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This important and eye-opening collection explores ableism in academia from the viewpoint of academics’ personal and professional experiences and scholarship.

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Lived Experiences of Ableism in Academia: Strategies for Inclusion in Higher Education

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Lived Experiences of Ableism in Academia: Strategies for Inclusion in Higher Education

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Demands for excellence and efficiency have created an ableist culture in academia. What impact do these expectations have on disabled, chronically ill and neurodivergent colleagues?

This important and eye-opening collection explores ableism in academia from the viewpoint of academics' personal and professional experiences and scholarship. Through the theoretical lenses of autobiography, autoethnography, embodiment, body work and emotional labour, contributors from the UK, Canada and the US present insightful, critical, analytical and rigorous explorations of being 'othered' in academia.

Deeply embedded in personal experiences, this perceptive book provides examples for universities to develop inclusive practices, accessible working and learning conditions and a less ableist environment.

"Provides a new and meaningful perspective of disabled academics' perceptions and experiences related to their participation within academia... an important text that explores the diverse experiences of disability and the personal accounts of experienced ableism in the post-secondary environment." Higher Education Quarterly

"Using 'lived experience' first-hand accounts, this volume illuminates the complex and often shocking experience of combining the aspirations and demands of academic life with the stigma of managing disability and chronic illness." Gillian Bendelow, University of Brighton

Nicole Brown is Director of Social Research & Practice and Education Ltd and Lecturer in Education in the Department of Culture, Communication and Media at the UCL Institute of Education.

Introduction: Being 'different' in academia ~ Nicole Brown

PART I: Ways of knowing

A leg to stand on: irony, autoethnography and ableism in the academy ~ Laura L. Ellingson

"There's no place for emotions in academia": experiences of the neoliberal academy as a disabled scholar ~ Angharad Butler-Rees

Embodiment and authenticity: how embodied research might shed light on experiences of disability and chronic illness ~ Jennifer Leigh

What's in a word? Rephrasing and reframing disability ~ Sharon Smith

Intermezzo

PART II: Lived experiences

Colour blindness in academia: the challenges of an invisible impairment ~ Oliver Daddow

Stammering in academia: voice in the management of self and others ~ Robert H. Mann and Bryan C. Clift

Losing my voice (physically and metaphorically) ~ Jeanne Barczewska

Deafness and hearing loss in higher education ~ Nicole Brown

Living with collagenous colitis as a busy academic: chronic illness and the intersection of age and gender inequality ~ Rosalind Janssen

Three cheers for Access to Work partnership: two cheers for Two Ticks and one question about a university-wide self-disclosure scheme ~ Chris Mounsey and Stan Booth

"I'm not saying this to be petty": reflections on making disability visible while teaching ~ Emma Sheppard

#AutisticsInAcademia ~ Chloe Farahar and Annette Foster

"I've always wanted to be a nurse ...": challenging academic ableist assumptions ~ Jo Sullivan

Ableism in music academicism ~ Ben Lunn

Teaching with and supporting teachers with dyslexia in higher education ~ Jennifer Hiscock and Jennifer Leigh

Depressed academics: building a group blog community ~ Mikael Vejdemo- Johansson and Ian P. Gent

Cancer, bereavement and work ~ Nicola Martin

Invisible disabilities and (re)negotiating identity: life after major traumatic injury ~ Clare Lewis

Conclusion: Disability imaginary of the future ~ Nicole Brown

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lived experiences of ableism in academia - strategies for inclusion in higher education

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Lived Experiences of Ableism in Academia

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Lived Experiences of Ableism in Academia - Strategies for Inclusion in Higher Education; Embedded in personal experiences, this collection explores ableism in academia. Through theoretical lenses including autobiography, autoethnography, embodiment, body work and emotional labour, contributors explore being 'othered' in academia and provide practical examples to develop inclusive universities and a less ableist environment.

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An article by Troy Vettese, highlighting the difficulties women face when trying to go all the way through a career in academia.

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Sexism in the Academy: Women’s Narrowing Path to Tenure

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Sexism in the Academy: Women’s Narrowing Path to Tenure

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of the academic career path, there is significant hemorrhaging of female talent. In many countries of the Global North, women compose a little over half the undergraduate student body, which is only slightly more than the share of female doctoral students. It is after graduate school that the precipitous declines begin, as the number of women falls approximately ten percentage points each at the stages of assistant and associate professorship, so that finally the percentage of female full professors hovers around 32 percent. (In the European Union, the average share of full professors who are women is 21 percent.) This inverted pyramid is recognizable across academies in the Global North; even Scandinavia, despite its generous welfare states, conforms to the pattern. The few disciplines that boast large female faculties, such as education and foreign-language departments, tend to have the least prestige and are axed first during fiscal crises.

While there were significant gains during much of the 20th century, feminist progress in the academy has slowed and may have already come to a halt. Since the 1970s, an increasing number of women have joined university faculties, but this obscures the fact that in the last thirty years much of that influx has been directed toward non-tenure-track positions. There are still two tenured men for every tenured woman, a ratio that increases with the prestige an institution has. In the US, the share of female full professors as a proportion of all female faculty remains stuck in the single digits, increasing only modestly since the early 1990s. In medicine, female first-authorship has either stalled or declined in the most prestigious UK journals in recent years, after substantially increasing since the mid-2000s. Among the most serious expressions of women's hardship in the academy is the case of US black female scientists, who often experience desolate isolation in addition to sexual and racial harassment, according to a recent study. The proportion of black women among tenured female faculty in the US has actually fallen since 1993.

Given that women have been the majority of the undergraduate student body in many countries for the last three decades, one can no longer argue that equality can be achieved by simply waiting for young female scholars to emerge at the end of the academic "pipeline." "The increase in women at later stages of the pipeline is the consequence of a slow 'pull' provided by the expanding pool of women at the beginning," the authors of a 2008 study in   Science suggest, "not because of an effective 'push' that reduces attrition during career advancement." Strengthening this push, however, means addressing the sexist practices that "push" men along the cursus honorum, because these practices tend to be the very same mechanisms that oust women from the academy. The zero-sum nature of this problem makes it difficult to discuss, let alone redress. Ugly small-brained misogyny explains only part  -   albeit an important part   -   of this result. More insidious are banal sexist practices that reinforce one another to compose a vast ramshackle machinery that elevates men to the pinnacle of the ivory tower. This durable, unjust structure largely depends on the attitudes and practices of three social groups: male scholars, male students, and male romantic partners.

Girls grow up in a world hostile to female intelligence, but the academy is supposed to be a bastion against anti-intellectualism. It isn't. In academia as outside it, female students tend not to receive their fair share of encouragement, and often they are confronted with outright skepticism about their abilities. In one experiment, reported by Corinne A. Moss-Racusin and her coauthors in PNAS, 127 US scientists were asked to hire an undergraduate lab assistant and decide on a salary based on fictional CVs of equally qualified men and women. The scientists were more likely to offer the position to men as well as more hours of mentorship, and gave a lower salary to women, about eighty-eight cents to the dollar. These early instances of discrimination matter because the mentorship of undergraduate students is often crucial in giving a young person the confidence even to consider an academic career, not to mention its significant role in securing necessary financial resources and social connections.

Scholars' enthusiasm for male protégés extends into graduate school and beyond. One study found that referees tended to write shorter and less keen recommendation letters for their female protégées and were less likely to comment on the quality of their research. While another study of recommendation letters for men and women applying to faculty positions at medical schools discovered no marked difference in the length of letters written for men and women, male protégés were much more likely to be bestowed "standout" compliments.

Skepticism of women's talent appears widespread in the best labs in the US for life sciences, a discipline that has proved exceptionally resistant to gender equality, despite the large number of female students at the wide end of its academic funnel. In the 2000s, more than half of US PhDs in life sciences were awarded to women, yet only 35 percent of assistant professors and 17 percent of full professors were women at the top hundred US programs in 2007. An important mechanism that perpetuates male dominance in the field may lie in the relatively small number of prestigious laboratories, which train an outsize number of assistant professors. According to a study published in 2014, these "feeder labs" were much more likely to have an "elite" principal investigator (PI), who had earned a Nobel Prize or was a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Male PIs of elite labs were significantly less likely to hire female postdocs, who make up just 31 percent of their postdoc workforce - a much lower share than hired by non-elite male PIs (38 percent) and elite female PIs (48 percent). This problem isn't going away, as young male PIs were found to be just as sexist as their older male peers.

The gulf in funding limits women's participation in certain fields, punching more holes in the academic pipeline.
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The problems of misogynist PIs and tepid reference letters may stem from the same root: the widespread assumption that only men can be brilliant. This view is prevalent in the hard sciences, but also in literature, musical composition, and philosophy. "As predicted," noted Sarah-Jane Leslie and her coauthors in a recent article in Science, "the more a field valued giftedness, the fewer the female PhDs." Philosophy is nearly off the charts in this regard. Yet not only do men not seem to believe in the possibility of female genius, they seem to doubt female competence. Such an attitude is not only demeaning, it also leads to the theft of women's time. A supervisor's command to "prove it again" (that is, run another experiment) often leads female scholars to be much more careful in their work, but also less productive as a result. This bias is especially pronounced against black female scientists.

The "prove-it-again" problem manifests itself in the social sciences, too. In a very well written working paper presented at the American Economics Association conference in 2018, Erin Hengel argues that the best journals in economics force women to write 9 percent better than men. She tracked this discrepancy by measuring the degree of revision between first and published submissions. She found there was no discernible difference between the first submissions of young female and male economists; the margin of better writing was created during the editorial process by editors and referees. Although female economists end up writing better, they are not rewarded for their efforts, as their papers are accepted at the same rate as men's. The gulf of good writing widens over the course of one's career to 12 percent, either because women internalize this form of discrimination or come to expect it. In comparison, even as men age and scramble up the career ladder, their writing fails to improve at all; instead, they keep submitting the same poorly written mush as they did as young scholars. Again, one must stress the practical consequences of sexism  -   the extra labor required for better writing extends the publication process an extra six months, further decreasing women's output relative to men's. Men retain a tight hold on their prejudices: surveying a number of subdisciplines within economics, Hengel found that "the number of women in a field appears to have little effect on the size of the gap."

While in this case women must work harder for the same basic result as less competent men, in some instances they risk receiving much less credit for work they have done - or worse, others may attribute their efforts to men. The prejudice of male competence is blatant in cases of mixed-gender coauthorship, at least according to a 2017 study of US economics departments. The study's author, Heather Sarsons, found that men reap the fruit of their labors when coauthoring an economics paper with women when it is their time to be evaluated for tenure, having an 8 percent greater chance at tenure for each coauthored paper. Yet their female collaborators gained only a 2 percent boost from such teamwork. The gap was less pronounced when women coauthored papers with other women. This form of misogyny is limited in its effects only by another misogynistic practice: according to a study of international relations literature, men rarely want to collaborate with women, while women exhibit no bias when it comes to picking a collaborator. Men, however, probably should write more often with women because, as Hengel showed in her study, "everyone writes more clearly when collaborating with women."

