Together or Against Each Other? Organisational Practices for Equality and Diversity

In our contribution, we will examine whether distinct demands for emancipation lead to
parallel structures for diversity and equality emerging in organisations and whether these lead
to conflicting goals and exclusionary organisational practices. This discussion will be
conducted through the lens of gender-related organisational theories, and we will use the
example of German scientific organisations.
Since the 1990s the signing of the Amsterdam Treaty, gender equality measures such as
gender mainstreaming have become widespread organisational practice in Germany. These
build on the earlier achievements of the women's movement. With the introduction and
strengthening of competitive mechanisms in the academic system, gender equality was even
strengthened, as the successful acquisition of financial resources via reputable third-party
funding programmes was linked to the credible development of gender equality concepts
(Zippel et al. 2016; Riegraf/Weber 2017).
In contrast, diversity reached the German higher education system as a ‘travelling concept’ in
the 2000s and has not yet established itself. The discussion is more or less centred on whether
and how equality and diversity can be combined or not, which diversity grounds are necessary
and how they should be addressed. Currently, the concept of diversity is in many cases used
by universities as ‘window dressing’, i.e. promoting national/ethnic diversity is seen as an
internationalisation strategy. Other reasons for discrimination, e.g. disability, are often not
heard or recognised because they challenge the unquestioned meritocratic belief in able
human bodies.
Universities need to translate these different norms into organisational practices. It is
necessary to overcome the two parallel structures so that the essential anti-discriminatory
practices and procedures can be integrated and combined with the already established
procedures.