The University has successfully participated in the "Shaping Diversity" diversity audit organised by the Stifterverband. Prof Dr Annett Thiele, Vice President for Young Academics, Gender equality and Diversity, accepted the certificate in Berlin.
With the audit, the association supports universities in developing and implementing an individual diversity strategy. Universities receive the certificate after they have undergone an intensive organisational development process.
"The Stifterverband certificate is both recognition of the work we have done and confirmation that we have succeeded in promoting equal opportunities even more than before," emphasised Thiele. Over the past two years, structures have been expanded to anchor diversity at the university in the long term and make it visible in university life.
One key result: the University Senate and Presidential Board adopted an "Understanding of Diversity" in mid-2022. The university is thus committed to a culture of living diversity and equal, non-discriminatory participation of all its members and guests. In order to continue its organisational development, the university considers diversity to be a strategic task that affects all areas - from studies and further education to research, the promotion of young talent and staff development
The topic of diversity should be present in everyday life
A newly established Diversity Committee will advise the Presidential Board on diversity issues in future, for example in developing recommendations for diversity strategies and planning the implementation of diversity measures. Other results of the audit include, for example, making managers more aware of the issue of severe disability, providing junior academic staff with permanent mentoring opportunities and ensuring that the topic of diversity is continuously present in everyday university life - be it in lecture series or through participation in the annual nationwide Diversity Day, which takes place on 23 May this year.
The university has participated in the two-and-a-half-year audit since 2020. Several project groups, in which members from different areas of the university were represented, dealt with topics such as structural development, inclusion in personnel development, open university, promotion of young academics, diversity-sensitive research, diversity and digitalisation in teaching and learning spaces as well as diversity culture.
In the next step, the university wants to develop a diversity strategy, establish anti-discrimination structures and structurally anchor the topic of diversity in the Schools. The Stifterverband certificate is valid for three years; re-auditing is possible.
