The ranking was published by the Center of Excellence Women and Science CEWS.

In addition, the CEWS has provided a PowerPoint presentation online (in German) that can be used by those involved in equal opportunities work to present the ranking within their own university.

The CEWS has published the tenth version of this established, long-standing quality assurance tool for equal opportunity and gender equality at universities. The ranking is based on data from the official university statistics recorded in 2019. The objective of the ranking is to use quantitative indicators to continually compare the achievements of universities across Germany when it comes to ensuring gender equality. The ranking complements other instruments of quality assurance such as competitions (Program for Women Professors), evaluations and certifications.

To determine the ranking, the CEWS developed a multidimensional indicator model that takes into consideration the different phases of academic qualification. The CEWS university ranking includes the subjects offered at universities and relies on the cascade model. Depending on level of qualification and type of university, the reference values are the proportion of women among students compared to the national average as well as the proportion of women with doctorates to women students. This ensures comparability of universities with a technical focus with those focused on social sciences.

In addition to the university ranking, the publication comprises a ranking of the states in Germany based on similar indicators.

The ranking is directed at anyone at universities and in politics who is interested in the quality and innovative potential of our universities. Including accomplishments in the way of gender equality is therefore essential in order to introduce or continue effective measures for further improving the conditions for women in academia and research.