7. ST. GALLER DIVERSITY & INCLUSION WEEK
BEYOND DIVERSITY: NAVIGATING INCLUSION IN MODERN WORKPLACES
ONLINE-SESSIONS: VIDEOS & SLIDES
THE LONG FAREWELL TO THE MALE IDEAL OF HEROIC LEADERSHIP
What happens to the ideal of the male, heroic leader when we start to think differently about leadership in the context of “New Work”? Why is it not enough to counter these with a “female” image of leadership? Why is leadership seen as heroically masculine in the first place and how can we change that?
With “New Work” not only our organizations are about to change, but as well our image of leadership. While we are about to say goodbye to the male and heroic and masculine image of leadership, it is as our research shows still very present in today’s working world. How can we explain the persistence of these old images? And how could new, more participative and non-hierarchical images of leadership be established in a sustainable way? In my talk, I will analyze this paradox and show new ways in which we can say goodbye to the strong image of the male hero in our image of leadership.
SUBTLE OR OBVIOUS? CHALLENGING DISCRIMINATION IN HYBRID WORK SETTINGS
Not only obvious discrimination, but also subtle degradation and social exclusion massively affect well-being and performance at work. Common ‘isms’ such as sexism, racism, ableism, and ageism manifest themselves in varying degrees of intensity, from microaggressions to hate speech, and find specific forms of expression in new work environments. This talk addresses the following questions:
What are the particularities of discrimination in hybrid settings? To what extent do hybrid forms of work exacerbate discrimination? To what extent does the possibility of switching to virtual work spaces offer protection and refuge? Which strategies are available to effectively counter the various forms of discrimination and to create a respectful culture in hybrid work environments?
IMPLEMENTING AN LGBTQ+ COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
What does it take to communicate values successfully? What are possible elements of an LGBTQ+ communication strategy? How can the communication strategy be anchored in society?
The input will cover the topic of value communication with a focus on the diversity dimension “sexual orientation”. I will use a concrete example from the well-known beverage manufacturer to show participants what the implementation of a successful LBGTQ+ communication strategy can look like. The guiding question is always: How can the strategy be anchored in society?
I will present, among others, the following measures taken in collaboration with Coca-Cola: the Pride Brunch, publication of press articles and creation of a board to represent the LGBTQ+ community. Why these of all things? What role does public perception play? And what can be used to measure strategy success?
Am I risking my pension by working part-time?
Eva Fasel, Theresa Goop, Dr. Tanja Kirn, Dr. Svenja Schmidt
Explore with our experts how your present employment decisions affect your retirement planning and financial security. Join us for an enlightening panel discussion that delves into the intricate implications of part-time work and other contemporary employment forms on retirement.
During this online session, our panel of experts, hailing from both research and practical backgrounds, will scrutinize the far-reaching effects of modern work arrangements. Gain valuable insights as they shed light on the potential risks and opportunities associated with these evolving work styles and lifestyles.
Discover the “blind spots” that often go unnoticed and the extent to which they affect individuals and their retirement prospects. Following the panel discussion, a Q&A session will allow the audience to directly engage with our experts.
HOW PRIVILEGE WORKS
Prof. Dr. Christa Binswanger, Prof. Dr. Jelena Tošić
How are discourses of privilege and deservingness related? How can they be understood in a transdisciplinary conversation between Critical Diversity Studies and Anthropology? In this contribution we explore how some forms of contemporary work and figures of workers become moralized and we shed critical light on the entanglement of deservingness and privilege.
The term ‚deservingness’ captures moralized framings of how certain members of a society are seen as entitled to particular resources or statuses. At the same time, others are labelled as undeserving since framed as members of certain populations or as being in self-inflicted precarious situations. In critical diversity studies, the term ‘privilege’ is used to challenge hierarchies that appear to be based on merit and achievement. In our contribution, we develop a transdisciplinary dialogue on privilege and (un)deservingness by zooming into contemporary cases of gendered, and differentially nested forms of work.
WHAT DOES AI HAVE TO DO WITH DEI? (AND VICE VERSA)
Prof. Dr. Jamie Gloor, Marisa Tschopp
UNABLE TO UPLOAD THE VIDEO DUE TO TECHNICAL PROBLEMS.
