Paper short abstract:

Based on ethnographic research I historically and discursively analyse diversity policy development in higher education in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to show how ambiguous and multiple uses and wordings come about in diversity definitions.

Paper long abstract:

"A school where everyone feels welcome, regardless of their cultural, socioeconomic background, sexuality, gender, age, possibilities, talents, etc." The aim for an inclusive university in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where my ethnographic fieldwork took place, seems clear. However, a closer look into the included definitions of diversity and inclusivity reveals several ambiguities and unclarities. Who is the "everyone" referred to in the aim, if it needs clarification by a "regardless"? How did the selection of personal characteristics, from ethnicities to talents, develop in relation to the intended recipients? From where did a welcome feeling stem and whereto is it directed? Based on document analysis and interviews with policy advisors and other university key actors I want to describe how the multidirectional definitions of diversity came about and how they work out in the university's policy field. By historically and discursively analyzing diversity policy developments in this educational institution I hope to contribute to current understandings and workings of diversity definitions in higher education, Rotterdam, the Netherland and beyond.