Diversity management on the Cape and in Germany – guest researcher from South Africa at CHE Consult

Pieter Vermeulen is a mathematics professor who has been active in the planning and steering of higher education in South Africa for many decades. He is a guest at CHE Consult GmbH in Gütersloh, Germany, for three months starting 1 July 2010. He will be examining how approaches to diversity management in the German higher education sector are different from those in South Africa and how the HEIs of both countries could possibly learn from each other. The research trip is being supported by a grant from the Alexander-von-Humboldt-Foundation and Uwe Schimank from the Universität Bremen will be acting as supervisor.

The challenge of dealing with diversity is very different in South Africa in comparison with Germany: South Africa is a strongly heterogeneous country – socially, ethnically and economically – with a “debt” of inequality that is rooted in the policy of Apartheid and has existed for decades. By contrast, Germany has a comparatively homogeneous social structure. Economic differences exist but these can be cushioned to a certain extent. Both countries agree that education and participation in education are the key indicators of inclusion and the most important means of social advancement.

Higher education institutions in South Africa have been responding to this challenge determinedly in recent decades. The university of Pretoria, where Vermeulen is based, has increased its share of black students from 5 per cent in 1992 to 63 per cent in 2009. This is not simply the result of new admission conditions. The HEIs’ main challenge is how to deal with the very varied knowledge levels and the cultural and economic differences among the students. “It is generally the cultural differences that put teachers in delicate situations and they are often unsure how to behave properly,” says Vermeulen. German HEIs are facing similar challenges as increasing social diversity is being mirrored in the composition of the student body.

“One of the central aspects of the exchange with Professor Vermeulen will be the question of how these challenges for the HEIs can be considered as a chance and used as a starting point to improve quality and performance,” said Hannah Leichsenring of CHE Consult.