Networks
The Diversity Charter is a voluntary commitment published in 2006 and a registered association launched under the patronage of former Chancellor Merkel, which advocates for a prejudice-free working environment, see also section 7.3. It is obvious that the new federal government will also continue to support this initiative.
From NRW, RWTH Aachen University and 11 universities of applied sciences are currently signatories to the Charter. According to initial research, the implementation at the universities varies greatly from one organisation to another (staff units, equal opportunities, etc.). The extent to which the HEIs mentioned derive added value from this network for their own positioning and for their employees cannot be assessed, nor whether aspects of the Diversity Charter have been incorporated into an overarching vision and whether the guiding guidelines have been implemented.
FH Aachen has covered important principles of the Diversity Charter through the vision and mission for the area of diversity and equal opportunities as well as the DiM. This shows a strong commitment to and agreement with the goals of the Diversity Charter. This suggests membership in the Diversity Charter. The FH Aachen's membership in the Diversity Charter would also open up opportunities to learn from other organisations, to adopt design rules and, in the case of its own cooperation, also to expand and help shape the contents of the Diversity Charter with its own ideas.
In addition to the aforementioned scientific organisations, large and medium-sized industrial companies have also signed the Diversity Charter and many companies have adopted aspects of it in their own corporate visions.
In 2018, RWTH Aachen University, the University of Cologne (UzK), the Cologne University of Technology (TH Köln), the Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH (FZJ) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) expanded their existing partnership to include the area of "equal opportunities" and issued joint guidelines.
The goals, perspectives and measures of this alliance are also broadly in line with those of FH Aachen, so that FH Aachen also joined this network in spring 2021.
In 2014, the FH had an audit carried out by the Stifterverband for the area of "Shaping Diversity". The certificate "Shaping Diversity in NRW" was awarded in full. This was a good and purposeful step to assess a sub-area of the DiM with an independent view from the outside and to initiate improvements. The adjustments and improvements have since been initiated and implemented through various activities at FH Aachen.
"The overarching goal of the audit: Not to "put up with" diversity, but to see this diversity at higher education institutions as an important factor for their performance and greater equality of opportunity. The aim is to create an overall diversity-friendly university culture that enriches science, teaching and research. Bettina Jorzik, programme manager "Teaching and Young Academics" at the Stifterverband, says: "We are convinced that (student) diversity does not merely have to be organised and administered, but that the attitude towards it and how to deal with it is one of the major development tasks for universities and will remain so for the foreseeable future."
The diversity audit "Shaping Diversity", an instrument for the strategic and organisational development of universities, is an initiative of the Stifterverband, supported by the Baden-Württemberg Foundation, the J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation, the Mercator Foundation and the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry for Innovation, Science and Research."
As part of the re-audit, FH Aachen was awarded the "Shaping Diversity" certificate for a further three years.