Online Sessions

Kick Off “Then, Now, Next. Celebrating 10 years of St.Gallen Diversity & Inclusion Week”

Prof. Dr. Gudrun Sander, Alexandra Rhiner and Michel Rudin | 10:00 – 10:30 | online | German

In September 2017, we held our first D&I conference, where we discussed topics such as age diversity and disability, migration, unconscious bias and high performance, measuring success in D&I, and the question of whether we really need an official/legal gender classification. What have we achieved during the last 10 years? What questions and challenges will remain over the next 10 years? And what does the future hold for D&I?

Together with Alexandra Rhiner from We Advance and Michel Rudin from Swiss Diversity, we will discuss these questions at the kick-off event and launch the anniversary D&I week online.

Why women function – how cultural ideals turn into internal demands

Dr. Nilima Chowdhury | 10:30 – 11:15 | online | German

Why is the burden on women still so much greater than that on men? And do we really take on all these demands – career, family, sport, relationships – as willingly as we often believe? Does this perfectionism that we women like to hold up as an ideal actually correspond to our ‘nature’?

Women just get on with things. They juggle work commitments and family life and keep themselves physically and mentally fit – seemingly effortlessly, with a smile on their faces. Because it feels natural and normal!

Drawing on her many years of research on this topic, social psychologist Nilima Chowdhury explains in this online session why making it work – often beyond one’s own limits – feels like there is no alternative. She demonstrates that the patterns of emotion, thought and behaviour with which women master their everyday working lives are essentially coping and survival strategies. The aim is to foster a deeper understanding of where these psychological mechanisms come from, what sustains them, and how we can change them.

Mental health at work: From Individual Resilience to Systemic Responsibility

Dr. Mahshid Khademi | 14:00 – 15:00 | online | English

Rising sickness absence, work disability, and early retirement show that mental health cannot be addressed only through individual coping strategies or resilience training. In Switzerland, psychological reasons are a major driver of disability pensions and early labor-market exit, making workplace mental health a question of prevention, inclusion, retention, and organizational responsibility.

This session explores how organizations can move from an individual-centered view of mental health toward a more systemic understanding of support at work. Drawing on findings from a Swiss social insurance context, the session focuses on employees with diagnosed psychological impairments and examines how tailored work arrangements – known as idiosyncratic deals, or i-deals – can function as practical workplace accommodations.

The session will introduce three forms of tailored support: task, schedule, and location i-deals. It will discuss how these arrangements may help employees remain in work by improving the fit between health needs, work demands, and available resources. Participants will be invited to reflect on how work design, leadership, flexibility, and accommodation practices can create healthier and more sus-tainable work environments.

From the occupied “self” to the inhabited “we” – Forgotten voices, present dangers

Dr. Florian Krause | 10:00 – 10:45 | online | English

When employees follow instructions, they privately find questionable, when managers approve decisions they would never make at home, or when entire organisations drift into wrongdoing without anyone feeling responsible – something more than social pressure is at work.

This session argues that organisations do not merely push individuals to conform: they gradually reshape the self that is supposed to judge. Drawing on Hannah Arendt’s concept of thoughtlessness and Gerda Walther’s largely forgotten phenomenological ontology – written in 1923, yet strikingly relevant today – we explore how organisational cultures, purposes, and identities slowly permeate the individual moral self, until the collective “we” comes to inhabit the place of the judging “I”.

Connecting these historical voices to present-day leadership challenges, the session asks a practical question: what does it take to build organisations that preserve, rather than quietly erode, the individual capacity to think, judge, and speak up?

Biases in AI: Insights from the BIAS project

Prof. Dr. Mascha Kurpicz-Briki | 11:15 – 12:00 | online | German

Inclusive Leadership – Disability Confidence as a Leadership Responsibility

Katharina Thill | 14:00 – 14:45  | online | German

Inclusive leadership is no longer optional — it is a critical capability for organizations navigating transformation and innovation.

This session explores the key competencies leaders need to create environments where employees with disabilities can contribute, grow, and thrive. We will look at how leaders can strengthen reflection, courage, and awareness in their own leadership practice while fostering psychological safety, trust, and self-efficacy within teams.

The session also highlights how inclusive leadership improves team performance through transparency, fairness, mediation skills, and a stronger sense of belonging. Finally, we connect inclusion to organizational impact by examining strategic action, change capability, and execution strength. Participants will gain practical perspectives on how leadership behaviors can drive both inclusion and business performance across individuals, teams, and the wider organization.

Breaking the glass ceiling (and raising the floor)

Dr. Rose Wangui Kimotho | 15:15 – 16:00 | online | English

Diversity in the C-suite is only half the challenge. Businesses today also need to address inequality, labour rights, and working conditions at the lowest levels of their supply chains.
In this session, we explore how Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) helps companies move from compliance to action by:

• Protecting vulnerable groups, including migrant workers.
• Addressing economic inequality through fair wage strategies.
• Preventing exploitation and strengthening accountability across the organization and supply chain.

