CIICPD 2023

(Kirton and Greene, 2005, p. 132) that intersect and consequently reshape the meaning of diversity.

Figure 1: HEAD Wheel (Gaisch et al., 2019)

In the following, the five different segments of the wheel are briefly outlined. To begin with, there is the demographic diversity, which is primarily associated with inclusion, participation and anti-discrimination. It addresses the Big Six (age, gender, sexual orientation, physical & mental disabilities, race & ethnicity and religion & ideology) but also looks at the socio-economic background of a newly arriving student population. A greater permeability allows more and more students who have been heretofore excluded from and/or underrepresented at the tertiary level to take up a university degree. Therefore, higher education institutions are increasingly confronted with ever-changing challenges brought about by changes in demographics, the ongoing massification of higher education and globalisation trends that force them to also critically assess their strategies for attracting future students. The second element of the HEAD Wheel refers to the cognitive diversity, where differing knowledge and value structures shall be exploited to achieve more creative solutions. Especially in international settings, persons from a variety of backgrounds drawing on different learning strategies, cognitive styles, problem-solving approaches, and prediction and perception models interact with each other. Taking advantage of this diversity has the potential to lead to more innovative approaches. It is seen as beneficial to adopt a variety of perspectives when looking at specific challenges. It is for this reason that cognitive diversity is expressed by various models of perception and prediction that are manifested in tacit assumptions of commonly accepted values,

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