7 September 2020. Diversity challenges us: if you want diversity, you need to be open, and to respect the fact that other people are different, because they are not the same as oneself.

Canada's mosaic-style model of society

Diversity management is first and foremost a job for management, explains Prof. Dr. Gudrun Sander in an introductory video for the new HSG Focus dossier. It is in times of crisis in particular that company goals are best achieved with the help of heterogeneous teams. In his article about Canada's mosaic-like model of society, Kevin Bosch outlines the fact that disregarding difference does not create a sustainable basis for the political leadership of large pluralistic states. Bosch is a strategy expert and has already advised several Canadian prime ministers.

From the perspective of equal opportunity

Prof. Dr. Julia Nentwich is researching diversity from the perspective of equal opportunity. She finds it bizarre that managers consistently ignore the topic of equal opportunities. "Managers are crucial in every change process. If you don't have the managers on board, then there will be no change." Her project "Leaders for Equality" recruits male managers for equal work opportunities. "Diversity alone is not enough, it also needs inclusion," Prof. Dr. Christa Binswanger explains with conviction in an interview about diversity, inclusion and gender equality during the coronavirus crisis. "HSG Female Founder Program" is the name of the new project headed by Maria Luisa Fuchs. The business economist is herself a successful founder of a startup and also on the board of management of the family company Molkerei Fuchs.

A video with Patricia Widmer, head of the "Women back to business" programme at HSG, demonstrates how diversity in the form of unconventional career progression impacts on the jobs market. Studies by two St.Gallen market researchers reveal how cultural activities could also benefit from greater diversity.

Index measures the quality of elites

The campus column always reveals valuable background information about university life – from the first medical student at St.Gallen, the Children's University in times of the pandemic, 20 years of Freshers' Week to the first index observing and measuring the quality of elites. "Social engagement in practice and theory" is the title of a seminar at HSG which brings together students and the elderly. One of the most important lectures of the social placement is said to be experiencing that life does not always take a straight course. The students recognise that success is important but is not the be all and end all of life, says course leader Anna-Katarina Klöckner. "As you get older, fulfilment is more important than success. This makes an impression on young people." Monika Kritzmöller's column "Status Symbols" is all about the squandering of a valuable lifetime with tiresome self-management.