Objective 5 – Diverse learning opportunities

Ensuring that university populations adequately reflect the diversity of society at large represents a challenge for the coming decade – but also a rewarding opportunity. This will not only entail continual efforts to facilitate access to higher education for underrepresented groups: it also means creating support structures and study formats that permit heterogeneity. It will involve the difficult but productive task of taking different levels of students’ prior knowledge and their differing motivations for studying into account, as well as learning goals that range from preparing for careers in academia to qualifying for non-university professions. The multitude of organisational challenges in higher education shows itself in new study formats, including offers of digital learning, the growing importance of part-time study courses and stays abroad, and in the increasing number of study programmes delivered in collaboration with other universities.

The University of Bremen strives to mirror the diversity of society and therefore undertakes efforts to proactively recruit students from underrepresented segments of society. We subject the established access routes to higher education to critical review, along with our everyday practices in dealing with diversity, conflicts and discrimination. We offer intensive counselling to prospective students to enable them to better assess what will be required of them and help them evaluate their own learning inclinations and make an informed choice of study programme. Going forward, we must ensure that study programmes allow even greater flexibility so as to adequately take into account the diversity of students’ individual circumstances in different phases of their study, and support life-long learning. At the same time, the University strives to provide additional opportunities for highly motivated students to explore and develop their talents.

To firmly establish equal opportunity and mobility in tertiary education, to offer tailored, potential-based activities in the initial study phase, and step up the recruitment of female students in male-dominated subjects and vice versa.
To enable flexible learning paths, offer more freedom of choice in correspondingly designed study programmes, and facilitate studying abroad and part-time studies.
To offer additional study opportunities for particularly highly motivated students.
To show commitment in the area of continuing education and develop new approaches to lifelong learning.
To create more space on the campus for self-organised group-based learning.

Updated by: SPE

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Objective 5 – Diverse learning opportunities

The challenge

Our approach

Our goals