Glass cliff leadership assignments: Are they career damaging or blessing in disguise?

Dr. Xiaoxu Zhang | 10:00 – 10:45 | online | English

Are you aware of the “think crisis, think female” association? Based on your experience, do you think that organizations tend to prefer female over male candidates for leadership positions in times of crisis?
What do you think of high-risk leadership assignments in crisis-stricken organizations? Do you think they will be disruptive for women’s career development or rather good opportunities to train and demonstrate leadership competencies?

This session sheds light on the “glass cliff” phenomenon, namely, the tendency to preferentially select women over men for leadership positions in organizations undergoing crises. We will begin by taking a historical perspective, exploring the social circumstances that gave rise to the concept of the glass cliff. Next, we will examine its implications for self-perception and career advancement, both for individual women and for professional women more generally. Most importantly, drawing on empirical data and research findings, we will assess whether the glass cliff actually exists, and whether taking on a high-risk leadership role in a crisis-stricken organization ultimately hinders or facilitates career progression.

Embracing neurodiversity: How neuro-inclusive workplaces foster innovation and a sense of belonging

Celina Heiniger | 11:00 – 11:45 | online | German

What are the different thinking styles, and how do they foster innovation and creativity? How can we move beyond simply accepting this diversity of brain function to actively embracing it – and what does that mean for designing neuro-inclusive work environments?

It is estimated that around 15 to 20 percent of the population is neurodivergent. Nevertheless, many people try to mask their neurodivergent traits in order to conform to social norms and avoid social barriers. At the same time, research shows that neurodiversity can be a key driver of innovation and creativity.

So how can we create work places in which different ways of thinking are not only accepted but actively welcomed? In this online session, we will explore different thinking styles and demonstrate how they can enrich innovation processes.

We will also discuss concrete approaches to creating neuro-inclusive work environments where diversity is celebrated and everyone can unlock their full potential.

Then – Now – Next: 9 questions and 9 answers towards leadership and gender equality

Prof. Dr. Julia Nentwich and Dr. Gabriele Schambach | 14:00 – 15:00 | online | German

Why are equal opportunities a management responsibility? Or why should managers have a greater and more binding responsibility?

More than 20 years of research and consultancy (then) have led us to find the right answers to the most pressing questions (or, indeed, to identify the questions in the first place) and to set them out between two covers (now), in order to provide tools, knowledge and inspiration to shape the future (next).

From A for allyship and B for burdens, we follow the alphabet in this session to explain why gender equality is a matter of organisational development, what managers can do in practical terms, and how challenges can be tackled constructively.

We invite participants to submit questions in advance via email to leaders4equality@unisg.ch, as well as during the session.

Equity and inclusion: How do women and men perceive their career opportunities?

Dr. Caroline Morbach and Dr. Ines Hartmann | 15:30 – 16:15 | online | German

A survey of members of the German Society of Cardiology examined key aspects of equal opportunities and career development. These include satisfaction with career progress to date, the perceived fairness of promotion processes, and existing framework conditions such as opportunities for rotation and transparent criteria for career advancement.

Furthermore, the analysis highlights individual factors such as ambition and self-confidence, as well as structural barriers, such as parenthood, career breaks or a migrant background. Experiences of discrimination and harassment were also addressed.

In addition, expectations and requests for specific measures were gathered – directed at both employers and the German Society of Cardiology. In the webinar, we will present the key findings of the study and outline practical approaches to strengthening equal opportunities and making career paths in cardiology more equitable.

Reshaping power in organizations

Christina Sontheim-Leven, Bettina Weiguny, Dr. Gabriele Schambach and Prof. Dr. Julia Nentwich | 10:00 – 11:00 | online | German

“Why are we wasting so much potential — and with it many billions of euros — by holding on to an outdated system from the 1950s, instead of building a new one in which strong and capable women not only make it into leadership positions, but can also stay there and have real impact?” This is the question Anna Sophie Herken, Christina Sontheim-Leven and Bettina Weiguny raise in the introduction to their book “Machtgebiete”.

In this session, they will explore how top female managers experience this “1950s system”; what their key takeaways from the interviews with these women are; and what all of us can do to change the future conditions in companies.

From commitment to implementation: The LGBTI label as a tool for sustainable inclusion

Dr. Alejandro Betancor and Andrea Waser | 11:15 – 12:00 | online | German

Many organizations today express a commitment to diversity. What matters, however, is whether gender and sexual diversity also become effective in concrete terms across structures, processes, and culture. This 45-minute workshop shows how the potential of LGBTIQ+ inclusion can be strategically leveraged for organizational success, employee retention, innovation, and credibility.

At the center is the LGBTI label as a practical instrument for making diversity in relation to gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation visible, measurable, and sustainably embedded. Participants will receive a compact overview of key areas for action, success factors, and typical implementation challenges.

An interactive section invites participants to reflect on their own organization’s level of maturity, identify priorities, and derive concrete next steps. The workshop is aimed at DEI specialists, HR professionals, and leaders who want to develop inclusion in a strategic, credible, and impact-oriented way.