On 14 January 2026, Sabine Klinger, Susanne Sackl-Sharif and Arndt Schäfer presented insights from the Elisabeth List Fellowship project “Diversitätssensibler Umgang mit Künstlicher Intelligenz. Digital / AI Literacies und feministisches Prompting in der Sozialen Arbeit”, which was carried out at the Institute of Educational Sciences at the University of Graz and concluded at the end of February 2026.
From an interdisciplinary and feminist perspective, the project explored how generative AI can be used in social work without uncritically reproducing gender stereotypes and inequalities. Since social work engages with vulnerable groups, a critical and diversity-sensitive approach to AI is considered essential. A central outcome of the project is a digital orientation guide – now publicly available – that offers practitioners and managers in social work hands-on recommendations for a gender- and diversity-sensitive use of AI, drawing on concepts of Digital & AI Literacies and on a feminist prompting framework.
Further information on the project can be found here: https://digitalesozialearbeit.github.io/
The guide is publicly available in German at: https://digitalesozialearbeit.github.io/orientierungsleitfaden/
Speakers
Ass.-Prof.in Dr.in Sabine Klinger, MA, is Assistant Professor with a focus on Education, Gender and Social Transformation at the Institute of Educational Sciences at the University of Graz. Her research and teaching address digitalisation, Artificial Intelligence, AI Literacies, social work, diversity and gender, as well as qualitative and participatory social research.
Mag.a Dr.in Susanne Sackl-Sharif, Bakk.a MA, is a sociologist and musicologist based in Graz and Vienna. Her research focuses on digitalisation processes in social work, Digital and AI Literacies, political participation, gender and diversity studies, and popular cultures.
Arndt Schäfer, M.Sc., is a psychologist researching human-machine interaction at the University of Graz. His work focuses on trust in robots and AI and on the human-centred design of socio-technical systems in the workplace. In several research projects, he has examined requirements for a human-centred introduction of digital technology at work and the qualification needs of users of artificial agents. Methodologically, he draws on quantitative and qualitative approaches to the analysis of empirical data (e.g. from lab experiments and interviews).