Diversity at HU

Parenthood and family

Academic studies are often associated with a stage of life prior to employment or starting a family. However, this is not true for all students. In 2016, six percent of students in Germany had at least one child, female students more frequently than their male colleagues.

Studying with children highly impacts study progress. Students who are parents are more likely to be enrolled in a part-time course or effectively study part-time despite being enrolled in a full-time programme. They face the further challenge of coordinating between classes, exam periods and caring for their children.

 

The family support centre

The university's family support centre offers support for finding individual solutions to make the balancing act between family, studies, employment or care for family members more feasible. One such possibility is applying for a compensation for disadvantages which may encompass alternative forms of examination or longer submission deadlines. The university's commitment to being a family-friendly university also includes parent-child rooms, nappy changing rooms and leisure activities for families.

The student body's daycare centre „Die Humbolde“ and studierendenWERK's daycare „Die Lupe“ provides daycare for children of HU members, who may also request support from the family support centre for arranging child care during special events. Further counselling for students with children is offered by the student body's counselling service studying with children.

 

Family-friendly employment conditions

Via the service agreement on flexible working hours, HU staff have the possibilty of organising their working hours flexibly. Furthermore, staff can be apply for exceptional leave on a short-term notice in order to organise care for family members. For additional information on maternity protection and parental leave, please contact the personnel department or the staff council.

In 2020, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin was once again accredited by the audit family-friendly university. As a result of this audit, a target agreement outlinig the university's 2020 to 2022 strategy on advancing family-friendly measures was developed.

 


Contact

Family Support Centre
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Unter den Linden 6
Room 1028
10117 Berlin

Phone consultation
Wednesday 9:00 - 12:00 am
Telephone: +49 30 2093 20015
Email: familien@hu-berlin.de

 

Further HU resources

Family support centre [English]
www.familienbuero.hu-berlin.de

Audit family-friendly university [English]
www.familienbuero.hu-berlin.de/en/strategy-1/audit-family-friendly-university

The family-friendly mission of the HU Berlin [English]
www.familienbuero.hu-berlin.de/en/strategy-1/the-family-friendly-mission-of-the-hu-berlin/the-family-friendly-mission-of-the-hu-berlin

Information on the compensation for disadvantages [English]
www.familienbuero.hu-berlin.de/en/information-for-families/family-and-studies/study-organization/compensation-for-disadvantage/compensation-for-disadvantage-nachteilsausgleich

Daycare centre Die Humbolde [English]
www.familienbuero.hu-berlin.de/en/childcare-school-and-free-time/childcare-at-humboldt-university/die-humbolde-daycare-centre

Student body counselling studying with children [German // English on request]
www.refrat.de/beratung.kind.html

Comission family-friendly university [German]
gremien.hu-berlin.de/de/kommissionen/kfgh

Humboldt children's university [German]
www.hu-berlin.de/de/pr/veranstaltungen/regelmaessige-veranstaltungen/kinderuni

Service agreement on flexible working hours [German]
vertretungen.hu-berlin.de/de/personalrat/dienstvereinbarungen/dv-gleit_html

 

External resources   

studierendenWERK counselling for students with children [English]
www.stw.berlin/en/counselling/themen/students-with-children.html

Daycare centre Die Lupe [English]
www.stw.berlin/en/nursery.html