Stephen Ceci and Wendy Williams, who have published several influential but unjustifiably rosy reviews of academic sexism, find comfort in the fact that, when "comparing women and men with comparable resources, we find no sex discrimination in publishing."   Women have fewer resources for many reasons, but perhaps most importantly because they face discrimination when applying for grants. First, they are often less likely to get them. Depending on the funding agency, the gender gap in winning grants is about 7 percent. A Dutch study found a large divergence between women and men, even though committee members found no difference in their "quality of proposal." The gulf only appeared when the funding panel considered the "quality of researcher." Second, when women are successful in their grant applications, they usually receive less funding, about eighty cents to a man's dollar; this gap matters because, as Reshma Jagsi and her coauthors maintained in 2009 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, "to the extent that women receive smaller awards, protecting time for research may be particularly problematic." The gulf in funding limits women's participation in certain fields, punching more holes in the academic pipeline. "Women publish significantly fewer papers in areas in which research is expensive, such as high-energy physics," as Cassidy Sugimoto observed in a 2013 article for Nature.

Sexual harassment, in addition to its many other harmful effects, tends to retard a female scholar's progress. This is because women often have to change field sites, topics, or even departments to avoid predatory men, diversions that eat up precious time for scholarship, not to mention the stress of such experiences. In 1997, a study found that among female medical students in the US who reported sexual harassment, 52 percent described their career advancement as having been hurt by the experience. Frequently in the academy the harasser is a postgrad's supervisor, a situation that makes up a third of such incidents in US schools. The anthropologist Robin Nelson conducted a small, nonrandom survey of twenty-six US female anthropologists who had undergone difficult experiences during their fieldwork. Among other issues, sexual harassment caused delays in their research because "collaborators withheld vital information required for data analysis and publication. In other instances, respondents reported that psychological trauma from harassment or assault compromised their ability to revisit, analyze, and publish data collected under difficult conditions."

How much sexual harassment there is in the academy is difficult to determine, but one can be certain that it is extremely widespread. Several studies estimate around a fifth to half of female postgrads and faculty have experienced it. UK universities are suffering, in the words of the Guardian, an "epidemic" of sexual harassment. The extent of it first emerged when Sara Ahmed, the director of Goldsmiths's Centre for Feminist Research, resigned in the summer of 2016. University administrators, she charged, had allowed sexual harassment to become "normalized and generalized." Goldsmiths wasn't alone, as sleuthing by the Guardian soon revealed. Universities across the UK had spent precious funds on nondisclosure agreements to buy the silence of victims as a means of "reputation management." This allowed perpetrators to stay or leave with their dignity intact for another institution, where they could resume predation. It should be noted that faculty are just as vulnerable to sexual harassment as students. As one scholar at the University of California, Irvine told an interviewer: "I did not file a complaint. This is a very senior person on campus and under no circumstance would I have filed anything. Until you get tenure, you have to take care of yourself, basically."

What is more vile is that other men sometimes benefit from their complicity with sexual predators. Nelson and her coauthors discovered that "in many of these instances, respondents reported that other men appeared to be rewarded for what the respondent viewed as poor or inappropriate behavior and women were only rewarded if they consented to harassment or sexual advances." Again, this is an instance where the same mechanism speeds up men's progress, but hinders women's. It is important in this context to recall that sexual harassment is less about sexual desire than the assertion of male power. As the human resources scholar Sandy Hershcovis told Science in 2013, "Men use sexual harassment to exert control, knock [women] down, or put them in their place." Even when a woman does publish after so many delays and financial shortfalls, her work is much less likely to be cited by a man: in one study of economics articles, men were half as likely as women to cite the work of female scholars, while women manifested no such bias.

In philosophy as in other disciplines, men have proven stubbornly reluctant to cite the work of their female colleagues.
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There are many reasons for this, but it is partially due to the themes and approaches a woman chooses in her scholarship. In many disciplines, such as science studies, economics, philosophy, and political science, certain "hard" approaches (rational, abstract, et cetera) have been gendered male. Methods pioneered by female scholars, such as feminist critiques of science or constructivism in international relations, are seen by male peers as "soft," and these peers are less likely to cite works employing such approaches. In fact, they can be hostile to the fact that such work is even being carried out.

Female scholars thus face a double bind. In her discussion of this problem among philosophers in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, Anna Leuschner remarks that "if women choose to contribute to areas dominated by men, they will tend to be careful and cautious and their work will be disqualified for methodological reasons. Conversely, if they choose to contribute to areas in accordance with their specific interests and can argue confidently, they will have to face thematic disqualification. As long as the work of women in philosophy differs - methodologically or thematically - from the work of their male colleagues it is likely to be dismissed." The outlook for this problem is bleak; in philosophy as in other disciplines, men have proven stubbornly reluctant to cite the work of their female colleagues.

This problem exerts itself not only at an individual level, where it stymies countless careers, but also at the aggregate level of the discipline itself, and thus society as a whole. The gendering of citation practices combined with the rarity of women in the upper echelons of the academy mean that fewer women are in a position to influence the shape of the discipline itself, leaving such power overwhelmingly in the hands of men. In a study of the five hundred most influential recent philosophy articles and the citation networks connecting them, only 3.5 percent were by female scholars, leaving whole islands of debate networks totally bereft of women.

Women's attempts to secure tenured positions in the academy are undermined by secretive informal networks that secure jobs for their members. Because they did not confront these networks, Danish universities failed to increase the numbers of female professors in the 2000s when they instituted an affirmative action program that paid financial incentives to departments. In the program's aftermath, a 2016 study in Science & Public Policy revealed that nearly half of all openings for full professorships had only a single application because they were "closed" hirings or because even nominally "open" hirings had a job description tailored to fit a specific person   -   "The shortage of female applicants for positions at associate professor level may, for instance, partly be due to incisional pre-selection practices and the activation of informal network ties for recruiting candidates," its authors concluded. A similar situation was found in Dutch medical schools, but at an even higher rate: 77 percent of full professorships were filled in a noncompetitive fashion. The author of the Dutch study drily noted that sometimes "candidates are asked to write their own profile." Searches to fill job vacancies are conducted by "scouts," influential white men who tend to select younger versions of themselves, perpetuating the boys' club.

Women are much more likely to succeed if the hiring process is competitive. In a study of tenure processes in Spain, researchers found that all-male panels were more likely to refuse tenure to a woman, but mixed panels were open-minded. The odds of success in an academic career are lengthened if a woman confronts both sexism and racism; in 2018, there were only twenty-five black female professors in the UK, out of the total nineteen-thousand-strong professoriate.

The three main mechanisms for instituting academic patriarchy discussed so far could be summed up thus: one, men's preference for men (whether for students, citations, or granting tenure); two, skepticism about women's abilities ("prove it again"), which wastes women's time by forcing them to do more work; and three, harassment, which diverts women from their career interests and is often a source of trauma.

A fourth category of sexist practices, which might be collected under the heading of "vanity," may be ridiculous, but it is no less pernicious. Self-citation is an excellent illustration of this problem. A male scholar is nearly twice as likely to cite his previous work than a female peer is to cite her own. Self-citation builds up the base of a paper's citation count, leading other scholars to cite that paper at a rate of about four new citations for every self-citation. "Attrition out of the academic pipeline means that women have fewer papers to self-cite and fewer later opportunities to do so," noted Molly King, the lead author of a study in Socius that used JSTOR's 1.5 million articles as its data set. "Men will have overall greater productivity throughout their longer careers (in aggregate). Differences in this aggregate productivity might cause or further exacerbate gender inequality in self-citation counts, resulting in cumulative disadvantage in apparent impact." As men publish more often than women, the self-citation gap quickly erodes into a canyon separating men and women in terms of their overall citations. The gulf between the genders in their output of publications varies by discipline, ranging from 20 to 30 percent; hypothetically, then, this means that if a man writes eight papers, cites himself 1.7 times per paper, collects citations from others at the expected rate of four to every one of his self-citations, he will end up with sixty-eight citations. His female peer, however, writes only six papers (assuming a 25 percent gap), each with one self-citation, and is cited by others at the same rate, leaving her with only thirty. "Some scholars have suggested that self-citations should be removed when citations are used as indicators for research assessments," remarked the author of a study on the problem. "One implication of the current analysis is that this may not be enough."

Self-citation is not a small issue, but rampant, composing a tenth of all citations across disciplines. Since the great migration of journals to the web at the turn of the millennium, citations have become easier to track, presenting committees a powerful, albeit distorted, means to calibrate a candidate's intellect and influence. Such measurements can be used to decide if someone is hired, given a raise, or granted tenure. The mini scandal of self-citation, however, cannot simply be resolved by "lean-in" feminism - say, by exhorting women to cite themselves more - because female self-aggrandizement frequently provokes a backlash, a reaction that tends to be especially pronounced against women of color. East and South Asians fare the worst in this regard, according to the study Double Jeopardy? Gender Bias Against Women of Color in Science, likely because such behavior upsets stereotypes of their passivity. Nor do men cite themselves more modestly if there are more women in their discipline; King found that "there is no significant correlation between the mean number of self-citations per paper and the fraction of men authors in a field." The seemingly silly problem of self-citation illustrates how even small gaps between female and male scholars become magnified when myriad sexist practices operate in tandem.

Male undergraduates demonstrate a sharp bias against both their female peers and female instructors. In a study of three US undergraduate biology courses, students voted for their most intelligent peer during the semester. Generally the women gave a very slight edge to other women in their voting, but men favored other men by a nineteenfold margin. Such a divergence in gendered evaluative patterns has been observed elsewhere. This meant that a woman would need to have "over three-quarters of a GPA point higher" than a man to be nominated. In the study, an "outspoken" man (someone who participated in class) was always voted by his peers as the best student, even though many course sections had an "outspoken" woman who had earned as high a grade. The study's authors reckon that these results, as skewed as they are, represent a "conservative case" because biology is considered a "soft" science. Most striking, perhaps, is that men's prejudice became stronger by the end of the course, suggesting that sexism is an attitude reinforced rather than extirpated during one's university years. Another study quoted several undergrads who shared the sentiment that "I didn't know I was a girl until I came to Harvard."

Just as male students demonstrate a strong bias to support themselves as a group, male students overwhelmingly favor male instructors over female ones. This is important because student evaluations are one of the most influential tools used to determine the trajectory of a scholar's career. In one inventive study, a female and a male tutor arranged an experiment during the online course they cotaught. As they were never going to meet their students, they divided the four class sections into two where they taught according to their true identity and two where they impersonated each other. The students gave the female instructor's "perceived male" persona a significantly higher score than when she taught under her true identity, while the man's score dropped significantly when he took on a female guise.

Real life is just as bad. In a large study of about twenty thousand Dutch student evaluations, female PhD students who led courses were given a score 28 percent of a standard deviation lower than their male peers. A similarly large study in France confirmed this finding. French boys were 33 to 41 percent more likely to give an "excellent" score to male professors than female professors for certain metrics, like the ability to lead a class. Another study, published in the International Journal of Higher Education, revealed that male students were especially brutal in evaluating female professors who led large classes. Although the study's authors don't speculate why, it might be because men still assume public speaking is a male prerogative, leaving women as mere interlopers. (This brings to mind Mary Beard's exhortation for feminists to "try to bring to the surface the kinds of question we tend to shelve about how we speak in public, why and whose voice fits. What we need is some old-fashioned consciousness-raising about what we mean by 'the voice of authority' and how we've come to construct it.") Researchers found that students expected female teachers in medical schools to do more mothering than men, whether by promptly returning homework or caring for their emotional needs. When these affective expectations were not met, the spurned students harshly censured their female instructors. East Asian female scholars were especially penalized if they were seen as not being sufficiently maternal. Mollycoddling on demand, however, leaves women with less time for research. Furthermore, students tend to evaluate a female instructor according to how well prepared she is in the classroom, which forces women to spend significantly more time preparing than men. By comparison, students expected their male teachers to be charismatic and knowledgeable, traits that require much less preparation to perform. Again, the widespread expectation held by boys and men is that only boys and men can be brilliant.

