{"id":148020,"date":"2022-12-12T17:50:40","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T16:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=148020"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:34","slug":"students-and-staff-about-diversity-from-fear-of-cancellation-to-toxic-climate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2022\/12\/12\/students-and-staff-about-diversity-from-fear-of-cancellation-to-toxic-climate\/","title":{"rendered":"Students and staff about diversity: from ‘fear of cancellation’ to ‘toxic climate’"},"content":{"rendered":"

How do staff and students perceive racism, bullying or ostracism? And what effects have these had on their behaviour? EM<\/em> received hundreds of responses to its diversity and inclusion survey. “They said to me: ‘You\u2019d be better off sitting at another table. That\u2019s where the Moroccans sit.'”<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMigle Alonderyte<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

At the start of October, 20 higher education media outlets and EM issued a survey on how staff and students experience diversity and inclusion at their university, and 381 staff and students took the trouble to respond to the open questions too. The following four points stood out.<\/p>\n

Caution called for<\/h2>

Staff and students say they are more cautious than in previous years. The most common response to the question \u2018how have you modified your behaviour?\u2019 is \u2018I choose my words more carefully\u2019, or words to that effect. Staff and students are plagued by a fear of saying something \u2018wrong\u2019 and provoking a hostile response. One member of staff claims they will be leaving Erasmus University because \u2018you get ruthlessly cancelled if you ask critical questions about the diversity and inclusion agenda\u2019. One student expressed a degree of trepidation about asking questions in lectures. \u201cIf you ask a lecturer a \u2018stupid question\u2019, you\u2019ll often get an answer focused on someone\u2019s sex or ethnicity, as though that was what prompted the \u2018stupid question\u2019. I\u2019d rather steer clear of answers like that, so I mostly keep my mouth shut.\u201d The direct responses are not the only reason why people are sometimes reluctant to express themselves. \u201cI experience a great deal of microaggression if I wear cultural headdresses or have black hairstyles like cornrows\u201d, one student wrote. \u201cMany persons of colour experience this. You find yourself being treated differently by tutors, teaching staff and students. People give you funny looks and the feeling that you don\u2019t belong. So I gave up styling my hair like that.\u201d<\/p>\n\t

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Toxic<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s a culture of toxicity at the university, in which you\u2019ll get silenced if you question things. It comes from \u2018our own LGBTI+ community\u2019 and from the rest of the students. They deny you a voice, harass you or patronise you. So I keep quiet more, even when it comes to things related to my sexuality, my sex and my gender expression.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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Cancelled<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFear of being cancelled is rife. Plenty of students understand, just like me, that we\u2019ve been treating minorities badly for many years, but the current policy is counterproductive. When applying for various things, like some honours groups, I\u2019ve been told that I\u2019m \u2018not diverse enough\u2019 because I\u2019m a straight white male. Many of my fellow students think things have gone overboard too, but we don’t dare speak out in case doing so will adversely affect our careers. In other words, I\u2019m keeping my opinions to myself these days, and I\u2019m much less bold about speaking up in class.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t

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Lees meer<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t