Creating Tomorrow

The list of companies and organizations that have already signed the Diversity Charta in Germany is impressive. These organizations - e.g. Dresdner Bank or Allianz Insurance - have taken their first energetic steps with a sharpened business sense and - in part - with a high level of PR visibility. With their committment to diversity they will open the doors even wider for more effective integration, while simultaneously securing important market and knowledge potential for themselves.

The Inofficial Hierarchy of Core Dimensions

In taking a closer look, it appears that certain core dimensions of diversity are more readily accepted by traditional organizational structures than others, based on their function as a subgroup of the dominant culture. In the meantime, core dimensions such as gender or age are almost automatically addressed, even though age is a relatively new topic compared to some of the other core dimensions. This development might have been fostered by political movements (see: Women’s Movement) that have since manifested themselves in tangible, broad-based political and legal steps (see: Women’s Representatives, as well as Equal Opportunity Man and Women). In contrast, other core dimensions such as cultural diversity still lag far behind as was shown in the recently published Bertelsmann Study. For example, in North-Rhine Westfalia there are almost no Equal Opportunity Commissioners who have an immigrant background and/or are people of color. (…continue reading English-language version here -> ).

(This is an excerpt from the English version of an originally German-language article I co-authored with sociologist, Lale Otyakmaz, that has been published online by the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation. The German-language article can be viewed in its entirety HERE. )