That female scholars are undermined by sexist colleagues and students is bad enough, but what is more insidious is how women's careers are often sabotaged by their own husbands and partners, patriarchy's fifth column. This group consistently pursues its own interests no matter the cost to their wives. A higher ratio of female professors are married to male professors than the other way around because there are more men on most faculties, and this ratio is even higher among scholars with tenure-track positions. This means that male scholars are much more likely to have a spouse stay at home and less likely to face the "two-body problem" - that is, the difficulty of finding positions for an academic couple in the same town. The two-body problem is rarely decided in the woman's favor, frequently dooming her to the precarious life of an adjunct, one of the "housewives of higher education." Decisions as to where these academic couples end up are often made on the basis of pay, and women still earn around a tenth to a fifth less than men, a gap that varies by country. In the US, this gap has barely budged since 2006.

Mothers with young children were 35 percent less likely to get tenure-track jobs than fathers of young children.
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Yet financial considerations alone cannot explain why the careers of husbands tend to come first - men's selfishness is just as important. Most academic husbands simply don't care very much about their wives' careers; in a 2008 study, it was revealed that half of male partners considered their own careers preeminent, an opinion held by only a fifth of female partners. A woman was much more likely to say that her career was as important as her partner's. This was true a majority of the time, even if women were making more money than their male partners, while the obverse was much less common. Another study in PNAS from 2014 showed that male postdocs were twice as likely as female postdocs to expect their spouses to make sacrifices in their careers to help them. In the US, female historians have resigned from their positions at almost thrice the rate of male historians to follow a spouse who had been hired elsewhere. None of this is inevitable. Members of gay and lesbian academic couples, for instance, are much more likely to consider their partners' careers equally important.

Men's refusal to help their wives equally with child care can lead to very distorted outcomes. In one study of scholars in the sciences, mothers with young children were 35 percent less likely to get tenure-track jobs than fathers of young children, a gap similar to the one that separated mothers from childless single women (33 percent), as the latter largely kept up with men. Children slow down women, but have little effect on the pace of men. Given that so many female scholars drop out, they often become overqualified research assistants for their partners, which may be a reason why married men actually publish more than single men or women and achieve tenure faster. That men rarely make sacrifices to help their scholarly wives is possibly why so few tenured female professors ever marry or stay married. More than half are divorced or have never wed, and few have children. Yet 70 percent of their male peers are married and have children. Childless single women are actually more likely to get tenure than childless single men. One can speculate that the competitive pressures of the academic job market lead more couples to pool their resources into advancing one of their careers, and the married man is a formidable competitor.

Moreover, men with children can exploit well-intentioned policies for young parents, again increasing their advantage over scholarly mothers and bachelors. In the early 2000s many US universities offered to delay the "tenure clock" by a year per child for both parents. In economics, women tend to focus on child care and not get much academic work done, but men publish reams of research. The command for men to shirk their parental duty can even come from the top, as a study in Political Science & Politics found: "One Harvard faculty member reported that her department chair publicly encouraged male faculty to use this policy to get more time to produce publishable work."

Even the supposed promised land of gender equality, Scandinavia, is far from achieving true equality in the academy. Female faculty overwhelmingly reject the notion that there is gender equality in their universities - an opinion held by 94 percent of Swedes. Denmark has a lower proportion of tenure-track female scholars than the EU average. While crèches, day care, and shared parental leave are important, men stillhave an advantage. As one Danish female scientist reflects, "I think younger men are still favored over younger women, because they usually don't have long maternity leaves." The problem in the academy comes down to men's relative advantage over women, rather than any absolute gains women may make. As long as a gulf remains, women will lag behind in jobs, prestige, and pay.

Although young mothers tend to achieve tenure slowly, if they do at all, it would be a mistake to emphasize childbirth as an explanation for women lagging behind men. There are many mechanisms that ensure men retain their advantage in the academy. An emphasis on childbirth obscures the other causes of women's plight, naturalizing a disparity that is overwhelmingly caused by male prejudice rather than biological necessity. Yet there are plenty of men happy to advocate for this self-serving interpretation. Elissa Cameron, Meeghan E. Gray, and Angela M. White put it best: "Perpetuating the idea that an academic career is incompatible with raising a family may itself contribute to the attrition of women faculty. Furthermore, this focus on maternal obligation, although contributing to the disparity, may cause us to dismiss other societal factors that result in a loss of women to the sciences. Our experience, supported by research, suggests that other, less easily parameterized factors contribute substantially." There are plenty of factors more significant than the biological fact of childbirth for men's continued dominance in the academy, but one should emphasize that they are more zealous about safeguarding time for research, they are skeptical of women's competence, and they endanger and demoralize female scholars through sexual harassment.

Scandinavia as a model   -   for that model has failed   -   one should look to 20th-century Turkey for lessons on how to strengthen women's role in the academy. Long before women made inroads in the academies of Western Europe and the US, Turkish women had already established themselves as scholars, especially in disciplines typically gendered male such as STEM. As recently as 2002, the Turkish academy employed proportionately almost twice as many female full professors as the EU average, though since the early 2000s Europe has caught up and Turkey has stagnated under the tenure of the conservative AKP. Still, even as late as 2010, as Gülsün Sağlamer and her coauthors found, "in engineering, science, physics, statistics, mathematics, computer sciences, production, and construction the percentages of female researchers in Turkey are higher than EU21 and OECD averages." (The only other countries with similar success were in the Eastern Bloc, like Lithuania and Romania, perhaps hinting at an equally fruitful socialist legacy.) The reasons for Turkish women's success can be found in the ruins of the Ottoman Empire, where its successor in Ankara strategically connected the twin goals of a modicum of women's rights and, more emphatically, a self-sufficient national university system. For generations, the image of a scholar in the public imagination has remained largely gender-neutral. Of course, Turkish society has hardly transcended patriarchy. An academic career is commonly considered, as the study notes, a "safe" choice for a "respectful Turkish woman," and the academy has served as an outlet for the career aspirations of bourgeois women denied other options.

How can one build on the already robust Turkish model? The first insight gleaned from the academic spires of the eastern Mediterranean is the need for a campaign of Kemalist proportions to root out backward thinking, especially among men. Courses on women's history or feminist philosophy should be mandatory. Until male students are taught to reflect upon their biases, they should be barred from evaluating peers and teachers. Similarly, male scholars' power to evaluate female peers and students should also be restrained. At the very least, mixed panels for a scholar's career assessments ought to be required. Another lesson from Turkey is the need to relieve female scholars of the burden of social reproduction. Yet this success in Turkey has been predicated on oppressive class relations: as in most countries of the Global South, the Turkish bourgeoisie can afford to hire cheap   -   overwhelmingly female   -   servants to relieve female professors of the burdens of cooking, cleaning, and child care. Instead of outsourcing this to the working class, a fairer solution would be the implementation of free state- or university-run crèches, day care centers, after-school activities, and canteens. Again, Scandinavia shows the limits of such solutions, but even if they are only a partial remedy, they remain necessary.

What are the ways, then, that such a male-dominated structure can be reformed? To start, incrementally rising quotas should be in place for hiring more female scholars in all stages of the tenure track. Leuschner has argued that "as soon as it is empirically proven that there is systematic discrimination in the hiring procedures of a community due to widely shared, self-reproducing biases, quota regulation appears to be justified to improve the situation." There is certainly more than enough evidence to justify quotas. Other straightforward measures include making salaries public to help ensure pay equity and publishing referees' reports to journal editors to reduce vitriol and bias. Spousal-hire programs could persuade more husbands to follow their wives.

Power seems to follow men, whose informal networks easily slink into the shadows.
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Furthermore, recruitment, especially for the real prize of the academy - the full professorship - should be open and competitive. Once again, it is worth examining the Turkish model, in which, instead of operating through secretive informal networks, there are strict rules regulating the appointment of professors. The Council of Higher Education (YÖK, for its Turkish name, Yükseköğretim Kurulu) mandates that all competitions must be announced in a major newspaper, and applicants are judged on the basis of a defined portfolio. "While many Western academics assume that their professorial appointment systems are of an equal or superior academic level to those of other particularly less developed countries," wryly remarked Geraldine Healy and her coauthors in the European Journal of Industrial Relations, "such assumptions should be questioned, particularly in debates on gender equality."

Their contention is buttressed by a study by the social-policy scholar Pavel Ovseiko and his coauthors in Health Research Policy and Systems, who have argued that it has proven difficult to counteract misogyny because the academy is so decentralized: "Whilst national and local policies may be in place, the reality of research is that it is devolved to the level of departments, centres, and, sometimes, individual principal investigators." A centralized body like YÖK would be useful to coordinate an institution as slapdash as the academy, which often presents a screen for sordid biases. The iron cage of bureaucracy may be an unlikely object of radical politics, but it is likely the best mechanism to reduce the old boys' club that has such a tight grip on appointments.

The destruction of these informal networks is one of the most important reforms feminists can pursue in the academy, but likely the one to encounter the greatest resistance. Until such fights are brought into the open, the old boys' club will be protected by a shroud of silence. As an anonymous historian told an interviewer for a study carried out by the American Historical Association, "a department culture that valued 'civility' was used as a way of silencing female professors with ideas about new ways of getting things done." The inscrutable means of selecting new professors via scouts in the Netherlands has been protected by "a gentlemen's agreement," as a scout boasted to the study's lead investigator, Marieke van den Brink. A female scholar at Irvine, quoted in an article in Perspectives on Politics, decried the fact that powerful men "have a whole interpersonal political structure set up to support their regressive values. That's why it's very frustrating here, because there's nowhere to go for appeal. The people you can go to don't seem to share the goal of supporting equity. They don't give a damn."

There is reason to hope that something as unsexy as bureaucracy could be an effective purgative. In 2004, no women won the National Institutes of Health's prestigious Pioneer Award for innovative medical research, but the next year half of the winners were women. This success was possible because a number of new policies were put in place: women were encouraged to apply, only self-nominations (rather than institutional) were allowed, and the jury was reeducated to ferret out their misogyny. The way these NIH grants were dispersed - through a process that now considered only "quality of proposal" rather than "quality of researcher" - was much less skewed in terms of gender.

As a confrontation with men in the academy is inevitable if women are to make further progress, Turkey's experience shows that there is at least one means to reduce tension. In the 1990s, the Turkish university system dramatically expanded, doubling faculty numbers, which reduced the threat to incumbent men, but at the same time the new jobs allowed women to increase their influence throughout the academy. If the academic systems of the Global North took a similar step, not only could more women obtain faculty positions, but more students could be enrolled and more public universities founded.

Perhaps an even better solution would be to redistribute the lump of work that already exists. Considering that workweeks of fifty to sixty hours are common among scholars, working less is a good idea. Stress is especially prevalent among female faculty who are burdened with a disproportionate share of taking care of children, elderly relatives, and housework. Women still work the same hours as men, even in research-intensive fields, despite the myths of men carrying out late-night laboratory work and women leaving early to pick up children from school. Reducing the workweek to thirty-five hours would allow those within the academy time to enjoy their intellectual endeavors and carry out social reproduction, while spreading work among more colleagues and absorbing the glut of underemployed doctoral graduates - a group that is composed mostly of women because they drop out of the academy at every career milestone at twice the rate men do, according to one study of women in the sciences. Redistributive politics are inseparable from feminist goals in higher education.

