Exploring Difference: “Diversity driving excellence – Gaining the competitive edge”

Tuesday 27 October 2020, 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Our societies are changing and becoming more diverse. To reflect this diversity and because they have realized that they need diversity to excel, many universities have taken steps to become more inclusive and explore new ways for students from underserved and underrepresented backgrounds to participate and succeed. But what does diversity in academia mean? What levels and areas of the university are touched and who needs to respond?

Our discussion will deal with diversity and student life but will also cover the relationship between diversity and strategic university leadership, the university´s faculty, the university´s environment for research and innovation, and the relationship between diversity and the institutional administration.  Universities in the Anglo-Saxon world have been dealing with the topic longer and more intensively than German universities. Which insights and experiences can German universities particularly benefit from?  Higher education representatives from the United Kingdom, Canada, the USA and Germany will join the discussion and examine the topic from different perspectives.