We hear a lot about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Diversity/Equity/Inclusion (DEI) when something goes wrong: Microsoft’s AI chatbot, Tay, became a racist, antisemitic jerk in less than a day; Amazon’s AI-based recruiting tool identified potential talents who were named “Jared” and played “lacrosse” (i.e., biased against women); machine translation tools like deepl still broadly and automatically generate male-biased translations (e.g., “doctor” as “Arzt”). In this talk, we’ll explore key pitfalls—and potential—for moving forward with more equitable and inclusive AI in our present and future work.
FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENTS: AN OPPORTUNITY OR A CHALLENGE FOR INCLUSION?
Prof. Dr. Stephan Alexander Böhm, Magdalena Schertler
In this presentation, learn about the challenges and opportunities flexible work arrangements pose for employee inclusion. Based on current research, we address the effect of mobile working on inclusion, the role of boundary management, and gender specific findings. Finally, we present recommendations for practice to overcome challenges and effectively use opportunities to promote employee inclusion in a flexible work environment.
Specifically, we will address the questions of how mobile working affects employees’ perceived inclusion, the role of boundary management in flexible working, and whether there are gender differences in the effects of flexible working. We will then address unanswered questions and provide an outlook on how these can be answered in the future. Finally, recommendations for practice will be presented on how challenges can be overcome, and opportunities can be used effectively to continue to promote employee inclusion in a flexible work environment.
Remote WORK AND THE QUESTION OF CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
New forms of work: New opportunities – but, of course, also challenges.
What responsibilities do companies bear when they send employees to work in a self-organized and decentralized manner?
With new technical possibilities a “new world of work” has been postulated, in some cases quite innocently, and only a few thoughts have been directed at already familiar problems of decentralized, self-organized work. These forms of work are, however, not categorically new, but have so far been limited to a few fields of activity. From an ethical perspective, the spread of new forms of work changes current norms of employment relationships in particular. This raises questions that particularly affect corporate responsibility in this context as well as the institutional framework of work, some of which will be explored in this lecture.
Gender Intelligence Report
Dr. Ines Hartmann, Alkistis Petropaki
How can you unleash the full potential of diverse talent to counteract the skills shortage? How employees want to work, and what companies need to change internally to retain them? What some ground-breaking evolutions are in the way we work that will bring us successfully into the future?
In the launch of the GIR you will hear about the latest facts & figures, insights as well as new best practices. The report 2023 focuses on the following burning topics:
SKILLS SHORTAGE IN SWITZERLAND, UNTAPPED POTENTIALS and PARADOXES AND SOLUTIONS
This year’s report analyzes these three paradoxes that are at the heart of the still slow progress in women’s career advancement and closely link to how we work in Switzerland. Resolving these paradoxes will likely mitigate skills shortages as well as increase gender diversity in business.
D&I Morning Talk: D&I for Gen Alpha - New Work 2030
Stephan Lendi, Carmen Lopes Sway
“Tante Carmen” (Auntie Carmen) – every kid’s favourite aunt, is a character created by Swiss singer, songwriter and performer Carmen Lopez Sway. Carmen works in her character with generation alpha kids and includes them in her performances by letting them sing and dance along to her D&I-themed songs.
Stephan Lendi, moderator, communications coach & journalist explores Carmen’s background, how she grew up in a diverse Brazilian-Swiss family to better understand her values, that drives her work with generation alpha kids. How will they grow up? What will their understanding be of new work and how will that shape our world?
NETWORKING IN THE NEW WORLD OF WORK (FOR WOMEN, MINORITIES, AND MINORITY WOMEN)
Are you interested in how to successfully network in the new world of work? Or, whether successful networking strategies look different for women and minorities? These are some questions we will address in this session.
The session will discuss:
a) what we know about effective social networks/networking,
b) the implications of the changing landscape of the future of work,
c) how effective networking strategies may look different for women and minorities based on a 1-year ethnographic research.
