Dean: The University of Copenhagen still excludes international voices

The University of Copenhagen (UCPH)’s first major inclusion survey results were published recently. More than 8,000 students and staff took part in the questionnaire, and the report shows high levels of well-being, but also significant challenges. The University Post asked Bente Stallknecht, Dean of the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences and sponsor of the university’s diversity and inclusion initiative, what the next steps will be.

Let’s zoom right out for a moment: Why has UCPH chosen to conduct an inclusion survey now?

»We set up a strategic framework for our work on diversity through to 2030 earlier this year. The survey results are to give us a data-based foundation to work from. We want to know more about how staff and students feel included, and how connected they feel to the university.«

What surprised you the most in the results?

»I was surprised at how many students and staff perceive themselves as minorities. That 43 per cent of students see themselves this way — I hadn’t expected that. Of course, this only reflects the respondents, and we know minorities may be more inclined to take part. But the survey wasn’t designed to be representative — it’s meant to give us insights into areas we need to work on.«

READ ALSO: The University of Copenhagen’s inclusion survey: This is what surprised us

Is the concept of ‘minority’ not becoming meaningless when nearly half of students report being minorities?

Should I mark myself as a minority because I’m a female professor in senior management?

Bente Stallknecht

»I don’t think so. It shows that there are many ways people can experience being in a minority. I wasn’t sure myself when I filled out the survey. Should I mark myself as a minority because I’m a female professor in senior management? I chose ‘no’, but I could also have said ‘yes’ — it’s something that has followed me throughout my career. Being in a minority can mean so many things: ethnicity, political views, age, religion, or being an international staff member or student, and so on. It gives us insight into the many different perspectives out there.«

UCPH wants to be international, but many experience linguistic and cultural barriers. How does that add up?

»That was one of the results that really stood out to me. We have many international staff, especially PhD students and postdocs. We want to be an international university, but we speak a language that no one else understands. And the results suggest that our parallel language policy has not yet been fully implemented.«

READ ALSO: UCPH’s language policy contradicts research-based education objectives

Can you understand if international staff feel unwelcome at UCPH?

»Yes, I absolutely can. But I do think that in local workplace settings at the departments they are good at speaking English at most meetings, which is a big change compared to ten years ago.«

»At the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, where I’m dean, we’ve just hired a department head who doesn’t speak Danish, and we’ve decided that four annual management meetings will be held in English. We’ll evaluate this at the end of the year. It’s also about challenging ourselves as a management team. But it’s clear that in day-to-day situations, people easily slip back into Danish.«

42 per cent of students with physical disabilities struggle to participate in teaching. What will you do about accessibility?

»Accessibility is one of the things we’ll be taking concrete steps to address in the near future. We’re working with universal design — that is, creating spaces and systems that are usable by as many people as possible, both physically in our buildings and in our online systems. We’ve just set up a working group across the buildings and education areas to ensure that accessibility is built into framework agreements for construction projects.«

Can you get in if you use a wheelchair or have limited mobility?

Bente Stallknecht

»In some places at UCPH, it works well, and in others not at all. We’ll also be focusing more on accessibility when we organise events — what are the access routes like? Can you get in if you use a wheelchair or have limited mobility?«

READ ALSO: Wheelchair user: When are we going to start talking about ableism on Frederiksberg Campus?

Are students being involved in the work on accessibility?

»I think so. I’m not sure exactly how, but we do have a tradition of including students and bringing them on board.«

Technical and administrative staff (TAPs) report being treated as »second-class employees«. Is this a criticism that you acknowledge — and what will you do about it?

»It’s something I’ve heard before, yes, and it was another part of the report that stood out to me. The administration reform has highlighted the divide between technical and administrative staff (TAPs) and academic staff (VIPs), and this may have reinforced those feelings. In research groups, TAPs are often integrated, but in administration, they are far more isolated. As management, we need to do a better job of making it clear that TAPs are just as important as professors.«

The survey shows that many students and staff are happy to be asked about their experiences of inclusion and want follow-up and visible outcomes. When can they expect to see results?

»The strategic framework launches concrete initiatives in 2025/26. One of them is the inclusive classroom. We have courses for teachers on creating inclusive learning environments, but not many attend them. So we’re working on getting knowledge about the inclusive classroom into the required teacher training programme (pædagogikum). If you’re an assistant professor, associate professor or full professor, you have to complete academic teacher training. We’re talking with TEACH [Centre that supports the Faculties of Humanities, Law, Social Sciences and Theology with skills development in teaching and education, ed.] about how to integrate tools that can make classrooms more inclusive. This is a way to ensure more teachers acquire this understanding.«

The classroom is a meeting place for differences, where worldviews are challenged — and students and staff need to be aware of that.

Bente Stallknecht

»Another practical initiative we’re working on is our expert lists. Every year, a list of the 50 most quoted experts in the media comes out, and there are always very few women. Our communications department is now working to get a broader representation of experts in the media — for example, by saying it doesn’t always have to be a professor commenting — it can also be younger researchers or PhDs, where there are often more international staff and women. The way we present the university to the world should be more representative.«

»We’re also allocating resources to hire coordinators to ensure knowledge-sharing on diversity across faculties and central administration. The strategic framework includes both cross-cutting and local initiatives, and the coordinators will facilitate knowledge-sharing across the university. In addition, all departments will set up action plans with defined targets for both students and staff.«

If UCPH is to succeed in improving inclusion, what do you see as the three most important focus areas in the coming years?

»First, the student introduction period is absolutely crucial to making new students feel at home quickly. Then there’s the inclusive classroom — both socially and academically, you need to be able to be yourself in class. Second, the university classroom must be both respectful and challenging — it’s a meeting place for differences where worldviews are challenged, and students and staff need to be aware of that.«

READ ALSO: Rector to new students: Your worldview is about to be challenged

»And third, we need to get better at welcoming international staff and working with language so people can manage in both Danish and English. This isn’t about everyone suddenly having to speak English, but we need to offer Danish courses so international staff can also get by in Danish at the university.«

This article was first written in Danish and published on 9 September 2025. It has been translated into English and post-edited by Mike Young.