‘Diversity’ in an age of global ambition: the case of German Universities of Excellence

Diversity has become an increasingly celebrated concept worldwide but varies across national contexts and has been subject to intense debate. To understand the nationally and globally constructed nature of diversity discourse in higher education, we look to a national context where diversity initiatives are emergent: Germany. Funded by Excellence Initiatives that aim to raise the global profile of German higher education, German Universities of Excellence offer an intriguing case to examine the construction of diversity discourse in higher education. Drawing on neoinstitutional frameworks, we investigate the extent to which the diversity discourse of German Universities of Excellence echoes long-established gender parity commitments and the extent to which it reflects the discourse of higher-ranked universities. To do so, we computationally and qualitatively analyse the text data of the diversity websites of German Universities of Excellence, comparing them with analogous text data from the top-ranking Times Higher Education universities. While gender anchors the German diversity discourse, there are also suggestions of subtle expansion and global resonances in the logics underlying diversity statements. These findings echo previous research establishing how universities create nationally distinctive forms of global legitimacy. We conclude with implications for diversity in global higher education during a period of intense political and ideological contestation.