The quotidian machinery of patriarchy functions as a complex of many moving parts. The same mechanisms that pull women down are the ones that push men up, compensating for the latter's initial lack of numbers in undergraduate studies until they become an overwhelming majority among the academic elite. All these various parts, some seemingly innocuous and others quite abominable, operate together, defeating attempts that remediate only a single aspect of the patriarchal machine. This explains why the results of mainstream feminist prescriptions have proved paltry. Academic patriarchy is too well entrenched and vicious to be defeated by piecemeal reform. Academic feminism needs a Cerberus-headed politics combining a social movement, activist scholarship, and new radical bureaucratic structures.

Like universal day care, having more women in positions of power is indispensable, though not a complete solution. For example, having more women as editors in chief of important journals increases the rate of first authorship by women, sometimes raising it to more than double the rates of comparable journals headed by men, according to a study of journals of academic medicine. The presence of senior women at field sites drastically reduces the incidents of sexual harassment suffered by anthropologists. Women-only mentoring programs have a significant effect on retaining younger scholars.

But power seems to follow men, whose informal networks easily slink into the shadows. When women take over formal networks, they become vulnerable to misogynist reprisals and are burdened with increased workloads. "Women were delighted about the increase in female chairs, deans, or central administrators; some considered that these increases signaled genuine improvement," noted the authors of a study on attitudes held by female faculty at the University of California, Irvine. "Too often, however, a woman's holding of this position would devalue or minimize it somewhat, casting it into the service mode, not the power mode. We heard this comment so frequently across all disciplines that we finally named it gender devaluation."Yet again, patriarchy places women in a bind: "Women take on these service tasks despite knowing the disadvantages of spending their time on duties for which they will not be rewarded because they also recognize that such positions enabled them to open things up for other women."

When women step in to help other women, such as when they act as "diversity czars" in the US to ensure hiring and tenure reviews are equitable, they risk provoking a backlash from men. One scholar in the Irvine study characterized such work as standing out like a "lightning-rod" for male disgruntlement. Speaking out at all can be risky for one's career. At Irvine, many female scholars "feared backlash and retribution if they agitated openly for change, so they rejected overt collective activism in favor of more subtle, nonthreatening collective actions." In a survey of female scholars at US medical schools, many said they suffered within a climate of fear created by sexist heads of departments who took "punitive actions against members who disagreed with them and by advancing the careers of those who supported their point of view." Numerous studies analyzed for this review noted that their interview subjects asked for anonymity for fear of reprisal. Even in the unlikely case that male retribution isn't forthcoming, serving on committees and mentoring younger colleagues is time intensive, slowing down a woman's tempo of publication, and thus reducing the likelihood she herself will earn a raise or promotion.

The high risks and scanty rewards of feminist solidarity are likely why the levels of politicization among female faculty tend to be surprisingly low. Many scholars seem to see the burdens they carry as the result of their own choices or the behavior of individual misogynistic men, rather than as structured by a larger patriarchal system. "We heard a surprising lack of anger," lamented the authors of the Irvine study. "Few women asked for institutional intervention toward a more just reconciliation between the commitment to family and the commitment to career. From the standpoint of institutional reform, then, these are not efficacious voices. These are voices of struggle, denial, and helplessness, ultimately lacking the empowering strategies to handle or change their seemingly intractable circumstances."

While structured inequality produces aggregate effects, it is essential to remember that it simultaneously causes intensely individual suffering. Studies on the lack of women in the academy often discuss the problem in a bloodless fashion, lamenting the loss of so much "intellectual capital," reducing feminism to merely a business-friendly policy to make countries more competitive in the "global marketplace." This overlooks how, like all scholars, women eschew potential riches to seek their intellectual fortune, motivated by a passion to learn and teach. That so many are forced to relinquish this goal because of condescending or lewd supervisors, selfish spouses, smug students, and prejudiced hiring committees is in every case a personal tragedy of an unfulfilled life. To struggle as an adjunct living in poverty or merely as an unsung research assistant to a famous husband is the fate of tens, even hundreds of thousands. For the women who finally reach the top, despite all the structural disadvantages, success often comes at a steep cost. At least at some universities, female full professors are even less content than female assistant professors. As Anne Fausto-Sterling, a pioneering biologist in the study of gender development, reflected on her life's work: "The exhilaration of struggle and pride in social accomplishments is strong. But so too is the hurt of rejection and marginalization."

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The problems of misogynist PIs and tepid reference letters may stem from the same root: the widespread assumption that only men can be brilliant. This view is prevalent in the hard sciences, but also in literature, musical composition, and philosophy.

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A book that provides an interdisciplinary outlook on ableism that is currently missing.

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Ableism in Academia: Theorising Experiences of Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses in Higher Education

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Ableism in Academia: Theorising Experiences of Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses in Higher Education

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Rather than embracing difference as a reflection of wider society, academic ecosystems seek to normalise and homogenise ways of working and of being a researcher. As a consequence, ableism in academia is endemic. However, to date no attempt has been made to theorise experiences of ableism in academia.

Ableism in Academia provides an interdisciplinary outlook on ableism that is currently missing. Through reporting research data and exploring personal experiences, the contributors theorise and conceptualise what it means to be/work outside the stereotypical norm. The volume brings together a range of perspectives, including feminism, post-structuralism, such as Derridean and Foucauldian theory, crip theory and disability theory, and draw on the width and breadth of a number of related disciplines. Contributors use technicism, leadership, social justice theories and theories of embodiment to raise awareness and increase understanding of the marginalised; that is those academics who are not perfect. These theories are placed in the context of neoliberal academia, which is distant from the privileged and romanticised versions that exist in the public and internalised imaginations of academics, and used to interrogate aspects of identity, aspects of how disability is performed, and to argue that ableism is not just a disability issue.

This timely collection of chapters will be of interest to researchers in Disability Studies, Higher Education Studies and Sociology, and to those researching the relationship between theory and personal experience across the Social Sciences.

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Rather than embracing difference as a reflection of wider society, academic ecosystems seek to normalise and homogenise ways of working and of being a researcher. As a consequence, ableism in academia is endemic. However, to date no attempt has been made to theorise experiences of ableism in academia.Ableism in Academi

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This Resource Letter introduces issues which influence the representation and participation of women in physics.

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Resource Letter: GP-1: Gender and Physics

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Resource Letter: GP-1: Gender and Physics

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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 26 percent of people in the United States have a disability. That includes both visible disabilities, such as many mobility impairments, and hidden ones, such as psychosocial or emotional conditions.

But some research shows college students with disabilities have lower graduation and retention rates than their peers without disabilities.

In the past few years, some colleges and universities have started disability studies departments and programs. Others -- such as Syracuse University, Miami University of Ohio and the University of Illinois at Chicago -- have created disability cultural centers or affinity groups. But efforts such as those are still less than common. And although many statements from college presidents and administrations make clear they understand disability to be a part of diversity, scholars and activists say they still don't feel that higher education has accepted that disability is an axis of identity that can be celebrated.

Part of the larger problem, some activists and scholars say, is that disability is often framed as an individual biomedical condition and as a technical problem to be solved rather than as a group identity. Disability is often confined to offices that work through educational accommodations. A study of 23 California State University websites from 2012 to 2014 found that only one associated disability with diversity and inclusion.

"It's predominantly framed as a biomedical issue or a technical one in terms of legal compliance," said Lauren Shallish, a professor of special education, language and literacy at the College of New Jersey. "That framing forecloses any other discussion or experience or identity or social power."

Shallish's research and interviews with university leaders have found the "medicalized" framing of disability to be very prevalent in higher education.

"What I find is with diversity in higher ed, it's all very selectively inclusive," said Syreeta Nolan, a senior at the University of California, San Diego, and co-founder of Disability in Higher Ed. "The Black resource center is inclusive for Black people, the women's center is inclusive for women, the LGBTQ resource is inclusive for those who are LGBTQ themselves. But I don't see that intersectionality and I feel really weird and off when I try to talk about disability in those spaces."

Nolan's university's Strategic Plan for Inclusive Excellence does include people with disabilities, but looking at videos the university has created about the plan, she said, she doesn't see students or faculty with disabilities represented. She has participated in undergraduate research programs for historically underrepresented students, but those have been open to her because she is Black, not because she is disabled.

Though many colleges are engaging in much-needed efforts to diversify their faculty and student bodies, fewer are engaged in efforts to recruit and retain faculty and students with disabilities.

"If diversity actually valued disability, I could have people to look up to as a disabled undergraduate," said Nolan. "There would be such a world change if diversity included disability enough that there was more than 3.6 percent of tenured faculty that consider themselves disabled."

When disability is discussed in higher ed, it's often talked about in the context of educational accommodations that are required by law and allow students with disabilities to participate in class. Though accommodations are important and many activists and scholars are looking to improve the accommodation process, that focus can be limited, some say.

"Being a disabled student, I'm not just a disabled student in the classroom," Nolan said.

Though a human resources webpage at her university makes clear that the administration believes diversity includes disability, the content of public-facing sites at UCSD focuses almost exclusively on accommodations and accessibility, rather than disability as an identity.

Shallish, whose research has involved interviewing students with disabilities about their accommodations, said many are more concerned about other aspects of their college experience than about accommodations.

"[They said,] 'My real question is, does my roommate need to know I'm bipolar?' Or 'does my soccer team need to know I have a learning disability?'" she said.

A focus on educational accommodations can leave out an understanding of other barriers students with disabilities may face, said Harry Paul, an M.D.-Ph.D. student at Johns Hopkins University and communications director for the Alliance of Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses in Medicine.

"Accommodations are usually only available to people who have the means to get testing, to get some kind of doctor's note. Accommodations do not often take care of accommodating people off campus," he said. "You can have someone to help you get to class, but if you can't get your groceries, how can you stay in school?"

Many efforts to recruit or include students with disabilities could be easy, Paul said. Offices for diversity and inclusion could incorporate efforts at improving campus climate for students with disabilities. Administrations could hold listening sessions with disabled students and carry out their recommendations. They could bring disability scholars to talk on campus or add Braille to dining hall menus.

"If you recruit disabled students, are they going to feel like their disability is a burden that the school is complying with as it's the law?" he said. "Or are they going to feel like they are valued for their perspective?"

At UCSD, which Nolan attends, officials said disability is included in commitments to inclusivity, and the university is dedicated to moving beyond simple compliance with the law. "Compliance is the minimum," said Becky Petitt, vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion at UCSD, via email. "Our commitment to scholars and professionals with disabilities involves intentionally facilitating access, active recruitment, thoughtful representation and engagement throughout all areas of university life, and the creation of accountability structures to ensure that we are faithful to our vision of being an institution where all students, faculty, and staff can thrive."

California State University, despite the 2014 study results suggesting that only one campus associated disability with diversity, has said that it does include disability in its programming.

"Efforts to advance diversity, equity and inclusion are definitely inclusive of a wide range of identities, including disability and its intersection with gender, race and ethnicity," said Luoluo Hong, associate vice chancellor for student affairs and enrollment management at Cal State, via email. "We are also dedicated to increasing educational access and accessibility for students with disabilities -- a responsibility which has been made especially salient during our current context, in which instruction on our campuses is predominantly online, remote or virtual. By policy and by practice, the CSU has dedicated time and resources to increase and improve the use of accessible technology. Finally, allegations of discrimination on the basis of disability are taken seriously and fully investigated."
Due for a Reckoning
For some scholars and activists, a shift in higher ed would require greater societal changes and acknowledgment of the intersections between disability and other identities. The disabled community is not a monolith, and how people experience a disability is filtered through their race and other characteristics, and vice versa. For example, both Black and disabled individuals are overrepresented among victims of police killings, creating unique implications for people who are both Black and disabled.

