FQ stands for Female Quotient and is a movement for the advancement of women that has developed and spread in the US.The aim was to increase the number of female speakers at specialist conferences in order to better represent women in our field of research. To this end, workshops and talks were offered to interested female visitors at various conferences. This was so well received by organizers and visitors that these workshops and talks were also offered to universities and industrial partners. The people in charge joined together under the label FQ and thus built up a network that covers several continents today.
An important component of this movement is the desire to create a physical space for the promotion of women to achieve equality. This has been accomplished through the creation of comfortable lounges that invite anyone to spend some time there, and where the topics are presented in a tangible way (in the form of posters and books, for example). In many places, events such as talks and workshops are also held in these lounges.
We, the Gender Equality Officers, established the "FQ Lounge @ HPI" in October 2019 and set it up in room H-E.6 of the main building. Although the room is a bit too small for talks and workshops, we will still try to present equality work for you there and make the room as inviting and comfortable as possible. You are welcome to drop by any time, as the room also has a communication zone for everyone. You will also find our office there, where you can find us during our meetings. There is also a consulting corner in the room.
For all people with menstrual bleeding we will store some hygiene articles such as pads and tampons there, which can be picked up free of charge in an emergency.
On the white shelves in the FQ Lounge you will find books on the topics of women empowerment, programming, LGBTQ+, role models, career paths and also some of the books that the female speakers of the "Women in Tech" events recommended to us. You can read or borrow these books. If you borrow them, please send us an email to gleichstellungsbeauftragtehpide so we can mark them as „on loan“ below.
You are welcome to send us further book suggestions by mail at any time.