PERSPECTIVES
Bridging cultures and identities Embracing diversity — that’s Zahra Nedjabat’s calling. She has been head of DW’s newly established International Relations and Diversity department since the end of 2019. She tells us why diversity matters.
DW has employees from more than 60 countries
Since Zahra Nedjabat took over her new position last year, she has continued to actively promote diversity among employees at DW. Within this period, she has made various advances such as establishing a diversity working group, leading DW in its maiden participation in Europe’s largest LGBTQ-friendly career fair “Sticks & Stones” and creating a digital format where employees and members of the management team discuss various issues such as everyday racism and discrimination at the work place. “In the context of diversity, communication must always be bottom-up as well as top-down, and cross-linked in as many directions as possible,” says Nedjabat. For her, diversity is not only about ethnic origin, but also age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, world view as well as a visible or
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invisible disability. “Even the so-called ‘Old White Men Syndrome’ indicates that people often approach other groups of people with certain stereotypes in mind. This shows that it is necessary to put ourselves in the perspective of another person or group of persons,” she says.
Greatest challenge is implementation Asked why DW needs a diversity management when after all, it has employees from over 60 nations, Nedjabat says that while “diversity offers enormous opportunities, it also has the potential for conflict. Diversity management is precisely there to make targeted use of these opportunities and advantages. The ability to cooperate is the
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by Ivana Drmić, DW editor
Not only diversity but also inclusion in every department and at every level. core competence of the 21st century in view of globalization, digitalization, demographic change.” Nedjabat admits working in an intercultural environment is a huge asset. As an international broadcaster, DW has been diverse for over 65 years now — ahead of many institutions and organizations. Nevertheless, according to her, the p otential
