Quelle: SI (Social Inclusion), 9 (2021) 3, S 81–93
Inhalt: It is more and more evident that there is diversity among university students, but this diversity encompasses a wide variety of personal characteristics that, on occasion, may be subject to rejection or discrimination. The feeling of inequality is the result of one stand‐alone characteristic or an intersection of many. To widen our knowledge of this diversity and to be able to design actions with an inclusive approach, we have set out to explore the relationship between students’ feelings of discrimination, their group identification and their intersections. Participants for the study are selected from protected groups which fall into the following criteria: ethnic minority, illness, migrant minority, disability, linguistic minority, sexual orientation, income, political ideology, gender, age and religion. We will refer to this relationship as the ‘discrimination rate.’ To fulfil our objective, we have given a questionnaire to a sample of 2,553 students from eight Spanish universities. The results indicate that the characteristics with which they most identify are religion, age, sex and political ideology. However, the highest rate of discrimination is linked to linguistic minority, ideology and migration. Regarding intersectionality, it is worth noting that 16.6% of students feel discriminated against for more than one characteristic, with the most frequent relationships being the following: (1) ethnic or migrant minorities (2) sexual orientation, sex, being under 30, leftist ideology, low income, linguistic minority and (3) Christian Catholic, right‐wing and upper‐class ideology.
Gender Differences in Student Evaluations of Teaching: Identification and Consequences
Autor/in:
Cannon, Edmund; Cipriani, Giam Pietro
Quelle: (IZA Discussion Paper), 2021.
Inhalt: "Student Evaluations of Teaching (SETs) have been suggested as one possible cause for low representation of women among academic economists. While econometric analyses using control variables certainly report that SETs can be influenced by the gender of both teacher and student, such studies may still be biased if there is non-random allocation of teachers to teaching. Even if causal estimates of gender effects are unbiased, the inference that SETs contribute to gender discrimination is hazardous, since hiring or promotion committees would not have access to these controls when evaluating SETs. We use data from an Italian university to quantify the effect of controls on gender effects and conclude that there is insufficient evidence to blame SETs for a gender imbalance in Economics."
Quelle: Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education (NIFU); Oslo, 2021.
Inhalt: NIFU’s analysis of the coronavirus pandemic’s effects on the university and university college sector:
The analysis is based on surveys of 22 000 students and nearly 4 000 employees, in addition to interviews with 36 informants at three selected institutions.
The surveys were conducted in autumn 2020 and focused mainly on the 2020 spring semester. The interviews took place in early 2021.
The switch to digital instruction has been highly time-consuming for research staff, with less priority given to research.
Despite the extra effort on teaching, two out of three students have received less instruction.
Mid-career researchers with responsibilities for young children and lacking a suitable workplace have felt the most pressure to deprioritize research activities.
Seven in 10 research fellows expect their doctoral projects to be delayed. Among PhD candidates and post-docs, 40 per cent believe the pandemic will affect their future careers negatively.
Most interviewees said they believe the pandemic will lead to more digital instruction and less travel in future.
The survey was commissioned by the Ministry of Education and Research.
Norwegian Association of Researchers
The survey was distributed to about 10 000 members at universities and university colleges – 37 institutions in all. The survey was sent out in October 2020 in both Norwegian and English.
There were 4 883 respondents, or 49 per cent of those asked to participate.
Inhalt: In this paper, we examine the experiences of female students and academics to understand the factors that underpin the persistence of sexual harassment in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) institutions. We draw on data from interviews and focus group discussions with female students and academics who participated in a study that focuses on gender inequality in science and technology universities in Ethiopia. Drawing on the concept of institutional betrayal, we argue that the high prevalence of sexual harassment in these universities is perpetuated by institutional actions and inactions through which universities fail to proactively prevent and effectively respond to sexual harassment. We suggest efforts to tackle sexual harassment need to focus on proactive and preventive measures that involve revisiting institutional policies and structures. We further suggest that grievance procedures need to be accessible, responsive, trustworthy and supportive.
Gender equality as a resource and a dilemma: interpretative repertoires in engineering education in Sweden
Autor/in:
Silfver, Eva; Gonsalves, Allison J.; Danielsson, Anna T.; Berge, Maria
Quelle: Gender and Education, (2021) , S 1–17
Inhalt: This article explores how female university students’ abilities to present themselves as ‘authentic’ engineers are imbricated with discursive constructions of gender and gender equality. The empirical data comes from interviews and video diaries collected with three female engineering students. The analysis demonstrates the power of the Swedish gender equality discourse to inform the students’ talk as they negotiate their gendered identities to become intelligible as engineering students and engineers. We suggest that gender equality is used as a resource in the repertoires, but we also demonstrate that this discourse becomes a dilemma in that it limits possibilities for gender performances to go beyond old patterns. Despite this, the article still shows three unique ways of negotiating gender and other social categories in different situations connected to university learning and participation in internships.
Schlagwörter:discourse; Diskurs; engineering; Gleichstellungspolitik; Identität; Identitätsbildung; Ingenieurwissenschaft; Schweden; Studentin; Sweden
CEWS Kategorie:Naturwissenschaft und Technik, Studium und Studierende
Protecting the perpetrator: value judgements in US and English university sexual violence cases
Autor/in:
Shannon, Erin R.
Quelle: Gender and Education, (2021) , S 1–17
Inhalt: This paper examines four interviews with student survivors about their experiences of reporting sexual harassment and violence to universities in the United States and England, and their experiences of how their universities protected the perpetrators. Interview participants revealed that their assailants were not held accountable because the university determined they were more valuable than the survivor, whether in terms of the role the assailant occupied or their potential to make an impact in their field. I analyse these instances by combining three theories to show both how power/value relations in the neoliberal university make certain people (in)dispensable, and how these power/value relations are enacted through power dynamics of speech and hearing to protect the more ‘valuable’ party in university sexual violence cases. The article concludes with possible recommendations for structural change.
Schlagwörter:England; Gender; Hochschule; Macht; neoliberal university; neoliberalism; Neoliberalismus; power; sexual harassment; sexual violence; sexualisierte Diskriminierung; sexualisierte Gewalt; Täter; USA
CEWS Kategorie:Studium und Studierende, Sexuelle Belästigung und Gewalt
Inhalt: Grounded in intersectional feminist approaches, this study explores the equity impacts of student evaluations of teaching (SETs) on precariously employed women in the academy. Despite their overrepresentation in the academic teaching workforce, precariously employed women are a demographic group that remains underrepresented in research on SETs. Thirty-four qualitative interviews with precariously employed academic women at a university in Ontario, Canada, were conducted to explore their experiences of SETs. The participants critiqued SETs’ role in perpetuating feminized and racialized labour market precarity, and undermining their professional autonomy and professionalization. They also described how SETs subject them to discriminatory evaluations based on their gender, race and age, and the impacts thereof on their workload and mental health. This study’s findings reveal the importance of recognizing SETs’ impact on equity and the need to change teaching evaluation policy in higher education.
Quelle: Verlag der Universität der Künste Berlin, 2021.
Inhalt: Die Studierenden der Universität der Künste Berlin bekommen eine Krise. Sie sind wütend über Ungerechtigkeit und Diskriminierung und schreiben mit kritischem Blick über die Auswirkungen der Pandemie, ambivalente Identitäten und die politische Verantwortung der Kunsthochschule.