DiGENet Working Groups
Since its foundation in 2020-21, the Diversity and Gender Equality Network (DiGENet) has relied on working groups as key instruments to define core thematic priorities and foster interdisciplinary collaboration. Emerging from the initial exploratory phase of the network, these early groups reflect the broad spectrum of challenges and potentials within diversity-related research and practice across the Berlin University Alliance. The first working groups were formed around both cross-cutting issues (such as terminology and teaching) and specific diversity dimensions (such as gender, migration, and health), reflecting the network’s ambition to address diversity in its full complexity. By 2022, DiGENet had grown significantly in size and cohesion, prompting the need for consolidation into four central working groups. This step marked a transition from thematic exploration to strategic focus. The four resulting working groups--(1) Terminology Work, (2) Making Diversity Visible, (3) Didactics Network, and (4) Critical Perspectives--developed tangible outputs such as the DiGENet Glossary and a Minimal Item Set for measuring diversity dimensions. At the same time, the working groups served as platforms for joint project development and institutional learning, fostering a strong link between academic research, institutional diversity policy, and organizational development. From 2023 onwards, the working groups have expanded their scope through events, strategic alliances with the community of practice across the BUA partners, and through the creation of new working groups, such as the Queer Networks Working Group, reflecting DiGENet’s sharpened profile and growing relevance across the Berlin University Alliance and beyond. Today, the working groups continue to drive the network’s mission: to support evidence-based diversity development, advance inclusive academic cultures, and strengthen the visibility and impact of diversity and gender research through structured collaboration and knowledge transfer.
The Working Group on a Didactics Network (AG Fachdidaktisches Netzwerk) was established as part of DiGENet’s early phase to anchor diversity and gender equality more deeply in teaching practices across disciplines. Closely aligned with DiGENet’s goals of institutional change through knowledge transfer, this working group fosters a networked approach to inclusive higher education by supporting educators in integrating diversity-sensitive didactics into their subject-specific contexts.
The Working Group on Critical Perspectives shaped DiGENet’s intellectual foundation by promoting a reflexive, intersectional approach to diversity research. It aimed to make the critical examination of institutions, systems, and power relations a cross-cutting concern within the Berlin University Alliance and beyond, highlighting how structural inequalities are reproduced in academia. Interlinked with other DiGENet working groups, it offered conceptual and methodological guidance. In the winter semester 2021/22, the Working Group on Critical Perspectives, in close collaboration with Audre Lorde Visiting Professor Maisha Auma, advised and worked with other DiGENet Working Groups to integrate critical perspectives into their projects, thereby linking their activities. These lab meetings included key dimensions of intersectional diversity research with the other working groups. The first meeting explored conceptual frameworks and terminology to foster a shared understanding of diversity-related research, while the second addressed approaches to collecting and comparing data on diversity and discrimination across institutions. The third meeting focused on strategies for embedding intersectional diversity content into teacher education, accompanied by practical tools for implementation.
Related Links
The Working Group on Making Diversity Visible – Measuring & Improving aims to collect valid and comparable data on various diversity and gender dimensions across research, teaching, and administration within and beyond the BUA. This effort responds to a persistent data gap concerning underrepresented groups, which limits the validity and applicability of scientific findings. By developing the Diversity Minimal Item Set, the group seeks to provide a standardized instrument for the systematic assessment of diversity dimensions such as gender, socioeconomic status, health, and experiences of discrimination. The group adopts an interdisciplinary approach to foster evidence-based innovation and promote equal opportunities. The group conducted extensive literature reviews, interviewed academic experts and community stakeholders across nine diversity dimensions, and organized workshops to design practical survey items. A key outcome has been the publication “Diversified Innovations in the Health Sciences: Proposal for a Diversity Minimal Item Set (DiMIS)” (Elsevier, 2023), which presents DiMIS as a user-friendly toolkit. In addition to scholarly publications, the group has supported pilot applications of DiMIS, including its use in the regular Student Research Opportunities Program student surveys, and contributed to validation efforts in municipal administration (e.g., City of Munich) and the Berlin Science Survey.
Related Links
- https://www.berlin-university-alliance.de/commitments/teaching-learning/sturop/index.html
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352554123001067
The DiGENet Working Group on Queer Networks supports the inclusion, visibility, and equal participation of queer students, researchers, and staff across the Berlin University Alliance (FU, HU, TU, and Charité). Its aim is to strengthen queer networks across institutions, develop sustainable support structures, and contribute to BUA’s diversity strategy. Launched in late 2024, the working group convenes members from all status groups and operates with dedicated annual funding. Early activities include a cross-university networking event in June 2025, fostering exchange on challenges and best practices among queer university members, and a public queer film series in January 2025. Through such initiatives, the working group expands its network, engages new multipliers, and builds interinstitutional cooperation.
The Working Groups on Terminology (AG Begriffsarbeit) was established to develop a shared conceptual foundation for diversity and gender equality within the Berlin University Alliance. Its work supports DiGENet’s overarching goal of enabling evidence-based, cross-institutional collaboration by clarifying key terms and fostering critical reflection across disciplines. One central output is the DiGENet Glossary on Diversity, an online resource that offers accessible, academically grounded definitions. The Diversity Glossary was developed to provide a shared, critically informed vocabulary for addressing diversity and gender equality across the Berlin University Alliance. The glossary responds to the need for conceptual clarity in interdisciplinary contexts and supports consistent communication across institutions. Its development reflects DiGENet’s core goal of enabling evidence-based diversity work by providing accessible, academically grounded tools.