TRANS IN THE WORKPLACE: THE BENEFITS OF GENDER DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
Recognizing and consciously including gender diverse people in academic and workplace settings brings not just its own set of challenges but also many options for improving our understanding of work and science related processes as well as leadership. What can we learn by interacting consciously with topics affecting marginalized minorities such as gender? And how can that help us to improve both our actual work and our institutions?
Academic workplaces and institutions offer great opportunities for employees to contribute to both science and our society at large with their work and resources. Providing an environment where people of all identities are able to participate and feel safe to contribute, opens up unique opportunities for development by bringing innovative thinkers to the table.
By learning about the current and past situations of trans people in Switzerland, we learn how to approach solidified structures, rectify past mistakes and provide a safer workspace for gender diverse people. All whilst exploring what you can learn for yourself from trans individuals.
On-site day
New Work and the legal framework – a contradiction?
Prof. Dr. Isabelle Wildhaber | 9:45 -10:15 | German
To what extent does the legal framework restrict New Work? What must be legally observed when implementing and doing New Work? What misconceptions exist regarding New Work ?
This session will ask to what extent new forms of working in the form of New Work are at all possible under Swiss law. We will critically question whether New Work goes beyond the framework of Swiss labour law and the Swiss Labour Code. In particular, the flexibilization of working time and place of work know strict limits. Not everything that is possible is allowed.
BETTY BUSINESS
Betty Business | 13:30 -14:15 | Deutsch
Betty Business is a drag artist, loves beautiful PowerPoint presentations and has set herself the goal of bringing more glitter and pink into the business world. She graduated from the University of St.Gallen with a Bachelor in Business Administration and a Master in Business Innovation. During her studies, she explored gender studies and analysed a queer community in her master’s thesis. Betty Business works as a consultant in a management consultancy and runs various side businesses … among other activities, she also performs in bars and nightclubs with her pink Powerpoint slides.
#WeForShe (and Beyond!): Allyship in the New World of Work
Prof. Dr. Jamie Gloor, Eugenia Bajet Mestre | 10:30 – 12:00 & 14:30 – 16:00 | English
Microaggressions are subtle but harmful behaviors that invalidate and exclude historically underrepresented employees (e.g., women, mature workers, racial/ethnic minorities, immigrants, etc.). In this evidence-based, interactive workshop, you will learn how to name, claim, and reframe microaggressions at work.
Understanding how to identify and interrupt microaggressions are critical skills to become better allies and support our colleagues. After all, we need “all hands on deck” to dismantle workplace inequalities that harm all of us—even bystanders.
Together, we will explore how to engage in and encourage allyship in our organizations; we will also practice to overcome the “bystander syndrome” in our daily interactions. In this way, we can work towards a work life in which all of our best talents share similar social experiences and career opportunities—today and tomorrow.
New Work: Between successes and persistence for equality
Annika Koller, Josef Kruckenberg, Dr. Gabriele Schambach | 10:30 – 12:00 & 14:30 – 16:00 | German
New Work, self-organisation and without rigid hierarchies are our hopes for more equality – after all, structural rigidities in companies are being thrown overboard. Which hopes have been fulfilled? Which are often disappointed? Which disadvantaging aspects are further going on? What aspects can “old work” companies take away?
Annika Koller and Josef Kruckenberg have been working in companies with Holocracy framework for many years and they are committed to diversity and inclusion. Dr Gabriele Schambach has been accompanying companies on their way to gender equality and diversity for year, e.g. with “Leaders for Equality”. The three of them give an insight into the opportunities that “New Work” organisations without rigid hierarchies and with flexible role offer for equality. And they show why not everything shines as brightly as it seems at first. Homogeneous employee structures, traditional understandings of leadership and social positioning do not stop at “new work” companies. What exactly does this mean for gender equality work? And what can be learned for the necessary cultural change? We can look forward to the results!
Workshop Jobsharing & Topsharing – a working model for the future
Stephanie Briner, Nicole Niedermann, Karin Ricklin-Etter | 10:30 – 12:00 & 14:30 – 16:00 | German
Jobsharing – a frequently discussed working model. But what exactly is meant by jobsharing or topsharing? What about specific facts and figures? What are the benefits for companies? What are the opportunities for employees? What disadvantages and risks must be expected? What are the requirements for jobsharing to succeed? We will discuss these and more questions and refer to practical examples.
