Diversity as Part of the Overall Strategy
The Equal Opportunities Action Plan, the Inclusion Action Plan and the Internationalization Strategy focus on specific dimensions of diversity, while the Human Resources Development Concept and the Sustainability Report integrate aspects of equal opportunities as comprehensive crosscutting tasks. The "Codex of Values for RWTH" also consider equal opportunity as a crosscutting issue.
Together with the University Development Plan, the Framework Plan for Equality and the successful applications for the Excellence Initiative and the Excellence Strategy of the federal and state governments, they have formed the overall strategic framework of RWTH in the area of equal opportunities.
To promote internal processes in the implementation of equal opportunities, RWTH also uses the report on the Research-Oriented Equality Standards of the German Research Foundation (DFG), structured certification processes such as the predicate TOTAL E-QUALITY & Diversity (RWTH has been regularly awarded the Total E-Quality certificate since 2005. In 2017, the university received the newly awarded predicate Diversity as well as the Sustainability Award. The certification was successfully renewed in 2020) and the "audit familiengerechte hochschule" as well as in the context of ENHANCE (within ENHANCE, RWTH is responsible for the Equality & Gender Diversity work package. RWTH uses the results developed in the European network in the context of internal strategic processes of RWTH and interlink these with other measures).
The Diversity-Strategy (2022−2027), the result of intensive collaboration in forumDIVERSITY, interlocks with and equally complements the overall strategy of RWTH. It provides an overview of the successful development of the diversity policy and the existing diversity activities (a comprehensive overview of measures in the context of diversity is being created in the form of a diversity portal and published on the RWTH website) at the university since 2007. With reference to relevant concepts and strategy papers, relevant topics and diversity dimensions (cf. Our Definition of Diversity) are taken up in terms of content, but the design of new or further activities in this context is deliberately refrained (reference is made to activities of the university, for example in the area of inclusion. In this case, we refrain from designing new measures, as these are already sufficiently mapped in the Action Plan Inclusion. This also applies analogously to the areas of gender equality and internationalization).
In four different fields of action (cf. Aims and Fields of Action), the new strategy aims at making university structures more equitable in terms of opportunity and to identify further needs and create conditions for implementing suitable measures (in a workshop with the forumDIVERSITY, needs for action were jointly identified and suitable activities were derived from them. Their implementation is subject to funding. The concrete responsibility for individual activities will be discussed and coordinated with the possible actors after the publication of the Diversity-Strategy, similar to other strategy papers). It serves the purpose of targeted information and sensitization of all university employees (the Diversity-Strategy has a high practical relevance, which accompanying measures such as social media offerings are to expand even more in the future in order to convey what diversity means and which goals RWTH is pursuing in a practical and comprehensible manner at all levels of the university. A particular goal is to achieve general commitment: Diversity concerns all people at RWTH). Specifically, the Diversity-Strategy provides faculties or faculty management with a concrete basis for the realization of future activities.
Thus, further sharpening RWTH's diversity profile: The self-commitment to develop an open organizational culture, which is characterized by a high degree of appreciation for the diversity of university members, is once again reaffirmed.