Equal opportunities and diversity-oriented organisational development

For more than ten years now a variety of stakeholders has been implementing equal opportunities and diversity-oriented measures – when necessary specifically designed for target groups and where possible more broadly – at central and decentralised levels. They are primarily aimed at prospective students, students and teachers, but also take other target groups into account in some cases. Besides the diversity aspects named in the Allgemeine Gleichbehandlungsgesetz (General Equal Treatment Act, AGG), the measures also relate to social origins, educational history, living and financial situations. Individual solutions are increasingly being backed up by structural measures designed to ensure cultural change. Equal opportunities and diversity-related activities are being developed and implemented simultaneously top-down and bottom-up. Current activities focus on structuring the university so as to ensure equal opportunities and diversity while at the same time reducing discrimination. This involves a combination of proven gender equality policies, diversity orientation and inclusion. Equal opportunities and diversity-related perspectives in the field of teaching and learning also play an important part in the development of guidelines, in particular the Mission Statement for Teaching and Learning, and in the move from degree programme accreditation to system accreditation.

As early as 2014, the University of Göttingen signed the charter "Family Life and Academia". By signing the Diversity Charter (PDF, German, 1,4 MB) the University has affirmed its commitment to creating a study and work environment that is geared towards eliminating prejudices and stereotyping. From 2016 to 2019, the University of Göttingen participated in the diversity audit "Shaping Diversity" conducted by the Stifterverband. In the course of this audit, it has been working out a diversity strategy in a participatory process since 2016, bundling the central and decentralised diversity-related activities and systematically developing them further. At the end of the process, the Stifterverband awarded the University of Göttingen the Diversity Audit certificate 2019. The University of Göttingen used the auditing process to define its development goals more precisely and to outline more clearly its further path towards an inclusive organisational culture and structure.

With its inclusive and transformative diversity strategy, the University of Göttingen strives to develop an organisational culture and structure that reflects diversity. Below is an introduction to the numerous stakeholders and organisational units involved in the realisation of this goal.