Inclusive leadership in modern environments – a practice workshop
Prof. Dr. Stephan Alexander Böhm, Nicola Glumann | 10:30 – 12:00 & 14:30 – 16:00 | German
Increasing flexibility and diversity are two central trends in today’s working world. For example, many people have a strong desire to work flexibly in terms of time and location. Diversity in companies is increasing continuously, through different working models as well as characteristics such as gender, age, nationality and disability. Companies and employees can only benefit from diversity if inclusion is successful. But what can leaders do to integrate employees into the team? How can inclusive leadership succeed?
Our session will provide an insight into a training on inclusive leadership. For this purpose, the St.Gallen Inclusion Index will be introduced as a concept for inclusion, its four dimensions (authenticity, belonging, equal opportunities and synergy) will be addressed, and concrete strategies on how inclusive leadership can be implemented will be discussed. Through a combination of input, exchange and practical exercises, participants can experience how to promote inclusion in the company.
SPEAKERS 2023
Eugenia Bajet Mestre
Eugenia Bajet Mestre works as a Research Assistant at the Competence Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI). Together with Prof. Jamie Gloor, she studies “non-traditional paths for not-traditional leaders”. With a background in Business Administration (Bachelor level) and Social Psychology (Research Master), she is currently conducting her PhD at HSG with a focus on male allyship.
Prof. Dr. Christa Binswanger
Christa Binswanger is Professor, Senior Lecturer in Gender and Diversity Studies at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS-HSG). She teaches courses on gender, diversity, intersectionality, care, affect, and masculinities and femininities. She is a member of the steering committee of Contextual Studies at the HSG, co-president of the Swiss think tank Gender and Diversity, and a member of the td-net of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences. Recent publications include Transitioning to Gender Equality and Intersectionality and Diversity: Same or Different?
Prof. Dr. Stephan Alexander Böhm
Stephan Böhm is Associate Professor for Diversity Management and Leadership and Director of the Center for Disability and Integration at the University of St. Gallen. His research focuses on inclusion, leadership, human resources and diversity management. He advises numerous companies on topics of healthy leadership, digitalisation and the management of demographic change.
Betty Business
Betty Business is a drag artist, loves beautiful PowerPoint presentations and has set herself the goal of bringing more glitter and pink into the business world. She graduated from the University of St.Gallen with a Bachelor in Business Administration and a Master in Business Innovation. During her studies, she explored gender studies and analysed a queer community in her master’s thesis. Betty Business works as a consultant in a management consultancy and runs various side businesses … among other activities, she also performs in bars and nightclubs with her pink Powerpoint slides.
Eva Fasel
After 7 years at a traditional universal bank, a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Master’s degree in Finance, I turned my back on the banking world and joined an exclusive financial boutique as a client manager. I specialise in Swiss private banking and am a financial map architect. Combining and coordinating different financial topics is my speciality, which I can fully exploit when creating financial maps. At the FINMA-regulated financial boutique Brevalia AG, we put the client first and look for solutions to needs rather than selling products. This outside-in approach is what we live and what we stand for.
Reyn ffoulkes
Reyn ffoulkes is an experienced all-rounder with extensive knowledge in integrated communication, sustainability, personal development and diversity & inclusion. He graduated as a Public Relations Specialist from KV Business School in Zurich and holds a degree in Performing Arts. He values uniting people in their diversity and is engaged in promoting positive social change and fostering tolerance, acceptance and understanding. He joined The Coca-Cola Company Switzerland as Communications Manager in June 2018.
Prof. Dr. Jamie Gloor
With 2 decades of experience across 4 continents, Prof. Dr. Jamie Gloor (SOM-HSG) is an award-winning speaker, teacher, and scholar, recently honored with the HSG Latsis Prize and a TEDxZurich talk. Her work has been featured in top academic (e.g., Journal of Applied Psychology) and popular outlets (e.g., Harvard Business Review and Forbes). Currently funded by a 1.2-million CHF grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation, she and her team craft sought-after courses, research, workshops, and keynotes spanning psychology and management on the topics of DEI, leadership, humor, and (social) sustainability.
