Written by Angela Piccioni 

Tuesday 13 December, the Round Table Meeting within the series “Inclusive HAN employees; What do we already have and what do we need more?’” took place, 10 representatives from various HAN academies were in attendance.

Lead speaker Saskia Kreutzer showcased potential scenarios developed based on a literature study. The participants were encouraged to give feedback and offer their insights about what actions need to be taken to promote inclusion in order to align with the mission in the ‘Koersbeeld’ to have a safe work and study environment in which all people feel included.

The presentation kicked off with an image to visualize the difference between equality, equity and inclusion. This was the first moment the discussion was opened to the audience, exploring if there are efforts to establish equitable opportunities, does equality always occur? Is it something that can always be facilitated?

Identifying Priorities for Employees

Next, Saskia initiated a discussion activity, dividing the audience into two groups of five to respond to the question “Which competencies are relevant for which role/position of HAN Employees?” For example, the competence “ability to adapt to intercultural factors” was especially important for student coaches, who are often times in direct contact with the diverse HAN population.

Within the first few minutes, my four group mates and I agreed the competences were imperative for every person in the organization. If we’d had more than 15 minutes we would have matched every competence to every employment level. For the sake of the discussion, we matched only three positions (student coach, researcher, lecturer) to each competency. Our group’s end product visualized the relevance for employees most connected to the experience of HAN students to have a high level of intercultural competences.

The post-discussion of the activity aligned everybody on the idea that the development and training for a deeper understanding of inclusion is an area of growth for all HAN employees.

Room to Grow

The final activity was voting on scenarios to put into action. Working based on a timeline, the group set hypothetical priorities for the organization for the next 3 years, which further discerned the most important problems to be tackled, and how to facilitate solutions. Ms Kreutzer has created feasible goals based on thorough research; the scenarios were designed based on literature to tackle challenges that do not always have visible solutions.

The discussion was a learning opportunity for everyone in attendance, and a lovely chance to meet colleagues from other academies. There are areas of improvement that need to be discussed, but action within the organization is the next step, and it can never happen too fast. There is always more to be done, and why not start today?