"What I would like to see is a fuller integration and examination of the intersectionality between race and disability. I think diversity is missing an entire aspect when the intersectionality of race and disability is ignored," said Denise Reid, a professor of education at Biola University and co-author of the study on Cal State.

Reid said some universities are making progress. Her university has made a deliberate effort to include disability in statements and conversations about diversity, she said, and has started conversations with faculty about the classroom experience.

But she's not sure that any effort in higher education to fully acknowledge the intersections between race, ethnicity and disability will be realized in her lifetime.

"We continue to investigate issues of race and ethnicity," she said. "However, I am hopeful that at some point the intersectionality of race and disability would just be part of the diversity conversation."

Shallish said that while she believes affinity groups and discussion would be beneficial for higher education, the issue runs deeper.

"Colleges and universities really need to reckon with their own entrenched history around ability supremacy. They've always prioritized the quote normal body or quote normal mind," she said. "Higher ed is defined by who it excludes."

Disability is often closely associated with the criminal justice system and racism, she said, as children of color are overrepresented in special education classes and often are pushed into juvenile justice programs. Colleges could do more work around abolishing current systems of incarceration and punishment.

"Higher ed could really do this work," she added. "So then it comes down to choice. Are you going to choose to do it or not?"

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Could disability be further included in diversity efforts?

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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 26 percent of people in the United States have a disability. That includes both visible disabilities, such as many mobility impairments, and hidden ones, such as psychosocial or emotional conditions. But some research shows college students with disabilities have lower graduation and retention rates than their peers without disabilities.

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An article which examines why students from low-income backgrounds are consistently underestimated compared to middle and upper-class peers.

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The ‘Levelling Down’ of Working Class Students

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The ‘Levelling Down’ of Working Class Students

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Earlier this month the Scottish Qualifications Authority's process reduced the pass rate of less well-off Higher students by more than twice that of the richest. It was moderating down the grades predicted by teachers, predictions which a leading education charity had already warned were much more likely to be underestimated for working-class students than for their middle-class peers. Over the last year, we have been bombarded with the rhetoric around levelling up but the Scottish process would have resulted in a levelling down for working-class students not once but twice. The Scottish government has since made a U-turn over exam results and students will now be given the grades predicted by their teachers. However, it remains to be seen how the English government will react. The compounding of working-class educational disadvantage is set to be even greater in the English context where a net 39% of teachers' grade assessments are likely to be adjusted down before students get their exam results (Weale 2020).

While the recent scandal has revealed a Scottish Qualification Authority unfit for purpose, perhaps what is most surprising is the outcry about the resulting unfairness because our educational system is grossly unfair and has been since its inception 150 years ago (Reay Miseducation). Behind the story of a few working-class students doing relatively well, despite continuing under-estimation of their potential, lurks another more troubling narrative - the failure of our educational system to realise the potential of working-class students, a majority of whom don't take A levels. In relation to social class, our entire educational system has not been fit for purpose well before the outbreak of Covid-19. It has been levelling down opportunities for working-class students for over a century not just in 2020. But the prospects for working-class students are set to worsen. Austerity has laid waste to the public sector, including schools. The Tory and Coalition governments' austerity policies depleted resources, demoralised staff and, particularly in areas of disadvantage, simultaneously broadened what is expected of teachers far beyond a teaching role whilst narrowing the range and reducing the quality of education offered to working-class children. Growing research shows that working-class children are experiencing 'a pedagogy of poverty' (Hempel-Jorgensen et al 2018) characterised by a narrow didactic focus on teaching to the test, discipline and low academic engagement, as they are increasingly segregated in working-class schools, or lower sets and streams in more socially mixed schools.

This pedagogy of poverty is set to become even more entrenched if the government have their way. DfE guidelines for September school re-openings advised that some subjects for some or all pupils may have to be suspended for two terms to allow catch-up on core subjects such as English and maths (Gibbons 2020). This sacrifices any semblance of a balanced curriculum for those who are seen to have fallen behind academically, primarily those from working-class groups in society. The difficult, stressful exigencies of working-class lives were part of the reason a far lower percentage of working-class children returned to school after the lockdown, but so too was the narrow, target-driven, hyper-competitive curriculum they routinely experience.

The cuts to school funding over the past decade have been brutal, but it was those schools that serve the poorest communities that have been hardest hit. Stories of working-class schools with buckets collecting rainwater under unmended roofs abound. The current government's manifesto promise of an additional £14 billion over three years was much lauded but it will do little to patch over the gaps in educational funding. The most recent funding announcement signals yet another process of levelling down rather than levelling up.

Comparing per-pupil funding in 2020-21 to that in 2017-18, the Education Policy Institute found that FSM pupils will have received increases of around two-thirds of the rate of non-FSM pupils. This is a very perverse form of levelling up - one that talks the talk but walks off in a different direction.

Among all the babble around levelling up what is rarely admitted by our political elites is that private schools exist to entrench the power of the elite while state education is primarily about further advantaging the middle classes. Education, as it exists in all parts of the UK, is not about realising the potential the working classes and never has been. As is evident in the recent grades debacle, the working classes are still primarily positioned as collateral damage enabling middle and upper-class educational success.
By Prof Diane Reay, sociologist and academic, who is Professor of Education at the University of Cambridge.

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The 'Levelling Down' of Working Class Students

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The Centre for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS) is a think tank established in 2012 to act as a centre for left debate and discussion. Originating in the labour movement, CLASS works with a broad coalition of supporters, academics and experts to develop and advance alternative policies for today.

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A FutureLearn course by the University of Bristol.

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Decolonising Education: From Theory to Practice

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Decolonising Education: From Theory to Practice

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Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

Demonstrate an understanding of the history of colonialism and colonial thought with respect to the development of the university and other educational institutions

Explain to your colleagues and peers the critical importance of decolonial approaches in creating a fully inclusive educational learning environment

Identify and engage with the distinct legacies of colonialism across a range of disciplines in the social sciences, STEM and arts and humanities

Identify and assess appropriate actions and approaches that would be effective in developing decolonial practices in your own educational setting

Design and lead a change process that includes students, colleagues and other stakeholders in a joint programme of decolonisation.

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Decolonising Education: From Theory to Practice - Decolonial Theory Course

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Learning on this course On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments. By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

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A plea published in The Conversation to utilise existing Widening Participation initiatives to recruit more working-class academics.

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How to Make Universities More Inclusive? Hire More Working-Class Academics

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How to Make Universities More Inclusive? Hire More Working-Class Academics

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For several years, higher education institutions have been putting in place widening participation initiatives. These are designed to help address low levels of under-represented students applying to university. Such initiatives have led to increasing numbers of working-class students going on to higher education. Often, these students are the first in their family to go to university.

Not knowing what to expect at university, some of these students worry they might not fit in, or that they will not be able to afford their studies. Others say they have to carefully consider their book purchases and fear they will visibly stand out from the other students.

But research for my latest book, Experiences of Academics from a Working-Class Heritage, revealed that academics from similar working-class backgrounds have a natural and intuitive instinct to quickly recognise working-class students. As such, they are able to empathise and understand the needs and issues these students have.

The working-class academics I spoke with explained that their background gave them the ability to do this. They also revealed how they discreetly observed and connected with working-class students - perhaps by revealing their own background during a one-to-one tutorial - and how they mitigated student fears and anxieties in the classroom and across the campus.

Looking out for students

Nearly all the academics I spoke to said they wanted to make the university experience rewarding for their students. They explained that this was done without favour as they felt it important that all students receive a good learning experience. But they were aware of how working-class students might feel on arrival. This was often based on the academics' own university experiences as a working-class student.

One interviewee explained that they were familiar with how financial struggles or pressures from home could affect the ability to study and attend classes. This could be a result of having child-caring responsibilities or looking after an ailing parent or grandparent.

Another participant talked about a potential student who was attending a required university day. The applicant did not appear to be comfortable. So the interviewee "made an effort to allay her fears" because she was in the same situation that the interviewee had been in many years ago, and "she had the right to be there, just like everybody else, if she had the grades".

Other interviewees recalled how they had been told, as teenagers, that they could never study the subject they aspired to because they were from a working-class background. Now, as academics, they encouraged applicants from the same social class to apply for those subjects and not to rule anything out.

Widening participation

Almost all of the research participants said they noticed working-class students and felt a strong sense of empathy with them. In particular, they could sense and predict how the students would probably feel while studying at a higher education institution.

Of course, this knowledge is not confined to academics from a working-class background as there are good, intuitive teachers from all social classes. But some common life experiences do not need explaining.

This is why one way of increasing student diversity is to recruit more academics who are from these backgrounds. Yet social and economic class is not one of the nine protected characteristics included in the Equality Act 2010 and used by employers. This information is there to ensure there is equal opportunity when appointing new staff. As such, there are calls for changes in the employment legislation to address the fact that academics who have a working-class background are better able to " recognise and support the particular needs of these students ".

Indeed, the Social Mobility Commission recommends that data about the socio-economic background of employees should be collected and monitored by employers - in the same way that disability and ethnicity data is.

Until this becomes an established practice, interrogating National Student Surveys remains paramount. It is also important to find out if students prefer to be allocated to (especially in a one-to-one situation) a lecturer or personal academic tutor who is from a similar class. This would help to locate where current good practice lies or predict where future problems might develop. And it would demonstrate universities' commitment to listening to voices that have previously been unheard.

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How to make universities more inclusive? Hire more working-class academics

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For several years, higher education institutions have been putting in place widening participation initiatives. These are designed to help address low levels of under-represented students applying to university. Such initiatives have led to increasing numbers of working-class students going on to higher education. Often, these students are the first in their family to go to university.

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The importance of not only normalizing varying abilities, but embracing and valuing the diversity and contributions of individuals with disabilities.

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Disabled in Academia: To Be or Not to Be, That Is the Question

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Disabled in Academia: To Be or Not to Be, That Is the Question

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Disabled in academia: to be or not to be, that is the question

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The authors explore the real-life issue of diversity disclosure within academia. The breadth of disability and discrimination is framed within the context of high demands and competitiveness. While some institutions are supportive, the culture of ableism, stigmatization, and the disabling barriers make disclosure of disability a complex and difficult decision.

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Nappy | Beautifully Diverse Stock Photos

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Nappy | Beautifully Diverse Stock Photos

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Nappy | Beautifully Diverse Stock Photos

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Beautiful photos of Black and Brown people, for free. For commercial and personal use.

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The virtual event on the representation of BME staff and students in higher education took place on Thursday 09 July 2020.

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BME Experiences in Higher Education: Policy Making, Social Justice and White Privilege

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BME Experiences in Higher Education: Policy Making, Social Justice and White Privilege

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School of Languages, Cultures and Societies news

Listen to or revisit Professor Bhopal's 'BME experiences in higher education: policy making, social justice and white privilege'.

The virtual event on the representation of BME staff and students in higher education took place on Thursday 09 July 2020, and was a great success with over 170 online attendees.
Speaker:
Kalwant Bhopal is Professor of Education and Social Justice in the School of Education, University of Birmingham.
Summary:
The lecture examines recent statistics on the representation of BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) staff and students in higher education and explorse how processes of racism, exclusion and marginalisation continue to disadvantage BME groups.

It uses empirical research which explores BME academic flight from higher education to suggest ways forward for the inclusion of BME focusing on issues of equity and social justice. The lecture also raises how white privilege works to disadvantage those from BME backgrounds and explores how universities can develop good practice for the inclusion of BME groups in higher education.
This Equality and Inclusion event was organised by the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures.

