THEME: What does DEI look like in teaching practices at SDU?

What do you think is important about incorporating diversity, equality and/or inclusion into your university teaching? 

I believe DEI is crucial because it’s fundamentally about fairness. In my view, most people want to live in a society where everyone is treated equally and has similar opportunities. DEI is about ensuring basic human decency—treating people well and making sure that people on the sidelines are part of society.  

In the beginning of my teaching, I had to actively learn and reflect on these issues, but now they’ve become more intuitive in my approach. However, there’s always room for continued learning and improvement. 

Please share a few examples of how you incorporate DEI into your teaching.  

One of the simplest methods is ensuring fairness in student assessments—I grade homework anonymously to prevent unconscious bias. This way, I evaluate the work purely based on its quality and requirements.  

Beyond grading, DEI is about respecting and treating everyone equally. I try to give equal time and attention to all students. Since I primarily teach in English, I require all coursework, discussions, and even casual conversations in class to be conducted in English. This prevents non-Danish-speaking students from feeling excluded and ensures everyone has equal access to learning opportunities. Overhearing others’ discussions is valuable, so maintaining an English-speaking environment helps create a stronger sense of inclusion. 

Have you had any feedback from students on your DEI approaches? Or what do you hope they experience? 

Students have occasionally shared that they feel seen, respected, and valued in my classroom, which I consider one of the highest compliments. Teaching is demanding, and critique is part of the role, but knowing I contribute positively to students’ experiences motivates me to continue refining my approach.  

Do you have any other comments on incorporating DEI into university teaching? 

When you look at technology through the lens of ethics, you start to see bias everywhere—it’s built into everything we interact with. Technology has a way of nudging people in certain directions, so it’s really important to think about who’s developing it. If we don’t have diversity among the people creating these technologies, we end up with technology that's basically biased by its nature. 

If we want to get better at DEI, it’s a mix of self-reflection, some training, and practice. If you do those things, you’ll improve over time.