Thread by @DBetterAcademia, Lack of transparency & accountability in universities cause immense harm to people, [...]

Lack of transparency & accountability in universities cause immense harm to people, which for many has long-lasting consequences

This thread lists data & stats to show the scale of wrongdoing in unis

It makes for grim reading & it is only the tip of the iceberg

#BrokenAcademia

SEXUAL MISCONDUCT

70% female students (= >1 million students) experienced sexual violence while at uni

26% male students (= ~283k students) experienced sexual violence

40% students (=1 million students) had at least 1 experience of sexualised behaviour from uni staff

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Millions of students experience sexual misconduct. Yet unis fail students over & over:

>50% students believed that their uni did not respond adequately to their complaint.

50% of students believed that the uni had denied their experience or made reporting difficult

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RACISM

24% of ethnic minority students experience racial harassment

In most cases their harasser was another student, but a large number said it was their tutor or academic

International students told us about feeling unwelcome, isolated and vulnerable

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>50% of staff described incidents of being ignored or excluded because of their race

>25% experienced racist name-calling, insults and jokes.

Much of this took place in plain sight of colleagues

Most incidents were part of a pattern of repeated harassment

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It is worth remembering that:

only 2% of academics are black

less than 1% of professors are black

there are only 25 black female professors in UK universities

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Are universities effective at dealing with complaints of racism?

In short, absolutely not:

students/staff don’t have faith in their unis; complaints process

they fear retaliation

and consequences to their studies/career

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Students from a “working class” background have reported severe and systemic bullying from staff and other students at several institutions

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LGBT+ DISCRIMINATION

14% of students have been the target of negative comments or conduct from staff in the last year because they are LGBT

This rises to more than a third of trans students compared to seven per cent of LGB students who don’t identify as trans

LGBT+ DISCRIMINATION14% of students have been the target of negative comments or conduct from staff in the last year because they are LGBTThis rises to more than a third of trans students compared to seven per cent of LGB students who don’t identify as trans9/

DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION

Students with disabilities drop out at higher rates bc of a lack of support.

Of the full-time undergrads who declared a disability, those with mental health conditions had the lowest continuation rate (86.8%) compared to non-disabled students

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GENDER DISCRIMINATION

The gender pay gap in unis is 12%

Women dominate at the early-career ranks, as seniority & salary increase the percentage of women staff decreases. At professor level, less than one quarter of staff are women

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BULLYING

Hundreds of academics have been accused of bullying students & colleagues:

aggressive behaviour

extreme pressure to deliver results
career sabotage

HR managers appearing more concerned about avoiding negative publicity than protecting staff

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BULLYINGHundreds of academics have been accused of bullying students & colleagues:aggressive behaviourextreme pressure to deliver resultscareer sabotageHR managers appearing more concerned about avoiding negative publicity than protecting staff12/

SUICIDES

The number of students taking their own lives has overtaken the general population for first time in 2018. The suicide rate among UK students had risen by 56 per cent in the 10 years between 2007 and 2016, from 6.6 to 10.3 per 100,000 people

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RESEARCH MISCODNUCT & FRAUD are common in universities & research institutes and this is particularly dangerous as it can create false results on which other research is built and it weakens the public’s trust in research

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Other wrongdoing that is prevalent in universities

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Other wrongdoing that is prevalent in universities 15/

IMPACT

The effect of university wrongdoing on victims can be devastating:

It can cause or aggravate mental illness and drive people to suicide

It can prevent the victim from completing their course, from continuing their job & from finding a job elsewhere in academia

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Wrongdoing can be costly for the individual in terms of health and finances, with many students and staff having to use their savings or taking out loans to pay for legal fees.

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Ultimately it is the UK taxpayer that finances universities.

Therefore, universities are charging the taxpayers millions - if not billions - every year to cover up their wrongdoing through legal fees, settlements (including NDAs), and higher insurance premiums

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How do unis cover up their wrongdoing?

NDAs are a tool for universities to suppress information that the public would find shocking in order to protect the reputation of the university and of university managers

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According to the information provided by unis, which is likely to be heavily doctored to minimise the full picture:

Unis used 11k NDAs in 5 years

2/3 of unis spent 87m on NDAs in 2 years: this is from students' fees & taxpayer's money

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Through NDAs & instilling fear of retaliation, universities prevent the staff and students of that university, as well as prospective staff & students, from understanding the full extent of wrongdoing and corruption within the university: it is a tool for information control

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NDAs & fear of retaliation allow universities to escape accountability. If there is a known bully, sexual predator or wrongdoer, unis are able to keep this person at the uni without anyone knowing. This means that this person can continue to harm others with impunity

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