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Audio recording of Professor Kalwant Bhopal's discussion now available

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School of Languages, Cultures and Societies news Listen to or revisit Professor Bhopal's 'BME experiences in higher education: policy making, social justice and white privilege'. The virtual event on the representation of BME staff and students in higher education took place on Thursday 09 July 2020, and was a great success with over 170 online attendees.

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This book provides insights and advice on integrating students with disabilities into the STEM fields.

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Creating a Culture of Accessibility in the Sciences

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Creating a Culture of Accessibility in the Sciences

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Book * 2017

Authors:

Mahadeo A. Sukhai and Chelsea E. Mohler

Book * 2017

Authors:

Mahadeo A. Sukhai and Chelsea E. Mohler

Book description

Creating a Culture of Accessibility in the Sciences provides insights and advice on integrating students with disabilities into the STEM fields. Each chapter features research and ... read full description

Browse content

Table of contents

Description

Creating a Culture of Accessibility in the Sciences provides insights and advice on integrating students with disabilities into the STEM fields. Each chapter features research and best practices that are interwoven with experiential narratives.

The book is reflective of the diversity of STEM disciplines (life and physical sciences, engineering, and mathematics), and is also reflective of cross-disability perspectives (physical, sensory, learning, mental health, chronic medical and developmental disabilities).

It is a useful resource for STEM faculty and university administrators working with students with disabilities, as well as STEM industry professionals interested in accommodating employees with disabilities.

Show more

Creating a Culture of Accessibility in the Sciences provides insights and advice on integrating students with disabilities into the STEM fields. Each chapter features research and best practices that are interwoven with experiential narratives.

The book is reflective of the diversity of STEM disciplines (life and physical sciences, engineering, and mathematics), and is also reflective of cross-disability perspectives (physical, sensory, learning, mental health, chronic medical and developmental disabilities).

It is a useful resource for STEM faculty and university administrators working with students with disabilities, as well as STEM industry professionals interested in accommodating employees with disabilities.

Key Features

Offers a global perspective on making research or work spaces accessible for students with disabilities in the STEM fields

Discusses best practices on accommodating and supporting students and demonstrates how these practices can be translated across disciplines

Enhances faculty knowledge of inclusive teaching practices, adaptive equipment, accessibility features, and accommodations in science laboratories, which would enable the safe participation of students with disabilities

Provides advice for students with disabilities on disclosure and mentoring

Show more

Offers a global perspective on making research or work spaces accessible for students with disabilities in the STEM fields

Discusses best practices on accommodating and supporting students and demonstrates how these practices can be translated across disciplines

Enhances faculty knowledge of inclusive teaching practices, adaptive equipment, accessibility features, and accommodations in science laboratories, which would enable the safe participation of students with disabilities

Provides advice for students with disabilities on disclosure and mentoring

Details

Copyright

Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

You currently don't have access to this book, however you can purchase separate chapters directly from the table of contents or buy the full version.
Purchase the book

Authors

Mahadeo A. Sukhai

University of Toronto and Ontario Cancer Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada

Chelsea E. Mohler

National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS), Ottawa

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Creating a Culture of Accessibility in the Sciences

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Book * 2017 Authors: Mahadeo A. Sukhai and Chelsea E. Mohler Book * 2017 Authors: Mahadeo A. Sukhai and Chelsea E. Mohler Creating a Culture of Accessibility in the Sciences provides insights and advice on integrating students with disabilities into the STEM fields. Each chapter features research and ...

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Created by UK Council for Graduate Education, this briefing uses data and data categories from the Higher Education Statistics Authority.

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Access & Participation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnicities in UK Postgraduate Research – Policy Briefing

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Access & Participation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnicities in UK Postgraduate Research – Policy Briefing

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Following the recent notice of a joint Research England and Office for Students funding competition to reduce inequalities in postgraduate research, this UKCGE Policy Briefing gives an overview of access and participation of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) postgraduate researchers (PGRs).

The following briefing uses data and data categories from the Higher Education Statistics Authority, with support from Research England.

Access and Participation of Black, Asian And Minority Ethnicities In UK Postgraduate Research

Summary

There are important differences in the inequalities between different ethnic groups in relation to postgraduate research, the following summary should be taken as an illustrative overview only:

The proportion of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic students enrolled in UK HE in 2018/19 drops from 24.81% at undergraduate level to 18.07% at postgraduate research level (excluding enrolments where ethnicity is unknown).

Between 2016/17 - 2018/19 there was a growth of 1.3% in the proportion of BAME PGRs.

In 2018/19, 48.19% of BAME PGRs received no award or financial backing for their tuition fee, as compared with 32.66% of White PGRs.

18.91% of White PGRs qualified in 2018/19, as opposed to 16.13% of BAME PGRs.

Download the full Policy Briefing (PDF) >

Funding Bid Partnering Service

If you are considering submitting a funding bid and are interested in forming a partnership with another institution to enhance your project proposal or would like to discuss bid support with regards to dissemination of project outcome, the UKCGE can help.

Email Ian Covey for more information about the partnering service.

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Access & Participation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnicities in UK Postgraduate Research - Policy Briefing

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Following the recent notice of a joint Research England and Office for Students funding competition to reduce inequalities in postgraduate research, this UKCGE Policy Briefing gives an overview of access and participation of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) postgraduate researchers (PGRs).

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An important report about the funding challenges for Black researchers, produced by Leading Routes. 

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The Broken Pipeline – Barriers to Black PhD Students Accessing Research Council Funding

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The Broken Pipeline – Barriers to Black PhD Students Accessing Research Council Funding

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The Broken Pipeline - Barriers to Black PhD Students Accessing Research Council Funding - Leading Routes

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This webinar looks at how UK universities can effectively take action to eliminate racism and racial inequality.

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Turning Words into Actions: Eliminating Racism and Racial Inequality in Higher Education

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Turning Words into Actions: Eliminating Racism and Racial Inequality in Higher Education

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Turning words into actions: Eliminating racism and racial inequality in higher education

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This webinar looks at how UK universities can effectively take action to eliminate racism and racial inequality. (Please note this video is not captioned, we will be released a captioned version shortly). 

If you want to stay up to date with our events, news, and publications, you can sign up for our newsletters here: https://bit.ly/UUK-signup

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PICNOI – Free Stock Photo for a Colorful World

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PICNOI – Free Stock Photo for a Colorful World

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Free Stock Photos, PNGs, Templates & Mockups | rawpixel

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Free Stock Photos, PNGs, Templates & Mockups | rawpixel

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The Gender Spectrum Collection by Broadly

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The Gender Spectrum Collection by Broadly

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The Gender Spectrum Collection is a stock photo library featuring images of trans and non-binary models that go beyond the clichés. This collection aims to help media better represent members of these communities as people not necessarily defined by their gender identities-people with careers, relationships, talents, passions, and home lives.
Read Guidelines

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The Gender Spectrum Collection by Broadly

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The Gender Spectrum Collection is a stock photo library featuring images of trans and non-binary models that go beyond the clichés. This collection aims to help media better represent members of these communities as people not necessarily defined by their gender identities-people with careers, relationships, talents, passions, and home lives.

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Explore our collection of diverse images, free to use in your next project.

Free stock photos

Licensing

These images are licensed under a Creative Commons 2.0 license. This means that they can be used, adapted, and shared with others for both personal and commercial purposes. You must include appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.

Other diverse image resources

Looking for more diverse sources of imagery for your projects? Here, a few of our favourite resources.

UKBlackTech is a tech innovation group based primarily in the UK, with local hubs in London and the Midlands. Our mission is to make the UK the most ethnically diverse tech ecosystem in the world. We also provide a range of boutique services to organisations and businesses, from events and workshops through to promotion and networking.

Get in touch

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Representation matters. Explore our collection of diverse images, free to use in your next project. Free stock photos Download all photos Licensing These images are licensed under a Creative Commons 2.0 license. This means that they can be used, adapted, and shared with others for both personal and commercial purposes.

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Noun Project: Free Icons & Stock Photos for Everything

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Noun Project has the most diverse collection of free icons and stock photos. Download SVG and PNG. Over 5 million art-quality icons and free photos.

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Our Disabilities Have Made Us Better Scientists.

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Our Disabilities Have Made Us Better Scientists

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Our Disabilities Have Made Us Better Scientists

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Starting a graduate degree in science was one of the most exciting things to happen to either of us. But while we knew that graduate school would be difficult, both of us experienced medical hurdles early in our PhD programs that we never expected. Skylar has a heart condition, polymorphic arrhythmia, and had an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator inserted that ended her scientific scuba-diving career. Gabi has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a collagen disorder that causes widespread pain, especially during lab and field work.

While our medical conditions have challenged us in different ways, we both have noticed that scientific research is rarely designed to accommodate scientists with medical conditions or disabilities. That could be understandable if we were part of a tiny group, but around 26 percent of adults in the United States have a disability. Scientists with disabilities have so much to offer: we have diverse, creative and unique ideas that are important for pushing research forward. We, along with other scientists with disabilities and medical conditions, have found success in our careers, but only because we have had access to health care, emotional support and institutional backing.

In fact, we feel that we can be better scientists because of our challenges, not in spite of them. When Skylar couldn't scuba dive for her field research anymore, she could still design dive plans and carry out other aspects of fieldwork as well as laboratory work and computer modeling. She focused heavily on project management, a skill that will serve her throughout her career. Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is rare, so explaining the condition frequently has honed Gabi's science communication skills. Consequent to her condition, she's also hyperflexible, which comes in handy when she needs to squeeze into tight spaces in caves during fieldwork. More importantly, we both have learned how to advocate for ourselves and persevere through challenges, both in our health and our research.

We're not the only ones who see benefits that come from our differences. Some people with mental illness and neurodivergence have found that thinking differently can be helpful in their roles as researchers (though we note that not everyone with a mental illness or neurodivergence identifies as disabled). For example, one study found that autistic traits were linked to new idea generation and creative problem solving, and there has been extensive research on bipolar disorder and creativity.

A research assistant with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), who asked to remain anonymous, sees that some of her compulsive behaviors are useful in the lab: she always makes sure that the lab freezer is closed and her workspace is clean. Her attention to detail also gives her a very clear memory, which "comes in handy when citing literature," she joked.

Nonetheless, we are only able to use our creative skills when we are healthy enough to do research. Both of us have found that we have to be particularly vigilant about making sure our access to health care and health insurance is consistent and supportive. We have become acutely aware of both the financial and time costs of visiting specialists regularly, and the emotional weight of making decisions with our health in mind.

Richard Mankin, an entomologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the president of the Foundation for Science and Disability, has had similar experiences in academia. He was born without certain muscles in his legs and uses crutches to get around, but his condition didn't start to impact his mobility severely until the end of graduate school. At the time, he didn't think he really needed a support system, but now says that supportive colleagues and friends pushed him to get the help he needed with his mobility. He gravitated towards working for the government because of the stability in health care it offered.

Mankin long feared an early death because disabled individuals in the U.S. are likely to die at a younger age than those without disabilities, so health care access has been extraordinarily important to him throughout his life. He has also made lifestyle decisions for his health, like moving to Florida, where the warm climate allows him to walk for at least an hour every day.

Mankin travels around the world with collaborators to remote locations; this July, he's headed to the cloud forest of Ecuador to study fruit flies. "To travel more effectively, I learned to travel light (with a backpack-no suitcases)," he writes. He relies on collaborators to transport bags or equipment in the field but has been able to do field work for more than 40 years. He was supported by mentors early in his career.

