From equality to inclusion
On Tuesday 28 May, KL hosted the event 'Diversity, Equality & Inclusion in Science'. In addition to presenting KL's Equality Plan and Equality Monitoring, Adis Serifović, BA MA, and Steph Grohmann, MSc PhD, from the Ethics and Diversity Hub of the Ludwig Boltzmann Society, spoke about the concept of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) and presented best practice examples. They outlined the historical context and addressed current criticisms of diversity efforts as well as suggestions for improvement.
Rector Rudolf Mallinger opened the event, praising "his" university but also pointing out the need for constant improvement: "If you look at our central administration, we are quite good in terms of gender equality. When it comes to appointing professors, we can improve - just as the rest of Austria can and should improve in terms of gender quality,' said Rector Mallinger, who handed over to Afitap Derya Köprülü-Rössl, PhD, member of the Research Management Unit, member of the Commission for Gender Equality and the Promotion of Women and future Women's Representative of the KL. Köprülü-Rössl presented the KL's Equality Plan and the first Equality Report: The Equality Plan describes the current situation and the measures and objectives derived from it. These will be evaluated as part of KL's equality monitoring in the regular equality reports," said Köprülü-Rössl. The documents on equality measures at KL are published on the website https://www.kl.ac.at/en/university/organisation-and-structure/diversity. On the one hand, KL fulfils the requirements of European funding bodies such as Horizon Europe for research projects; on the other hand, it takes a stand as an institution and lives by values such as diversity and equality. These are implemented through various measures in the areas of teaching, research and human resources management.
In the keynote speech that followed, Adis Serifović, BA MA, and Steph Grohmann, MSc PhD, from the Ethics and Diversity Hub of the Ludwig Boltzmann Society, gave the audience of mostly researchers and professors an overview of the benefits of diverse teams. Adis Serifović, BA MA, explained how the DEI concept was transferred from the business world to research and what specifics need to be taken into account. Steph Grohmann, MSc PhD, explained the historical roots of the DEI concept and referred to common criticisms of its implementation. The historical development in particular, which has to be assessed differently in the European and American contexts, was met with great interest by the audience and fuelled the discussion that followed the presentation, the conclusion of which was supported by the introductory words of Rector Mallinger: "It is important that we talk about it and take the issue seriously in order to move it forward.
