Culture
Everyone has their own method of measuring success: it can range from excellent academic results to global career prospects or a business idea with the potential to innovate an entire industry. The crucial factor is a culture that enables self-development and personal growth. At the University of St.Gallen (HSG), we have always carved out our own path. Success here arises in the community and for the community.
We share knowledge and methodology with you so that you can develop your skills and your impact. One of the recipes for success is cultivating personal contact and academic exchange. Whether in associations, initiatives, events, networks, coaching sessions, mentoring sessions, co-creation spaces or simply in the inviting meeting points on campus, taking time to talk and compare viewpoints provides you with insights that can help your ideas take flight. On the HSG campus, the spark is often the result of a chance meeting. This is what gives HSG its unique spirit: campus life is full of inspiration and interesting encounters. Here’s an example of life at HSG and what success can mean:
On the university’s friendly campus with its cutting-edge facilities, everything is on your doorstep and you are certain to come across familiar faces or bump into interesting new people. Serendipity, the art of the chance encounter that helps ideas take flight, found its perfect home in 2022. SQUARE is a meeting place, think tank, events space and innovation lab all rolled into one. Here, students meet up with figures from public life, academic teaching staff and the general public to discuss the burning issues of our times. With the state-of-the art atmosphere, high-quality facilities and the latest technology, meetings have never been so exciting.
At HSG, you will find a range of different formats for knowledge sharing: scheduled teaching and learning events and independent study on campus or online, supported by hybrid learning with digital platforms and apps, plus blended learning formats, where online study of the course content is followed by in-person classroom discussions.
Houses, flats and shared accommodation in the city and close to the campus tend to be good and reasonably priced, and furnished accommodation is available on request. From the park-like campus, you have a view of St.Gallen, which lies in the eastern, German-speaking part of Switzerland, close to the German and Austrian borders, between the Alps and Lake Constance. The city’s population of around 80,000 includes a relatively high percentage of young people. It has a historic Old Town with attractive narrow streets and plenty of shops, restaurants and bars. You will find a wide choice of cultural and outdoor leisure activities. Nearby Zurich Airport is only around an hour’s drive away. Switzerland is generally seen as a very safe country, enjoys very high political stability thanks to its direct democracy and has one of the highest standards of living in Europe. By international standards, however, the cost of living is moderate. The popular Facebook group «Sharing Is Caring University of St.Gallen» can help you with your search for accommodation.
The University of St.Gallen’s exceptiona art collection, which would be a credit to any museum, is a source of inspiration. The concrete walls, designed by architects Walter M. Förderer and Bruno Gerosa, showcase virtuosic works by Arp, Penalba, Richter, Miró and Giacometti. Among these artworks, the majority of which were donated by benefactors, you will find one that achieved the highest ever price increase in the art market – it is currently rumoured to be worth tens of millions of Swiss francs.
Language is the most important means of exchanging ideas – so it makes sense that, at a university like HSG which focuses so strongly on academic exchange, a range of different languages are cultivated and spoken. The predominant languages on campus, more or less sharing an equal footing, are Swiss German, German and English. However, since our 9,590 students with around 120 nationalities bring a lot of diversity to the campus, you will find many other languages spoken here too. German is the language of officialdom and culture, English the language of business and academia. Many programmes are delivered in a combination of languages and many only in German or only in English. The aim is to operate as a bilingual (German/English) university. Each student is required to be proficient in at least two foreign languages, and courses in a choice of 10 different languages are available at HSG.
The University of St.Gallen believes in equal opportunities and in ensuring that each individual has the chance to develop their full potential. We deliver high-quality teaching in an inspiring environment, shaped by fairness and respect. Our Diversity and Inclusion policy applies across the entire university. Its integrative and holistic approach covers all aspects of diversity, from personal and physical requirements to geographical and social backgrounds, gender and sexual orientation. When it comes to education in the core subjects and personal development, HSG has a policy of unrestricted equal opportunities for all individuals, and we provide counselling and support services to promote this.
We are working to make our physical and digital infrastructures fully accessible. Students and staff with special needs receive individual support. Economic sciences traditionally tend to be male-dominated and, even today, there are still more men than women in both the student body and in the faculty. To address this, HSG developed online training to help appointment committees recognise and counteract implicit bias. Female appointments have since risen to 40 per cent.
As part of the Diversity and Inclusion strategy, special guidelines were drawn up and have led to the widespread use of inclusive language. Initiatives such as Pride Month are more than a sign of tolerance – they symbolise a lived culture of respect for every individual. Various divisions, institutes and centres have an academic interest in these important
issues – the Gender & Diversity division, for example, through Contextual Studies
Diversity & Inclusion and the Center for Disability and Integration.
