In Austria, around 50,000 women are employed in research and development. This corresponds to approximately 32 percent of all researchers. In terms of full-time equivalents, the proportion is around 25 percent.
At AIT, women make up around 33 percent of all employee groups. Brigitte Bach, spokesperson for the AIT management board, explains: “Equality is an essential part of our organizational development. Diverse teams strengthen quality and innovation in research and technology.”
Equality and diversity strategically established
Numerous studies show that diverse teams promote creativity, innovation, and economic success.
The AIT Austrian Institute of Technology has therefore been focusing on equality and diversity for many years and pursues a comprehensive gender mainstreaming concept throughout the entire employee life cycle. This is based on four central pillars with numerous measures:
1. Young talent in STEM: Inspiring young women to take an interest in research and technology at an early age, for example through cooperation with schools and universities or initiatives such as Daughter's Day.
- Gender- and diversity-sensitive recruiting: Consciously designing selection processes, including through training for managers.
- Development and career: Targeted programs to promote women in research, such as the Female Leadership Program.
- Family-friendly company: Measures to improve work-life balance, e.g., modern parental leave management and flexible working time models.
“In addition to concrete measures, what is needed above all is an organizational culture in which diversity is a matter of course. That is why AIT is continuously working to strengthen an open and inclusive working environment and to promote a conscious approach to diversity in communication and cooperation,” says Brigitte Bach, spokesperson for the management of the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology.
Video: voices from AIT on International Women's Day: www.ait.ac.at/stimmen-zum-weltfrauentag
Information about the topic diversity at AIT: https://www.ait.ac.at/en/career/diversity
Press release on International Women's Day from March 5th 2026: https://presse.ait.ac.at/news-innovation-needs-diversity-ait-strengthens-equality-and-inclusion?id=238132&menueid=34057&l=english