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Hands-on diversity management “Respect!” initiative receives the 2019 Rhein-Sieg District Integration Prize Globalisation and demographic change are transforming our society. Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg is also becoming more and more diverse. Students have different family or religious backgrounds, for instance, and not everyone goes straight from school to university. For Professor Annette Menke, Presidential Commissioner for Diversity, dealing well with the heterogeneous lives of students is a matter close to the heart. “We want to make a good study career possible for everyone, regardless of the background they come to us from. Our diversity management is geared towards living and studying conditions. It should be measurable and lead to success. We want to be perceived as a diversity-sensitive university.” The Rhein-Sieg district has not only noticed but also honoured the university‘s commitment. The district awarded it the first integration prize in the category of preventive measures for the initiative “Respect! Time for Diversity, Time for Sustainability”, which has been running since 2016. With public events and workshops on developing intercultural competence, the initiative supports understanding and mutual appreciation and thus strengthens cooperation in everyday university life. “The Integration Prize expresses the fact that the social transfer of our work is noticeable in the region and that the university plays an important role as a local actor”, says Sarah Friedrichs, the project coordinator.
One of eight winning pictures: Photo competition on the topic Respect! at the university – view all pictures here: www.h-brs.de/news/ respect photo competition winners
Sustainably integrating diversity into the university structure Diversity should permeate the university at all levels. This is why the university decided to undergo the Diversity Audit of the Donors’ Association as early as 2018. The audit supports the development of a university‘s own diversity strategy. It includes five externally moderated internal university workshops. The process lasts two years and integrates university management, lecturers, students and employees in science and administration with the aim of making diversity a matter of course throughout the university. Menke says, “In the end, everyone at the university must understand that diversity is something that has to do with him or herself – despite all differences”.
