Working & Studying with Children
A word from our KSOP Gender Commissioners: "We are employees in different fields and we all have children. Hence, we recently faced rather non-scientific challenges, like changing diapers, bottle-feeding, in short: combining family and work in daily life. We want to share these experiences with all KSOP members and offer assistance and counseling in all upcoming questions, regarding all parental matters."
Support for Child Care
Child care and the associated work-time constraints have remained major obstacles for a career in science. Therefore, KIT has implemented equal opportunities in every day working conditions. The KIT family portal was established to inform all employees and students about options for ensuring the compatibility of studies, job, and family. Since 2010, KIT is certified and audited as family-friendly university (familiengerechte Hochschule) and has been recertified in June 2017 for the second time. Within this audit all measures serving the compatibility of job and family are monitored and advanced. KSOP members and doctoral researchers profit from these activities such as flexible working time models. This means that KIT offers its employees to work according to flexible schedules. For family reasons, also mobile work, work at home offices may be applied for in agreement with the superior. For planning meetings as well as for work in commissions and bodies, superiors and organizers are obliged to find family-friendly dates and times. Furthermore, parents are supported by the Parental Leave Program. This holistic program of KIT is aimed at supporting, advising, and accompanying employees during parental leave and at accompanying their re-entry into the job by providing advice and assistance. Personal conversations concentrate on practical issues, such as child allowance, continued education, and childcare. KIT and KSOP support the compatibility of job and family by a comprehensive childcare concept that is based on three pillars: All-day childcare, holiday care, and emergency care. Since 2008, KSOP supports the KIT childcare institution “Räuberkiste” by funding a 0.5 daycare position. The funding for this measure had to be reduced in 2019 due to financial restrictions, but we still offer 5 kindergarten slots per year for KSOP members. Since 2010, 13 children of KSOP members have been using this service for several years. Furthermore, KSOP provides financial support for child care and financial aid upon request to the KSOP Executive Board as well as monetary support for travel costs for accompanying children/ partners/ nannies.
Information and Helpful Links
KIT's Offers for Employees
KIT also offers a wide range of childcare options for its employees. These include four day care centers: Kita "nanos!", Kita " Räuberkiste", Kita " Schloss-Geister" and Kita " KinderUniversum". “FlexiKids” is KIT’s emergency care service for children aged from six months to twelve years. All employees and students of KIT in case of problems with childcare, such as absence of the daycare provider or a short-term business travel or participation in events at KIT, can use the service (five emergency care places).
In addition, KIT offers to find daycare providers, a parent-child office (Campus North), childcare during school holidays, and other programs (children’s university, Science Camp, pupils laboratories, etc.). The Personnel Development Unit of KIT offers individual advice relating to childcare.
Click here to find more details.
The KIT compensation pool funds promote scientists, laboratory technicians, technicians and scientific-technical staff during pregnancy by a suitable compensational force.
Furthermore the personnel development team conducts an accompanying program for parental leave, which aims to realize the equal opportunities in the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. The program offers a plenty of useful information such as a timeline from pregnancy to parental leave, brochure for Maternity Protection Act, parental allowance and parental leave as well as personal advice.
KIT's Offers for Kids
Further Childcare Possibilities and Links
At KiBU children can be taken care of during the school holidays in Baden-Württemberg on weekdays around office hours from 7 to 17’o clock with a service charge. The school children will experience a varied program with a mixture of sport, handcraft activities and playful learning there.
The UStA organizes a student self-help group Kinderkiste since about 10 years. There carry student parents the initiative to look after infants even younger than one year in lecture times outside normal opening times of day care centers.
Further Links:
Offers for students by the Studierendenwerk
The Studierendenwerk has two daycare-centers for children of students, the center “Sternschnuppe” looks after 20 children between 2-6 years, and the Kindergarden facility “Blumenland” offers 65 spots for children between 1-6 years.
With the Mensa-Kids-Card, children of students up to ten years are allowed to eat lunch for free in all of the cafeterias in Baden-Württemberg. The Studierendenwerk also provides housing suitable for single parents and couples with children.
In the social counseling offers of Studierendenwerk in ISC, pregnant students and students with children can get further advice.
Click here to find more details.
Personal Counseling
Do you have any questions concerning pregnancy or parenthood? Don’t hesitate to contact us! Possible topics include:
- Exchange of experiences
- Maternity protection and parental leave
- Assistance with formalities
- Compatibility of family and work
- Any questions regarding maternity and paternity