Nicola Glumann
Nicola Glumann, M.Sc., is a research associate at the Center for Disability and Integration at the University of St.Gallen (CDI-HSG). She conducts research on diversity, inclusion and new work. As part of the research project “Inclusion Champions Switzerland”, funded by the Federal Office for the Equality of Persons with Disabilities (EBGB), she is developing effective intervention strategies to promote inclusion in the workplace in cooperation with leading companies.
Theresa Goop
Theresa Goop heads the Wage Centre at the Competence Centre for Diversity & Inclusion and advises companies on the process and method of equal pay analyses. She supports companies on their way to non-discriminatory pay based on objective findings from HR data. In her previous work as an economic consultant, she applied economic models and methods to various problems faced by international companies.
Dr. Ines Hartmann
Ines Hartmann is Co-Director of the Competence Centre for Diversity and Inclusion and is responsible for the St.Gallen Diversity Benchmarking together with Nicole Niedermann. She leads other company-specific projects on inclusive leadership and D&I, such as in-depth D&I analyses (quantitative and qualitative) or the development of D&I strategies. She gives workshops, holds lectures and teaches at universities and other schools on the topic of D&I as well as Strategic Management. She publishes on topics such as diversity management and inclusive organizational culture. She holds a PhD in Social Sciences and a Master’s degree in Strategy and International Management from the University of St. Gallen.
Dr. Anna-Katrin Heydenreich
Anna-Katrin Heydenreich works in the Diversity & Inclusion team and as a lecturer in climate psychology at the University of St. Gallen. She is a socio-economist by training with focus on sustainability and psychology. Her doctorate on stakeholder engagement processes led her to appointments on collaboration and participation processes in Jerusalem and Switzerland. As a Diversity & Inclusion Specialist, she focuses on the social dimension of sustainability and is in charge of, among other things, inclusive language, issues related to the protection of personal integrity and awareness-raising measures to promote a respectful campus culture.
Dr. Tanja Kirn
Dr Tanja Kirn is Assistant Professor of Public Finance at the University of Liechtenstein. She develops microsimulation models and analyses the effects of tax and social policies on employment behaviour and on labour and transfer incomes. A particular focus is the simulation of retirement income (AHV and pension funds) in Switzerland. She analyses how employment behaviour, in particular part-time work, and gender wage differentials affect the retirement incomes of men and women. Currently, she is investigating the effects of the reforms of the 1st and 2nd pillars on future pension incomes.
Annika Koller
Annika Koller has been working as a project manager for many years and also advises companies on their way into “New Work” world in her role as Transformation Consultant at the digital agency Unic. Here, she can draw on her own experience in self-organisation, as Unic has been organised holocratically since 2016. In her role as Diversity & Inclusion Advocate, she is committed to diversity and inclusion within Unic.
Florian Krause
Florian Krause is senior research fellow and lecturer at the Institute for Business Ethics at the University of St.Gallen and at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Work and Employment Studies at Leibniz Universität Hanover. With philosophical and economic perspectives, he is particularly concerned with ethical challenges of digital transformation processes, sustainability, and questions of diversity and identity.
Josef Kruckenberg
Josef Kruckenberg has worked at the intersection of traditional companies and self-organising teams since 2014. He currently works as Product Owner, Drupalista at Liip, where he helps customers implement e-commerce solutions based on open-source tools. As Diversity & Inclusion Advocate, Josef supports Liip in the People Circle with strategy and implementation to further evolve our workplace to inclusive for everyone.
Stephan Lendi
Stephan Lendi is an experienced speaker and moderator. He hosts from TV shows and international events to corporate podcasts in German, English and French. He is particularly interested in complex topics and people with unusual stories. In communications coachings and on-camera media trainings, Stephan prepares executives of international companies in their appearances in front of an audience, on-camera and behind the microphone.