However, unrelenting hard work is what has made him successful, he says. Mankin says that his disability has often resulted in "low expectations from persons who did not know me well and assumed my disability causes reduced levels of productivity." He feels that he's had to work extra hard just to show he's capable of being as successful as a scientist without disabilities.

Although the ADA provides legal protections for disabled people, accommodations are just one part of the access puzzle. We have been able to stay in our positions (as a postdoc and PhD candidate, respectively) in part because we have understanding mentors, colleagues, and friends. When support like that is missing, disabled people might end up leaving academia altogether. Hundreds of tweets posted with the hashtag #WhyDisabledPeopleDropOut illustrate what can happen when talented students don't receive the accommodations that they need. When people leave STEM because of discrimination or poor treatment, science suffers.

True access goes beyond legal requirements; it involves thoughtful dedication to creating a culture of inclusion and understanding of all disabilities that allows everyone to perform at the highest level. The researcher with OCD, for example, said that part of the challenge of living with a mental illness is the lack of understanding. "My OCD diagnosis becomes confused with my personality and my identity," she wrote. "I don't want to be viewed as someone who just obsesses over things and worries."

That stigma is why she chose to remain anonymous. Moreover, it's hurtful when people joke about having OCD when they're simply cleaning or working carefully. Those types of comments "make OCD out to be a preference, rather than a disorder that affects all aspects of someone's life." This is where allies can come in: if you want to foster an environment that includes disabled scientists, don't make jokes about real disorders.

Furthermore, allies should be sure to include disabled scientists at all levels. Mankin feels that his disability has enforced some barriers to leadership opportunities, having been turned down several times for manager positions. He feels a responsibility to be a role model to encourage students with disabilities to go into science. But he says science has become more competitive, so he worries about how discouraged some folks with disabilities may be, especially without better support systems.

We are expected to work extra hard to fit into the current academic culture, so we expect similar effort from institutional leaders to think beyond legally required accommodations and support all scientists. Both of us are hopeful that inclusion will improve in the future, reducing barriers for anyone with conditions like ours. We remember being terrified that we couldn't be "successful" scientists because of our health when we were first diagnosed. But we now know that there's more than one kind of "successful" scientist, and that those of us with disabilities, differences in thinking, and medical challenges are well-suited for rich scientific careers-as long as we have true access.

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Our Disabilities Have Made Us Better Scientists

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Starting a graduate degree in science was one of the most exciting things to happen to either of us. But while we knew that graduate school would be difficult, both of us experienced medical hurdles early in our PhD programs that we never expected.

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A support programme teaching those with a diagnosis, awaiting a diagnosis, or self-diagnosed.

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So, You're Autistic (think you are)?

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Hello and welcome to the online resources that form part of the So, You're Autistic? pre- and post-diagnostic support for autistics.

See here for the latest new and news.

While this website primarily began as an online resource for our structured support programme for autistic students at the University of Kent (see outline further down this page), Chloe and Annette have since expanded their work to include:

Training provision for use in a number of settings, including:

Resources relating to autistic experience - both theory and practical advice about being autistic. These resources are for anyone and everyone.

Their participation as members on a Steering Committee for an autistic, collaborative project with Professor Nicola Shaughnessy at the University of Kent School of Arts: the Playing A/Part project with autistic girls.

See below for a video of Chloe being interviewed by the University of Kent about So, You're Autistic?

Support Programme Description: So, You're Autistic (SYA)? at the University of Kent is a pre- and post-diagnostic support for autistics: a support programme teaching those with a diagnosis, awaiting a diagnosis, or self-diagnosed HOW to be autistic - to understand what being autistic means for YOU.

The SYA? support programme was developed by Chloe Farahar and Annette Foster whilst PhD students at the University of Kent. Chloe and Annette were both diagnosed as adults and had to learn what being autistic meant for them. Chloe and Annette developed the SYA? programme so that future autistics do not have to figure out what being autistic means alone - to explore what being autistic means together.
The purposes of the sessions include:

Contextualising your experiences with the new knowledge that you are/might be autistic (perhaps you're not sure/can't see how you're autistic)

Learning coping strategies, including stimming, and how to improve your well-being

Finding others with whom you share commonalities, and feeling part of a community

Improving self-esteem and well-being: feeling proud to be autistic

Teaching you the neuro-diversity narrative, opposing the disorder narrative

Touching on the interaction between autism and gender

Sharing resources to help avoid the mountains of information online etc.

This website contains information for those who are enrolled on the SYA? programme. Here you can find:

Session guides on what each SYA? session should cover and work through

Resource lists (containing information on books, blogs, charities etc.)

Videos - such as Chloe's lecture on what autism is, what it is not, and why women, non-binary, and trans people are less likely to be realise they are autistic, and Annette's video about her life as an autistic artist

Posts from Chloe and Annette to supplement the programme sessions

And a space where programme attendees can contribute to the site and programme: share tips, information, and ask questions

See here to see what our past attendees had to say about the programme.

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Hello and welcome to the online resources that form part of the So, You're Autistic? pre- and post-diagnostic support for autistics. See here for the latest new and news. While this website primarily began as an online resource for our structured support programme for autistic students at the University of Kent (see outline further down...

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Mental Health First Aid Inclusive Language Guide

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Mental Health First Aid Inclusive Language Guide

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Guidance for Viva examination of Autistic/Neurodivergent PhD Students

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Guidance for Viva examination of Autistic/Neurodivergent PhD Students

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Tips for university lecturers supporting autistic students.

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Top 5 Autism Tips: Autistic Students at University

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Top 5 Autism Tips: Autistic Students at University

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Marc Fabri is Senior Lecturer at Leeds Beckett University and lead on the Autism&Uni project, an EU-funded initiative that helps young autistic people navigate the transition from school to university. He gives his top 5 autism tips for university lecturers supporting autistic students, highlighting how they can make the most of their students' strengths and lessen the effects of their difficulties.
Many students experience challenges when making the transition to university. But, while most adapt reasonably quickly, autistic students can have much higher levels of anxiety combined with a limited capacity to deal with these challenges. Without appropriate support and awareness, autistic students may quickly disengage and drop out of their course.

Academics with good awareness of autistic strengths and weaknesses can support these students very effectively. Some small changes to one's daily practice can make a big difference, so here are our top 5 tips for academics who teach and support autistic students.

Top 5 Tips

1. Avoid ambiguity

Check that the information you give to students is clear, concise and unambiguous, especially in assignments and exams. Autistic students are prone to spotting phrases that allow for multiple interpretations and unexpected choices can stop them in their tracks completely. This does not mean to avoid ambiguity completely - sometimes there's a good pedagogical reason to be vague. But avoid 'accidental' ambiguities, and all students will thank you for that!

2. Prepare and share

We've all done it - finalised the lecture slides half an hour before the lecture starts. Printed handouts on the way to the tutorial. Autistic students like to know what's coming, so it is really useful for them to receive lecture slides and handouts in advance. And if room allocations change, give students as much notice as possible so that they have a chance to familiarise themselves with the new location and how to get there. Knowing what's coming reduces anxiety and helps with organising work. And if I'm honest, it helps my own anxiety levels too if I have everything prepared a few days in advance.

3. Manage group work well

Pro-actively provide support around students working in groups: intervene when communication appears to fail, when the division of work is unfair, or if any member of the group is excluded by others. Encourage the group to set "ground rules" right from the start. Fellow students can take advantage of an autistic peer, especially if they are unaware of the condition. Speak to the autistic student about whether they are comfortable to tell others about their autism. Generally this is a good idea but fellow students need to have enough knowledge about autism, and not just based on misleading media representations.

4. Be accommodating

Show a positive attitude towards arrangements and devices that allow the student to manage their anxiety, such as minimising sensory distractions, always sitting in the same seat, wearing a hat, hoodie or tinted glasses indoors, or handling stress toys. When scheduling classes or meetings, try to ensure that the room is free of visual and auditory distractions that may prevent an autistic student from focusing. Make it clear that any student can leave a teaching session if they feel anxious or overwhelmed - and that they will not be criticised or penalised for doing so. More generally, do not just make such arrangements specifically for autistic students, but for all your students.

5. Find out as much as you can about autism

Learn about autism and about your students' specific challenges and requirements. Request training (e.g. from the National Autistic Society) and if you're lucky enough to have had training already, share your knowledge with colleagues. Invite successful autistic role models, e.g. alumni or final year students, to share their experiences with staff. Get in touch with the experts from your university's disability support team and discuss what further changes you can make to your teaching practice. It's worth exploring this in depth because they may be very personal to you and your subject area.

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Top 5 autism tips: autistic students at university

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Marc Fabri is Senior Lecturer at Leeds Beckett University and lead on the Autism&Uni project, an EU-funded initiative that helps young autistic people navigate the transition from school to university. He gives his top 5 autism tips for university lecturers supporting autistic students, highlighting how they can make the most of their students' strengths and lessen the effects of their difficulties.

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The first of a 3-part series on supporting postgraduate neurodiverse learners.

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Hacking Graduate School for Neurodiverse Learners

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Hacking Graduate School for Neurodiverse Learners

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Teaching British Histories of Race, Migration and Empire

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Teaching British Histories of Race, Migration and Empire

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How to use this page

This collection of links to resources on British histories of race, migration and empire is a collaboration with the Runnymede Trust as part of an effort to increase the presence of Black history, histories of colonialism and of migration in the UK history curricula.

We have asked for people to suggest useful sites, and you can make further suggestions via our webform.

The resources range widely in scope and type. We have organised them according to Key Stages, as well as listing resources for academic researchers, teachers, lecturers, tutors and others. As such, some resources may appear in several sections.

Join the conversation about this resource and the need for change in history education on Twitter using the hashtag #TeachRaceMigrationEmpire. Read an introductory blog post on Teaching British histories of race, migration and empire from the campaign's convenors, Hannah Elias and Sundeep Lidher.

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Teaching British Histories of Race, Migration and Empire

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This collection of links to resources on British histories of race, migration and empire is a collaboration with the Runnymede Trust as part of an effort to increase the presence of Black history, histories of colonialism and of migration in the UK history curricula.

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A guide for staff from autistic students.

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A project on microagressions by Rayya Ghul and Katie Nicol. The project contains four sources at the moment: Counteracting Racial Microaggressions; Counteracting microaggressions against students from working class; Counteracting Sexuality Based Microaggressions; Counteracting Trans and non-binary based microaggressions.

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The guidance will be of use to all staff involved in developing and assessing competence standards. 

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Understanding the Interaction of Competence Standards and Reasonable Adjustments

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Understanding the Interaction of Competence Standards and Reasonable Adjustments

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Understanding the interaction of competence standards and reasonable adjustments | Advance HE

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An archive of books, journals, diaries, letters and multimedia sources consisting of working class writing and notes from ordinary people. 

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Two researchers with disabilities describe an ‘ableist’ culture in academia.

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Science Diversified: Tackling An ‘Ableist’ Culture in Research

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Science Diversified: Tackling An ‘Ableist’ Culture in Research

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Hello, I'm David Payne, careers editor at Nature. And this is Working Scientist, a Nature Careers podcast. In this seven-part series, Science diversified, we're exploring how the scientific enterprise truly benefits when you have a team of researchers from a broad range of backgrounds, disciplines and skillsets. In this last episode, we focus on disability and science. We meet two scientists with first-hand experience of what they describe as an ableist culture in academia, a system designed for fully fit and healthy people but has little to account for those who fall outside those parameters. What can be done about it?
Naheda Sahtout: 00:44
So this is something I was born with. I'm been born with a visual impairment, and it hasn't been specifically diagnosed as to what it is. There's tests that have been done, have indicated whereabouts it might be. And I can't remember, like, whether it's the macula or the cornea or whatever it is, but it's something that lets my vision be quite low, so low enough for me to be considered legally blind in Canada.

