Work Life Balance in the context of a trendsetting human resources strategy, means the reconciliation of private and professional life. Both aspects mingle with each other in a constantly changing work and living environment. As an organisational strategy, work life balance pursues a balanced proportion of work and private life through professional measures and policies for the securement of work life balance. The focus lies on the development of general conditions for an improved reconciliation of work/study and family life.

Reconciliation of work/study and family life

The Integration Team supports RWTH Aachen in its development towards a family-friendly university. Only family-friendly conditions and structures provide real equal opportunities for members of the university. RWTH Aachen University has set the goal to contribute to the improvement of the university culture which allows a successful reconciliation of work/ study and family life for male and female employees and students.

Flexibility and efficiency, intelligent work and study solutions and a positive leadership and teaching culture will be equally promoted as a human resources strategy which offers career models for women and men in consideration of their family engagements (see preamble of the agreement on objectives “audit family-friendly university”). In general, women are still the ones who have to decide between professional and family life or have to forego a career at all.

"work and family audit"

Since 2008, RWTH Aachen University undergoes the trend-setting certification process of the berufundfamilie gGmbH, an initiative of the Hertie Foundation, and was certified with the “work and family audit “in May 2009. The “work and family audit“ is a management device for a family-friendly arrangement of work and study conditions at universities which will create real differences for all status groups at the university.

More than 850 organisations as well as private and public institutions participate in the auditing process. Universities represent a proportion of 13 percent with 110 participating institutions . Next to RWTH Aachen 14 other universities are certified as family-friendly in North-Rhine Westphalia. On June 17, 2009, the public certificate of the “work and family audit” was given to RWTH Aachen University in Berlin. The award giving ceremony for the certificate holders was carried out by the patrons, former Federal Minister of Family, Seniors, Women and Youth Ursula von der Leyen and Undersecretary of State Dagmar Wöhrl of the Federal Ministry of Economics. The attainment of the certificate highlights the great accomplishments of RWTH Aachen University in the area of work life balance during the last years.