“It is of the highest importance to me that the speakers on stage or in front of the camera and their content make a true difference to the viewers and listeners. It is my job to ensure that this content is of the greatest possible emotional and rational benefit to the audience.” Stephan Lendi
Carmen Lopes Sway
I had the great fortune to grow up in two cultures at once. My father – a passionate singer from Switzerland – gave me music at an early age. My Brazilian mother made sure that even my first steps were dancing ones. As a child, my dream was to become an actress and a nurse. At first glance, the professions don’t seem to go together, but if you look closely, both are about people, their inner being, their well-being.
Prof. Dr. Julia Nentwich
Prof. Dr Julia Nentwich is an associate professor for psychology. In her research she is interested in questions of inclusion, identity and change. Together with Dr. Gaby Schambach, she supports companies in the inclusion of male managers with “Leaders for Equality”. At the Research Institute for Organisational Psychology she leads the research area on gender and diversity. She has many years of experience in interdisciplinary research in organizational research and especially with qualitative research methods.
Sandro Niederer
Sandro Niederer (he/they) is the senior manager of the Transgender Network Switzerland and a former biologist. A science enthusiast, they believe that only inclusive science is good and helpful science.
Nicole Niedermann
Nicole Niedermann is a member of the CCDI Management Team. She is co-leader of the annual St.Gallen Diversity Benchmarking study and is responsible for customized D&I projects with companies. She holds a Master’s degree in Work and Organisational Psychology and Business Administration from the University of Fribourg. She has been working in the field of Diversity & Inclusion for more than ten years, of which she was responsible for the topic in a global function for several years. Today she advises and accompanies companies, publishes on D&I topics, gives workshops and has in-depth experience in the areas of D&I strategy development and analysis, gender and generational diversity, managing unconscious bias, inclusive leadership and designing inclusive HR processes.
Alkistis Petropaki
Alkistis Petropaki has been the Managing Director of Advance Women in Swiss Business since 2015. She has more than 20 years of management experience with international consumer goods companies such as L’Oréal, Nestlé, Mövenpick and Lindt. Before joining Advance, she was Country Manager Switzerland at Yves Rocher. With her involvement at Advance, she wants to support women in becoming the architects of their own careers. Alkistis holds a Master’s degree in Management from ESCP-Europe and a degree in German and Psychology from the University of Athens.
CHRISTIAN PIERCE
Christian Pierce is Project Manager at the CCDI. At the same time, he is doing his PhD in organisational studies and cultural theory at the University of St. Gallen. His research focuses on anti-racism in multinational companies from a human rights perspective. He graduated from the United States Military Academy with a degree in Economics and holds an M.Sc. in Business from the COPPEAD Graduate School of Business at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil with a qualitative thesis on cultural diversity. He has consulted to several organisations in the US, Latin America and Europe on D&I, specialising in ethnic equality.
Karin Ricklin-Etter und Stephanie Briner
Karin Ricklin-Etter and Stephanie Briner co-lead WEshare1, the contact point for job and topsharing. Karin Ricklin-Etter (left) is a trained HR manager and has many years of HR experience in various industries. She studied psychology at the University of Zurich and is a member of the Sustainability Council with a focus on diversity & equal opportunities at Thurgauer Kantonalbank. Stephanie Briner (right) is a part-time executive and branch manager and member of the management team at Jörg Lienert AG. Previously, she worked for several years in the field of digital communications. Stephanie Briner studied communication sciences at the University of Fribourg.
Michel Rudin
Michel Rudin is a qualified communications expert with long experience in D&I and sustainability. He unfolds this interest also as founder of Swiss Diversity. In 2021, Michel founded AGON Partners Public Affairs AG, where he is a member of the Board of Directors.
Prof. Dr. Gudrun Sander
Gudrun Sander is a titular professor of business administration with a special focus on diversity management, co-director of the Forschungsstelle für Internationales Management and director of the Competence Centre for Diversity and Inclusion. She researches diversity and inclusion from a strategy, leadership and corporate culture perspective, leads the national diversity benchmarking and is an academic expert in various international and national committees.
