Diversity in the Federal Administration (DiBu)

Consensus and Conflict Department

Project head: Prof. Dr. Ralf Wölfer ,  Prof. Dr. Sabrina Zajak

Project team members: Samera Bartsch ,  Fabio Best ,  Dr. Annett Gräfe-Geusch ,  Liam Haller ,  Ilse Kuschel ,  Miriam Meksem

Demographic and social change is currently taking place, both in society and in the federal administration. This requires a diversity-oriented organisational development of the federal administration; on the one hand, so that the existing diversity of society is reflected in the administration; on the other hand, because diversity is an essential prerequisite for multi-perspectivity and thus a central quality standard. The need for diversification in the public service is already explicitly recognised in various places (e.g. the catalogue of measures of the Cabinet Committee to Combat Right-Wing Extremism and Racism, the National Action Plan on Integration (NAP-I) or the Diversity Charter). However, current studies show that there is an underrepresentation of employees with a migration background in the federal administration; especially if they belong to the first generation. In addition, the reduction to people with a so-called migration background is too short-sighted, as it does not take into account a large number of marginalised groups with experiences of discrimination.

The project therefore examines diversity in the federal administration using the example of the BMFSFJ. In a multi-methodological design, the barriers and structural access restrictions for people with a so-called migration background as well as people with other dimensions relevant to discrimination, which systematically impede access to and retention in the civil service, will be examined. Based on this, recommendations for action are to be developed for a diversity strategy for the BMFSFJ in order to increase diversity in the ministry, reduce discrimination in everyday working life and minimise structural barriers or exclusion mechanisms for people outside the ministry.

The project "Diversity in the Federal Administration" is a cooperation project between the German Centre for Integration and Migration Research e.V. (DeZIM) and Citizens For Europe gUG (CFE).

Central questions:

The following questions will be addressed for the individual epistemic horizons:

• Status quo: How diverse is the employee structure in the BMFSFJ and what are the employees' attitudes towards diversity?
• Internal perspective: How is diversity and discrimination experienced in everyday working life? What experiences of exclusion and racism have employees had?
• How do employees describe the diversity culture in the ministry and their diversity-oriented actions? What existing anti-discrimination and diversity-promoting measures are known?
• External perspective: How attractive is the BMFSFJ for people with a diversity background outside the ministry? What structural barriers and exclusion mechanisms are perceived by people with discrimination-relevant characteristics?

Methodology:

In a multi-method design, conventional survey methods will be combined with survey experiments and qualitative analyses.

The research project will be implemented in five interlinked work packages: Project management (WP 1), the development of the state of research with supplementary external expertise (WP 2), a quantitative employee survey (WP 3), qualitative interviews with employees (WP 4) and a quantitative survey of potential applicants (WP 5).

Funding: Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Third-party funding)