@inproceedings{SteuerDankertLeichtScholten2017,
  author    = {Steuer-Dankert, Linda and Leicht-Scholten, Carmen},
  title     = {Innovation and Diversity : Integrating new perspectives into research associations},
  series = {12th European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (ECIE 2017) : Paris, France, 21-22 September 2017},
  booktitle = {12th European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (ECIE 2017) : Paris, France, 21-22 September 2017},
  isbn      = {978-1-911218-54-8},
  pages     = {767 -- 776},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {The link between diversity and innovation is broadly discussed in the context of research and innovation processes. Many institutions and enterprises, specifically in commerce, have already tried to establish sustainable diversity management concepts, in order to increase the diversity of their workforce in addition to establishing a corporate culture of openness. Alongside the creation of a working place where different experiences and skills are valued equally, the entrepreneurial intention is to transfer diversity into economically relevant advantages. Taking into account the potential of diversity in research and innovation processes, the project "Diversity- and Innovation Management" was incorporated within a large interdisciplinary research Cluster. The project's purpose was to study the context between diversity and innovation in research associations and to later develop a customised management concept into an interdisciplinary research Cluster on integrative production technology with full integration. The challenge of such research associations lays in an organisational structure which is often described as being decentralised. Researchers coming from different academic disciplines, while having diverse habits, conduct research on large scientific issues and challenges. In addition, these researchers are socialised in different institutions and university chairs. Theses differences in leadership styles, business cultures and organisational strategies, follow into their research team work. Taking a closer look into the management of human resources suggests that decentral organised recruitment processes, as well as allocation of human resources, lead to a lacking overview in regard to missing competencies, perspectives and backgrounds in research networks. These circumstances are comparable to big corporate groups. While developing a management concept for research associations, these characteristics must be considered. To ensure this, the project follows a human-centred approach, which considers top-down, as well as bottom-up perspectives. This paper presents the applied mixed-method approach in the scientific issue described above. In the frame of the Cluster of Excellence "Integrative Production Technology for High-Wage Countries" research results based on quantitative, as well as qualitative studies, were presented as an application example. This paper provides a new perspective on the innovation and diversity context. Against the background of complex research organisations, the development approach of a management concept is particularly interesting.},
  language  = {en}
}
@inproceedings{LeichtScholtenSteuerDankertBouffier2016,
  author    = {Leicht-Scholten, Carmen and Steuer-Dankert, Linda and Bouffier, Anna},
  title     = {Facing Future Challenges: Building Engineers for Tomorrow},
  series = {Conference proceedings : new perspectives in science education : 5th Conference edition, Florence, Italy, 17-18 March 2016},
  booktitle = {Conference proceedings : new perspectives in science education : 5th Conference edition, Florence, Italy, 17-18 March 2016},
  isbn      = {978-886292-705-5},
  pages     = {32 -- 37},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {Future engineers are increasingly confronted with the so-called Megatrends which are the big social challenges society has to cope with. These Megatrends, such as "Silver Society", "Globalization", "Mobility" and "Female Shift" require an application-oriented perspective on Diversity especially in the engineering field. Therefore, it is necessary to enable future engineers not only to look at the technical perspectives of a problem, but also to be able to see the related questions within societies they are developing their artefacts for. The aim of teaching engineering should be to prepare engineers for these requirements and to draw attention to the diverse needs in a globalized world. Bringing together technical knowledge and social competences which go beyond a mere training of the so-called "soft skills", is a new approach followed at RWTH Aachen University, one of the leading technical universities in Germany. RWTH Aachen University has established the bridging professorship "Gender and Diversity in Engineering" (GDI) which educates engineers with an interdisciplinary approach to expand engineering limits. In the frame of a sustainable teaching concept the research group under the leadership of Prof. Carmen Leicht-Scholten has developed an approach which imparts a supplication-specific Gender and Diversity expertise to engineers. In workshops students gain theoretical knowledge about Gender and Diversity and learn how to transfer their knowledge in their special field of study and later work. To substantiate this, the course participants have to solve case studies from real life. The cases which are developed in collaboration with non-profit organizations and enterprises from economy rise the students to challenges which are inspired by professional life. Evaluation shows the success of this approach as well as an increasing demand for such teaching formats.},
  language  = {en}
}