Dr. Gabriele Schambach
Dr Gabriele Schambach is co-leader of the project “Leadership for Equality” at the University of St. Gallen (www.leaders4equality.ch). She works as a consultant, trainer and speaker at Genderworks (www.genderworks.de). For more than twenty years she has been working on gender and diversity for more equal opportunities in companies. As a trained industrial clerk and political scientist with a doctorate, she combines her knowledge of systemic organisational development and transactional analysis with scientific findings and corporate practice.
Magdalena Schertler
Magdalena Schertler, MA MSc, studied psychology and applied ethics in Graz. Since 2021, she has been a research associate and doctoral candidate at the Center for Disability and Integration at the University of St. Gallen (CDI-HSG). There, she conducts research on the topic of diversity and inclusion in today’s working world. Within the projects «Inclusion Champions Switzerland» (funded by the EBGB) and «SafeSpace», she works together with leading companies on effective measures to promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the workplace.
Dr. Svenja Schmidt
Svenja Schmidt, Dr. oec. HSG, has many years of experience in the insurance industry and occupational benefits (Beruflichen Vorsorge), including at the Baloise Group and Helvetia. She was also Head of Pensions and Deputy Managing Director of Profond Vorsorgeeinrichtung and previously headed the Swisscanto Vested Benefits Foundation and Swisscanto Supra Collective Foundation as Managing Director. Svenja Schmidt is a member of the board of directors and executive committee of various organisations. In addition to her doctorate, she holds diplomas in business administration and business psychology, which she obtained in the course of her studies at the universities of Aachen, Hagen, Reims, Reykjavik and Yale.
DR. MIHWA SEONG
Mihwa Seong is a postdoctoral researcher at the Competence Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI), working with Prof. Jamie Gloor and Prof. Amanda Shantz. Her research interests include issues of gender/intersectionality in business leadership. Prior to joining CCDI, she completed her PhD in Entrepreneurship at Western University’s Ivey Business School in Canada. In her dissertation, she used a series of experiments to examine the disproportionate impact of gendered language on women’s evaluations of the attractiveness of participating in business start-ups.
RAPHAEL SUMMERMATTER
Raphael Summermatter is Project Manager at the Competence Centre for Diversity & Inclusion. He holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of St. Gallen. During his studies, he was able to acquire valuable software skills, which he can now apply to various company projects. His work at CCDI focuses on projects concerning equal pay between women and men.
Prof. Dr. Jelena Tosic
Jelena Tosic is Assistant Professor for Transcultural Studies at the University of St.Gallen. In her on-going research she develops an ethnographic / historical anthropological perspective on borderlands in Southeast Europe through the lens of (forced) migration. She is currently exploring patterns of moralizing and culturalizing inequality / (Un) deservingness (Tosic & Streinzer 2021, PI SNF Project “Europe’s Un/Deserving: Moralizations of Inequality in Comparative Perspective”) as well as the role of (teacher) education in the contemporary contexts of (forced) migration, populism and digital transformation. She was co-coordinator of the Regional Working Group Europe of the German Anthropological Association (2013-2020). She is co-editor of the EASA Book Series with Berghahn since 2021.
Marisa Tschopp
Marisa Tschopp is a researcher at scip AG, and Research Officer at Women in AI NPO, and Co-Chair of the IEEE Trust and Agency in AI Systems committee. She researches AI from a psychological perspective, addressing a variety of questions about psychological phenomena with a particular interest in ethical implications. Her research focuses on trust, performance measurement of conversational AI (A-IQ), agency, leadership, and issues of gender equality in AI. As an organizational psychologist, she has experience in social and educational settings with a particular passion for digital teaching and learning trends. She has published various media articles, book chapters and essays and is a frequent speaker at conferences and events (including TEDx) worldwide. As an associate researcher in the Social Processes Lab at the Leibniz Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM), she investigates the perceived relationships between humans and machines.
Prof. Dr. Isabelle Wildhaber
Prof. Isabelle Wildhaber is a Full Professor for Private and Commercial Law with a special focus on Labour Law at the University of St. Gallen. She is also the managing director of the Institute for Work and Employment Research at the University of St. Gallen (FAA-HSG). She is the President of the Equal Opportunities Commission and Delegate of the Rectorate for Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at the University of St. Gallen.
PHOTO GALLERY 2023
