Making sense of inclusion and diversity management in higher education

Higher education institutions (HEIs) across Europe are increasingly required to reconsider established practices and routines with a view to inclusion and diversity management and to adapt to new legal requirements in this field. The theory of “Sensemaking” established by Weick (1995) provides a useful framework for describing how these new requirements are integrated at HEIs. Using seven inter-dependent factors, the theory describes how individuals react to new impulses from the environment, how they generate sense from these initial “irritations”, and how this ultimately leads to changed courses of action. This paper describes the implementation of Inclusion and Diversity Management (IDM) in higher education as a sensemaking process among study programme leaders. By highlighting the complex dynamics involved, the paper provides a better understanding of how sustainable change can be initiated.