Diversity Group

The IPZ Diversity Group was founded in 2019 and is composed of approximately ten PhD students, postdocs, senior researchers and professors. The aims of the group are to create and maintain a diverse and inclusive community at the IPZ where everyone feels accepted, valued and provided with equal opportunities.

Our strategy to achieve this goal has three main pillars:

1. we engage in fact finding and deliberation while maintaining a space for discussing diversity-related questions;
2. we raise awareness of diversity issues and sensitise members of the department, for example, by organizing  events that provide an opportunity for reflection on diversity-related questions; and
3. we develop concrete tools and instruments to create an environment where people from all backgrounds feel welcome and we propose these measures to the department.

Regarding the first pillar of our strategy, we have launched an annual survey. The survey asks IPZ students and staff about their experience at the department in the past year. Learning about IPZ student and staff experience allows us to plan activities that  cater to their needs and to assess change in our institute over time. The next survey will take place Spring 2022.

The survey results feed into an annual report. The report is also part of the second pillar of our strategy, since it creates awareness of diversity-related issues in our department. Our first report here (PDF, 462 KB) based on the survey of 2021 already offers you rich and potentially surprising insights into  how members of the department think about diversity and how they perceive the diversity management of the department. We hope that you will read it.  

Finally, regarding the third pillar of our strategy, we have developed some concrete tools to help create an environment where everyone feels welcome. If you teach at the IPZ (or at another higher education institution), please find our teaching guidelines for an open classroom environment here. Please also take note of our anti-bias reminder here that you can include in the invitation to your student evaluations.