Equal opportunity monitoring is of central importance in order to measure the status of gender equality and to review the impact of measures. At the University of Graz, a differentiated monitoring system has been used for many years to record the representation of women and men among academic staff and students. Much of the data collected is included in the intellectual capital report, i.e. in the university's reporting to the responsible ministry.
Annual reports and printed materials published every four years are a result of this organizational self-observation - see publications and materials. These reporting obligations are anchored in the statutes (Intranet: Equal Opportunities Plan and Women's Promotion Plan).
However, equality monitoring goes beyond mere data collection and reporting. Incentives and bonuses for progress are also awarded on the basis of the data collected. The university rewards branches of science that make progress in equalizing career opportunities for women and men.
Gender budgeting is a key instrument for this.
"Gender Budgeting besteht in der (Re-)Organisation, Verbesserung, Entwicklung und Evaluierung von budgetpolitischen Prozessen. Es bedeutet eine genderbasierte Beurteilung von Budgets, die Einbeziehung einer Gender Perspektive auf allen Ebenen des Budgetprozesses und die Umgestaltung von Einnahmen und Ausgaben im Hinblick auf eine Förderung der Geschlechtergleichstellung." (Definition des Europarats 2005)
Austria has enshrined gender budgeting in the federal constitution since May 2009 and, with the budget law reform, has made a legal commitment to implement gender budgeting as a key aspect of impact orientation in all public budgets from 2013 onwards. This is intended to lead from a previously expenditure-oriented planning to a result and impact-oriented management. Gender budgeting promotes (social and economic) equality and the participation of women in decision-making processes, provides an important basis for decision-making, creates transparency and contributes to the effectiveness of budget policy and an increase in overall economic efficiency.
The central questions are:
"What impact do budget policy decisions and measures have on gender equality? How are gender inequalities reduced, increased or remain unchanged?"
For us, gender budgeting means analysing on three levels:
- The direct effect via the distribution of funds,
- the indirect effect via user analyses and
- the underlying processes and decision-making structures.
Based on the development plan and performance agreement, a monitoring system was developed on the way to gender-equitable resource allocation and integrated into the existing gender equality controlling.