Racism and discrimination are bad for public health. That’s according to the staff and students at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Oslo. They are now taking steps to prevent discrimination.

Some people still shake their heads at the concept of diversity management. After all, isn’t it just about treating all employees equally?

Many students with non-Western backgrounds pursue challenging educational programmes. For them, sibling support is an important resource.

The children of immigrants are often met with the attitude that their choice of education has been dictated by social control. On the contrary, these sons and daughters are intent on making their own choices, says researcher Marianne Takvam Kindt.

“Yes, more researchers have parents with higher education. But you don’t have to be born into academia to succeed,” says Silje Fekjær, Vice-Rector at OsloMet.

We are a long way from closing the gender gap among Nobel Laureates. Curt Rice, Rector of the Oslo Metropolitan University and Chair of the KIF Committee, explained his solution for this to the Nobel Foundation in Sweden last week.

“Diversity management is not only about the needs of minorities, but also about the other employees who might need adaptation when they’re going through rough patches in their lives,” says Professor Gro Mjeldheim Sandal.

While women actively participate in the practical work at their organisation, men dodge it.

The EU project GENDERACTIONplus is set to host a conference on equality in February. Why is this conference so important for Norwegian research institutions?

“It’s both surprising and not really that big a revelation that everyday racism is fairly similar whether you work in academia or anywhere else,” says Mona Abdel-Fadil, researcher at the Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies.