Remember the survey we conducted this spring on the diversity of the articles and texts we read as part of the Advanced Migration Studies Masters program? We’re excited to finally be able to present the results in a report on the diversity of the course literature! The responses we received from you were extremely valuable and rich in content, and we want to thank everybody who took a large chunk of their time to share their views on the topic with us.

If this report has shown one thing, it is that diversity matters to the students and alumni at AMIS. While the respondents care about a wide range of different types of diversity, the calls for a greater diversity in the geographies that are covered by the articles we read, for more variety in the disciplines that the texts address and are located in, and for more academic voices from institutions in the Global South were particularly loud. Especially the last point was further backed by our own analysis of the diversity among the authors we read and the geographies in which the articles are situated: The combined percentage of authors based at universities and institutions in Africa, Asia, Australia and South America in the coursed analysed ranges in between a minimum of 0% (Methods & Disciplines ’19-’21) and a maximum of 25.7% (International Migration ’19-’21), with average rates among all courses settling in between 10-15%.

 

 

These are just a few of the many outcomes of the report. We would like to talk about them and continue the conversation together with you. From the very beginning, we imagined this report to be the start of a wider and ongoing discussion among students, alumni and the staff of the centre on diversity— with regards to the Advanced Migration Studies program, but also to diversity in academia and processes of knowledge production as a whole. Hence, we already would like to announce that we will host a first event in the beginning of 2021, in which we want to foster the discourse on diversity based on the results of the survey and the analysis presented here. Keep your eyes and ears open for the official invitation!

One last thing: This is the first report issued by amisan and we would love to hear your thoughts on it. If you want to give us feedback, express criticism or simply share the things this report sparked in you with us, please send us a mail to amisalumninetwork@gmail.com.