Change management and diversity – Towards a new awareness in higher education institutions

The “Diversity as Opportunity” project is focused on the question of what actions higher education institutions (HEIs) can take in order to reduce the drop-out rates of their heterogeneous student bodies. The project concentrates on issues of diversity that are relevant to study. CHE Consult has developed a new survey tool for Germany – CHE QUEST. Using parameters from social research and psychology, the tool illustrates how students adapt differently to their study conditions. The project involves eight partner HEIs that are also pursuing certain key goals and strategies. These HEI are currently attempting to use the results of the survey to institute new measures that aim to increase the probability of all students completing their degrees successfully. In this context, change management is of fundamental importance. Measures must help stakeholders of an HEI to deal with study-relevant diversity and must also address prejudices and assumptions based on experiences with students in general. This paper shows how change management measures based on the results of QUEST might look. The examples used refer to measures from the partner HEIs, which have either been instituted or are being tested in pilot projects.

02.11.2011 | Andrea Güttner (Gütersloh)