Jennifer Chan de Avila is a postdoctoral researcher at the Division of Gender and Diversity of the Otto-Suhr-Institut of the Freie Universität Berlin. She received her PhD in Political Science at the same University in 2016. Her current research focuses on diversity strategies in higher education institutions. She has published individual papers and coordinated publications about Diversity Politics, Intersectionality, Inclusion Politics, Body Politics, Gender Violence and Gender in Confinement Institutions

Panel "Uni_Diversity": Shiny Happy Universities? An International Comparative Analysis of Diversity Politics in Higher Education

 28th May 03.30 - 05.00 pm | Jennifer Chan de Avila & Gülay Çağlar

Around the world, higher education institutions (HEIs) highlight the importance of diversity. The paper critically explores the successes and pitfalls of five international HEIs in turning diversity from an ideal notion into reality. Building on discursive institutionalism and with a comparative transnational perspective, it explores how different HEIs address issues of (anti)discrimination. Through an analytical engagement with the diversity policies of HEIs and the institutional challenges their diversity implementers face, the paper focuses on the politics behind what is made (in)visible when diversity is used as the “happy point” of intersectionality in the context of higher education.