UniBw M receives certificate: Shaping the future with diversity

On March 6, 2024, the Stifterverband for German Science awarded the “Shaping Diversity” certificates to ten universities and two research institutions in a ceremony held at the Allianz Forum near the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. The award-winning institutions successfully completed a two-year Diversity Audit.

Representing the University of the Bundeswehr Munich at the event at the Allianz Forum at the Brandenburg Gate were Vice President Professor Rafaela Kraus, Lieutenant Colonel Andreas Eisele, and Project Lead Eva Olschewski. They attended on behalf of the many members of the university’s diverse status groups who actively contributed to the central audit committees: the steering committee, the coordination board, and the working groups.

Members of the steering committee included:

  • Rafaela Kraus, Vice President for Applied Sciences, Entrepreneurship, and Equal Opportunities
  • Brigita Jeraj, Advisor to the Vice Presidents
  • Pamela Koch, Civil Equal Opportunities Officer
  • Eva Olschewski, Diversity and Mentoring Advisor

 

Unfoldingpersonal potential

The auditing process conducted by the Stifterverband for German Science took place between February 2022 to March 2024. The University of the Bundeswehr Munich participated in the audit to further develop equal opportunity processes tailored to the university’s unique profile as a Bundeswehr institution and to the diverse life situations of existing and future employees and students.

“With the audit, we pursued a clear goal: to create an inclusive working environment in which everyone can develop their personal potential – the key to organizational success,” emphasized Vice President Professor Rafaela Kraus.

The process included five workshops and two self-assessments, all guided by auditor Professor Katrin Hansen. At the final forum, the “Critical Friends” – a panel of diversity experts – were particularly impressed by the level of diversity already inherent in the university’s structure.

Some measures have already been implemented: For example, as part of the Management and Media degree program, Vice President Prof. Kraus supervised a masterclass that presented its project work to 60 interested university members in a university-wide workshop. The launch of the diversity discussion series organized by the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences and the Civil Equal Opportunities Office also met with widespread interest. A diverse Bundeswehr knows what it hast o defend: a society that enables it to live in diversity, said Prof. Carlo Masala in conversation with Prof. Ursula Münch.

Implementation of a diversity strategy

In the exchange with the Critical Friends, the findings of the final workshop were confirmed: by interlinking the different professional spheres — academia, the military, and administration — the university can strengthen identification with the institution as an employer. In developing a strategy to address this diversity, the following areas of action emerged as central for the university:

  • Information and communication
  • Competence and culture development
  • Processes and structures
  • Monitoring

 

In the implementation process, the university management and leadership play key roles. Therefore, in a Senate working group, the areas of action and proposed measures are to be prioritized and further pursued in collaboration with the responsible departments and the Advisory Board for Equal Opportunities and Diversity.

Photo: Vice President Kraus (to the right) accepted the certificate for UniBw M in Berlin together with Head of Student Department B, OTL Eisele, and Project Lead Eva Olschewski (© Peter Himsel/Stifterverband)