You* will be treated equally now - 30 years of the Working Group for Equal Treatment Issues

On 26 June 1991, the Working Group for Equal Treatment Issues (AfG) was constituted at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. In the first meeting’s minutes, a statement by the three female delegates reads as follows:

"In order to better assess our situation as women at the Academy, it is urgently required to collect 'statistics'. It would be interesting to know the exact percentage of women among lecturers, assistants, students and other staff listed by departments, or fields of study."

Much has happened since the feminist struggles of women in the early days. A women's report and women's quotas were fought for and established. In the context of the Austrian university landscape, the Academy has become a pioneer in terms of women's quotas. Anti-discrimination, equality and the advancement of women have become central concepts of the Academy and in recent years the terms queer, decolonial and intersectional have also found their way into the wording of Academy policies. However, practice does not always match these institutional self-descriptions. The debates surrounding an anti-discriminatory institutional policy are complex and contradictory.

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the AfG, founding members will report on the hardships of the early days. We would like to compare these perspectives with the experiences of the last few years.

What were the beginnings of the Working Group for Equal Treatment issues? What were the experiences and struggles? What has been achieved? What are the criticisms? What struggles still need to be overcome?

We invite you to reflect upon and discuss with us the current debates around the topic of equality at an art university!