Diversity and Equal Opportunities are central to Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg. This includes the support of families as well as the recognition of the differences and different convictions of its members. In addition, gender mainstreaming has long been recognized and applied by the university.

• The Research-Oriented Standards on Gender Equality of the German Research Foundation (DFG): The University of Oldenburg (UOL) is one of twenty universities which have implemented a gender equality strategy extraordinarily well. Noteworthy are the relatively high number of female professors and increase in the share of female early career researchers.
• The “University ranking with regard to standards on gender equality 2011” (Hochschulranking nach Gleichstellungsaspekten 2011) of the Center of Excellence Women and Science (CEWS): In 2011 the University of Oldenburg was awarded a score of 11 out of 14 possible points and thus is situated among the seven highest-ranked universities in Germany.
• Audit “Family-friendly University” (Audit Familiengerechte Hochschule) of the “berufundfamilie gGmbH” of the Hertie Foundation: In 2004 the University of Oldenburg was the first university in Lower Saxony to be awarded the label of a family-friendly university.
• On 06 October 2022, the CHE Centre for Higher Education Development, together with the association Familie in der Hochschule e.V. (Family in Higher Education), published an information brochure on the topic of "Studying and caring for relatives". The current guidebook from the series "CHE kurz + kompakt" (CHE short + compact) answers the most important questions about support services for caring students. A commented list of links and checklists for next steps and further research round off the information package in pdf format. The authors of the publication "CHE kurz + kompakt - Studieren und Angehörige pflegen" are Claudia Batisweiler and Jan Thiemann. You can read the CHE press release online and download the guidebook free of charge.