assignments are awarded each semester by the Parity Board at the Department of Architecture of the TUM School of Engineering and Design (ED).
Gender Studies in Architecture (4 SWS/ 6 ECTS) is thematically linked to gender issues,
Aktuelle Fragestellungen aus Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft (Current Issues in Science and Society) (2 SWS/ 3 ECTS) serves to strengthen women in teaching.

Language of instruction: German or English

The teaching assignments for these courses are publicly advertised and are financially and organisationally situated at the TUM School of Engineering and Design (ED).

Please send your application with CV and a short concept outline for the course by 15.05.2024 by e-mail to gender.arc@ed.tum.de

The award is given yearly to student projects by female students of the Department of Architecture at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) that are distinguished by an innovative and interdisciplinary approach to the assignment to be worked on.

Christiane Thalgott retired as an honorary professor at TUM in 2022. From 2023 onwards, the Christiane Thalgott Prize is to be awarded in a different format:
The prize will be patronized by the department's Parity Board, organized by the current women's representatives and a departmental professorship, and awarded together with Mrs. Thalgott. The professorship involved is always the one whose students won the prize the previous year. The prize money of €500 is funded by the Diversity Office of the ED. The winners are also invited to an interview with Ms Thalgott in Berg.

The jury consists of Christiane Thalgott, two professors, two representatives of the academic staff, and one woman's representative from the Department of Architecture.

Three factors, in particular, are relevant for the awarding of the prize: "synergies from findings from different fields", "socially relevant topic" and "quality of the work". The results of design projects, as well as theoretical work from supplementary and specialization subjects can be submitted. 

Formal Requirements: 

• Prize is open to female students only
• Work from the past academic year 
• Project must have been conducted at TUM (BA or MA level)

Nominations as self-application by female students to gender.arc@ed.tum.de - the following must be submitted:

• One A3 page as an overview (PDF) with a short summary of the task as well as a short description of the project including the interdisciplinary approach of the socially relevant topics addressed in the work
• Original work in PDF format (reduced file size)

Please note: Submission by e-mail only, no data transfer via file hosting (wetransfer, etc.).

Annual application deadline: 15 August