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JOINT STUDY

UA Ruhr Team Researches Diversity in Local Administration

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Illustration of the hands and arms of a diverse group of people stretched into the picture from above and below. In each case, two hands are roughly opposite each other and hand each other a colorful and differently shaped speech bubble. © melita​/​stock.adobe.com
In order to systematically and multidimensionally record the representation of diversity in German local authorities, the project participants have developed a new survey.
Together with researchers from Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) and University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE), Professor Alexander Unser and Janine Kuropka from the Department of Catholic Theology are investigating how diverse the employment structures in public administration are and how they affect interactions between the state and citizens. The Hans Böckler Foundation is supporting the interdisciplinary project at the three universities of the University Alliance Ruhr (UA Ruhr) with around 306,000 euros.

Public administration in Germany plays a special role in the political promotion of a more inclusive society: With around five million employees, it is not only an important employer, but as part of the administration, it is also responsible for services to citizens and the practical implementation of political goals. This applies in particular to the municipal level: A large proportion of political measures are implemented decentrally by municipal offices, which is why direct interactions between the state and citizens are mainly observed here.

In contrast to other countries, however, there are so far only a few studies on diversity in public administration in Germany. In addition, previous studies have often focused on individual aspects of diversity. The interdisciplinary team of researchers from UA Ruhr has therefore set itself the goal of systematically and multidimensionally recording the representation of diversity in German local authorities.

New measuring instrument

“Our goal is to find out to what extent the diversity in our society is also reflected in public administration. A diverse administration makes a significant contribution to social participation by better taking into account the needs and perspectives of all citizens,” says Professor Alexander Unser, Professor of Catholic Theology with a focus on religious education. He is leading the two-year project “DivKom - Diversity in Local Authorities: Empirical Inventory and Analysis of the Influence of Diversity on State-Citizen Interaction” together with Professor Nicolai Dose, UDE Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, and Professor Jörg Bogumil, RUB Professor of Public Administration, Urban and Regional Policy.

In order to research the various diversity dimensions of administrative personnel, the project participants have developed a new survey. Janine Kuropka, research associate at the Department of Catholic Theology, explains: “When considering phenomena such as representation, inequality or discrimination, we rely on an intersectional understanding in the project. In our research design, we therefore take into account that different diversity aspects, such as gender, nationality, religion or disability, can act simultaneously or overlapping.”

Influence on citizen-oriented action

In the DivKom project, the research team will also investigate how diversity and diversity-related attitudes of municipal employees affect their actions towards citizens. The project considers both the influence of passive representation through diversity-related attitudes and active representation through a diverse workforce and inclusive employment structures. Professor Alexander Unser says: “Based on the study results and the developed measuring instrument, new didactic concepts for diversity competencies in administration could be developed and tested for their effectiveness in the future.”

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