Julia Schmidt

In my bachelor studies, I studied International Business at Pforzheim University. During this study, I applied for an internship at Roche in Rotkreuz in the Talent Marketing department. I was able to combine this with my bachelor thesis. Already here I was able to focus on Diversity & Inclusion: Diversity and Inclusion creating value? An analysis for Roche Diagnostics International in Rotkreuz for Talent Marketing.

After successfully completing my internship, I was given the opportunity to switch to the Open Innovation department. Open Innovation includes, among other things, collaboration with external organizations, such as universities and startups. I decided to combine this with a part-time Master’s degree at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Business Development. In this context, I wrote my Master Thesis and decided to focus on the topic of Diversity & Inclusion again.

My topic was: How can the global Roche D&I strategy be adapted and implemented at the local context of Roche Diagnostics in Rotkreuz? It was about translating the global, high-level strategy for the Swiss site in Rotkreuz. For this purpose, I conducted qualitative interviews with all relevant stakeholders and sent a quantitative online questionnaire to the employees of the Rotkreuz site.

With the topic of D&I, it is important that all employees are involved and addressed. It should not only be driven by the Leadership or People & Culture Department. To achieve this, there must be concrete opportunities for employees to actively get involved. A local D&I network is one potential approach. This was a suggestion from me, but the idea of a network existed before this.

My bachelor’s as well as master’s theses have allowed me to pursue my interest in D&I. Through these projects, I have been able to interact with many people and gain new knowledge and deep insights into the subject. It has also allowed me to expand my professional network.

I enjoyed diving into a new subject area alongside my work in Open Innovation.

Working in collaboration with companies gives student:in a hands-on experience. It’s fun to work on a real challenge. Students also get an insight into the organization, in Roche’s case an international group.

The company benefits from the students› new perspectives and ways of thinking.

It is a challenge to meet the expectations of the college / university and Roche. Often these differ and as a student you also have to coordinate and prioritize.

Also, the workload is very high when you combine writing a thesis with a part-time job.

I don’t know yet. I approach my life and career with an open mind and flexibility. At the moment, I’m in Pune, India, until July 2023; what comes after that remains to be seen. What I can say is that I am aiming for an 80% position in Switzerland, Germany or Denmark.