"The University of Graz is a workplace for people with very different talents and needs. We are proud of that. Together, we are making our university a place of practiced diversity," says Rector Peter Riedler, underlining the importance of promoting diversity in all areas. The "Uniqability meets University" project is particularly successful in the inclusion of people with disabilities in the workplace.
Around 65 employees with disabilities are currently working at the University of Graz as part of this initiative. These are people with a degree of disability of at least 50 per cent, as confirmed by the authorities. They can work part-time for up to 20 hours a week, depending on what suits them.
They found their way to the university via a procedure developed especially for them: "People from this target group don't apply for a specific, advertised position, but send unsolicited applications," explains Lydia Kurz-Frieß, the person of contact in the Human Resources department. Thanks to the cooperation with the Austrian Public Employment Service (AMS) and associations such as Jugend am Werk, Chance B or LebensGroß, this opportunity is now being taken up more and more.
"We invite each applicant to a personal interview to explore their abilities, skills and wishes. Then, taking into account their respective impairments, we create a suitable workplace," says Kurz-Frieß, describing the procedure. This allows the new employees to contribute their talents in the best possible way.
The range of employment is diverse: administrative and scientific activities are just as much in demand as manual tasks in the Botanical Garden or in the university's own workshops. A team from the "Uniqability meets University" project, which is part of the Human Resources department, is on hand to support the new colleagues as well as the managers of the departments and institutes where they work. It provides support with organisational tasks, training needs or necessary adaptations.
Regular feedback sessions with all parties involved confirm the success of the initiative for the sustainable inclusion of people with disabilities – as do the employment figures. Like every employer, the University of Graz is legally obliged to employ one person with a disability for every 25 employees. In 2023, it met the quota by 98 per cent, in 2015 only by 55 per cent. In 2020, the Austrian Court of Audit found that the University of Graz was the Austrian university that best met the requirements for employing people with disabilities.