Diversity in Higher Education: Insight, Overview, and Prospect

Abstract

Diversity is playing an increasingly important role in universities. However, one must also learn to see it. The usual view focuses on the increasing diversity of students, their educational backgrounds, family circumstances or their ethnicity. In the same way, however, university teachers are also diverse. Another aspect of diversity arises – and this is constitutive for universities – due to the subject assignments of all academics to specific disciplines. In addition to the question of the various forms of diversity at universities, it is helpful for an analytical view to identify various fields of action in which central diversity activities take place: teaching, research, structures as well as competencies of the actors. On this basis, we provide insight into the structural diversity of universities by using the example of NRW. Subsequently, we present two models that can help to move «prudently» in each of the four fields of action and to meet the diversity of people in institutions appropriately. Finally, we provide an outlook on the interplay of diversity and digitization in the teaching-learning context: Digitization can support diversity-appropriate teaching and learning, but using this productively in everyday teaching is in many respects a prerequisite.