There's no surgery that I could do to fix it. There's, there's no medication, there's no solution. As of now.

My name is Naheda. Last name Sahtout. And I'm currently working as a science analyst with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. I currently live in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Working on a computer is something that I've adapted too. I look close at the screen. So pretty much like, right in front of the screen, you'll find my face. If I need to enlarge text, I know how to do that. I do get tired if I'm on the screen for long periods of time. But I do think everyone has computer vision now as well because of that.

In terms of work that I've done in the lab, I'm usually quite good at doing most of the stuff, I just look very closely at things. If I'm working with pipetting or anything like that I'm just very close. So it's very difficult for me to work in biosafety cabinets, because most of the time your face is shielded by the door and you have your hands in there. And you can't really put things closer to you. Using a microscope is difficult, especially with the kind of work that I was doing during my PhD.

Looking at very tiny things, and then trying to, like, pick them up was not something I could do. And so I did have a friend help me with that. And a friend, a colleague. And my supervisor was fine with someone else doing that part of the work for me. In terms of like, classrooms, when we were in lectures and stuff, there was no way I could see the board. That was just something that I could not see. And that was okay for me 'cos I've developed good hearing, I guess, you know, your body compensates you for something by giving you something else and my hearing is quite good. So I was able to capture most of the stuff through hearing.

But most of the time in undergrad your classes are from a textbook. So it wasn't too bad to just study on my own and do that stuff on my own.

Learned to present very well. Because I can't see the computer screen that I'm looking at. Most of my presentations are very visual. And that just helps me narrate what I want to say.
Nicole Brown 04:05
Hello, my name is Nicole Brown. I'm a lecturer in education at the UCL Institute of Education. And I am editor of two books, Ableism in academia. And the second book is The lived experiences of ableism in academia. And it's specifically focusing on strategies for inclusion. So I first got interested in how universities treat people with disabilities and chronic illnesses as part of my doctoral research.

The focus of my doctoral research was the experience of academic identity under the influence of fibromyalgia. And I came to that topic because I myself have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia.

Fibromyalgia is quite a contested condition. It's an invisible condition, but it's associated with, right spread persistent pain, cognitive dysfunction, sleep disorders, psychological disorders. And as it happens, in the meantime, that diagnosis was revised. And it's no longer actually applicable. But basically what I was particularly interested in at the time was, how do people make sense of their academic identity, when they are expected to be functioning at all levels all of the time and be highly scholarly and highly cerebral in their work?

And perhaps sometimes, some conditions, but also some medication, make you a little bit loopy, and you suddenly can't concentrate as well. So how would you actually reconcile that effectiveness and productivity with a failing body?

And that was really the starting point. So that's when I started looking at what is it that we can physically and practically do?

What we're looking at when we're talking about ableism is just the understanding that we have got an expectation of what is the norm, and we are measuring everything against that norm.

And that is where ableism then comes in, because some people cannot hit that norm. So that is that kind of expectation, that is quite an ableist expectation, because only the people, under certain circumstances with able bodied, able minds will be able to meet that expectation.

In reality, there are many reasons why people can't meet those expectations. And obviously, chronic illnesses, disabilities and neuro-divergence is one of those issues, you know why people may not be able to do that. And we just have to think about, you know, something simple. And I'm not saying easy, I'm saying a simple thought process here. If somebody is diagnosed with the flu nobody would expect that person to do the 160 hours that they are expected to do under normal circumstances when they have got the flu. They can take time off to rest within that time. Somebody with chronic conditions has got that kind of flu experience all of the time. So suddenly, you're still expecting people to work 160 hours, but actually, their bodies don't allow them to do that. And that is how ableism is experienced, because people just feel they constantly have to push themselves to meet some criteria, they will never be able to meet
Naheda Sahtout: 07:40
As a PhD student, and then candidate, I actually never went to sign up for the disability services. And I think it's called Access and Equity Services. And the reason being is that I didn't, I don't know, there's always a stigma about you know, if you sign up with these, then you might be like, perceived as having inabilities.

And that was something that I was constantly worried about. I didn't even sign up for the government disability tax credit for the longest time because I always thought, you know, that that would prohibit me from getting a job or, you know, being even interviewed for jobs.

And I realize now that that's a stupid logic. But that was what was going on in my head. When I first started my PhD, I didn't want to register. And I wanted to keep it as much on the down low as possible, just so that I wouldn't be perceived as anybody different.

My supervisor, I did tell him at the very beginning, "You know what, I do have a visual impairment and I am going to be looking at things closer. So don't be surprised."

I was quite honest with that. And he didn't care. He's the kind of person that doesn't, you know, "As long as you do your work I don't really care if you need to sleep in the lab. I don't. Yeah."

So he was pretty cool about that. And, and when it came time for me to use a microscope, and I had lots of difficulties. And I had a really good colleague who assisted me through that. And when I went to my professor, and I'm like, "Can I pay my colleague to do this part of the work for me?" He's like, "Sure, it's your money. It's your project. You make it however you want to make it."

So I didn't feel I needed to register with access and equity services. I didn't feel I needed other people to know that I was, I guess, struggling in this aspect of my project. And since my colleague was willing to assist me, I managed to you know, get the research I needed to get so that I can get a PhD.
Nicole Brown 09:58
So in my mind, the biggest issue regarding ableism in academia is actually disclosure. And that is for several reasons, because we know that there are many people in academia who are brilliant scholars who do not feel comfortable to say, "I have got whatever condition/disability or neurodivergence it is."

Same is true for mental health issues, especially bipolar conditions. So you can't (or schizophrenia), those are kinds of conditions where it's even more difficult to say, "I have got schizophrenia" because of the stigma that's related to it. So the disclosure part is a real issue in academia.

There are consequences of people not disclosing. So first consequence is that other people who are coming after them don't really have a role model. So any student who's got schizophrenia will say to themselves, "Well, I can't be a scientist, because no scientist has got schizophrenia."

So you are missing that role model. That's one of the issues that we find within any kind of research that has been done on that topic.

And the next thing is, if people don't disclose, we can't really help them. So how shall we develop an environment of inclusiveness If we don't actually know who we need to include and what kind of help we need to get people so that we can develop that inclusivity? That's something that came out very clearly in the conversations with people. When you ask them about, you know, "Well, why don't you ask for this? Or that? or Why don't you say that you have got fibromyalgia, for example?".

And it was very obvious that, you know, many of them are saying, "Well, what's the point?" Or, you know, "How does it help me that people know, I've got fibromyalgia because it doesn't actually help me at all".

So that's when I realized that what people are physically doing, and they may not do it consciously, but they are literally weighing up. "Well, what do I get out of this by putting myself into that position of being vulnerable? And making people know that that I've got brain fog, that I don't function very well, all of the time? What do I get out of it?

Well, if the only benefit, if you like, the only consequence I'm getting out of it is to become stigmatized to become sidelined, then clearly it doesn't pay.
Naheda Sahtout: 12:30
Universities are moving towards this EDI. How do we make academia more equity, diversity inclusive. All of this, but the thing is, it's more, it's not about how do we make it. It's about how do we support the students who need it? And I think that's where we're lacking. I was fortunate. My family's supportive. When I grew up in Malaysia I did go to a private school and the teachers were able to, you know, focus on "How do we how do we make Naheda succeed in school?"

And that's the kind of thing that we need. We don't need to have policies, general policies around how do we make academia generally, you know, inclusive. But it's more about well, each student is different. How do we support each student to succeed?

And when I see a professor treat a student as if they're a danger in the lab, because they're looking at something closely, or because they have a visual impairment, they clearly don't know how to mix two chemicals together. That's a stigma that needs to be completely erased.

If we provide the supports for students, they will succeed, regardless of what ability they have, right?

But if we don't do that, or if we continue to have that stigma in our head that you know, "You're visually impaired, you're colourblind, you're whatever you shouldn't be succeeding. " Then that's where we fail as an institution I guess.
Nicole Brown 14:05
I'm often asked us to walk universities can physically do to actually improve the situation for anyone who's got disabilities, chronic illnesses, neuro divergences, and I do appreciate that there is no quick fix, and there will never be a quick fix. Also, there's never, we're never going to be able to fix all of the problems all of the time for all of the people because conflicting needs are a series issue.

So for example, if we're thinking about any kind of online Zoom course, for example, there are people who need to have cameras on so that they can lip read what other people are saying because they are hard of hearing, for example, and they will use the visual clues to help them through that conversation.

At the same time, people with neuro divergences or some specific conditions struggle with sensory overload so they will want to have all of the cameras off because any kind of camera is distracting, any moving image is actually causing them issues, problems, pain.

So as you can see here already, there is a conflicting need between having the cameras on and having them off at the same time. We can't physically do that. But that doesn't mean that we don't try. It means that we are realistic about what we need to do. And we need to basically try to be as accessible and inclusive as possible. So in terms of the architecture, having a ramp in the front of the building next to the staircase is a starting point.

Because why should it be that the person with the wheelchair has to use the elevator for, you know, like dustbin, that is usually being transported in that elevator? Or they have to use the back entrance? Or they have to go around the building to use the delivery slot? It's not fair, it's not it, you know. This is not something that's, that's fair on those people, because obviously, that's quite degrading as well. So we are treating those people differently. And at the moment, that's the problem.
Naheda Sahtout 16:10
For me, it's also about raising awareness and educating others, especially in terms of trying to remove the stigma around disabilities, having disabilities, and higher education.

We're sadly not, not to where we should be. We're, I think we're quite behind in this. Because when I see that there's still a stigma of someone in a wheelchair, or someone who's visually impaired, or someone who's hard of hearing and there's no supports in place to immediately provide, then I think we are still a long way to go in terms of that.

So you know, raising awareness, educating others about this. Advocacy is great, but I'm more of a believer of advocacy that leads to change, as opposed to just advocacy that just leads to words being said.
Nicole Brown: 17:14
I feel I have been entrusted with something and it needs to be taken further. I mean, there are so many stories that I have heard and people get in touch with me regularly telling me about how they feel excluded, discriminated, how they feel lonely, and isolated.

There are so many issues around the lived experience of being chronically ill, disabled, neurodivergent. So it's really important to kind of get that out. And I mean, yeah, that's why I have spent quite a lot of time on activist work as well because I can see what difference it is making. And I'm lucky that I'm at an institute where I've had the opportunity that tell people about my work, and not only have they listened, they have incorporated pretty much everything I've asked for.

So that is really exciting to see the changes that have happened at my own institution. And, you know, I can see that it works. So that's nice.

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Science diversified: Tackling an 'ableist' culture in research

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Hello, I'm David Payne, careers editor at Nature. And this is Working Scientist, a Nature Careers podcast. In this seven-part series, Science diversified, we're exploring how the scientific enterprise truly benefits when you have a team of researchers from a broad range of backgrounds, disciplines and skillsets.

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Collaboratively created guidance from the OpenTEL.

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Guidance: Designing Learning for Autistic and Neurodiverse Students

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Guidance: Designing Learning for Autistic and Neurodiverse Students

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Autism and neurodiversity
Autism and neurodiversity are labels used to describe people who have certain differences in the way in which they think and in the way they interact with society. Typically, people on the autism spectrum may be less aware of, bound by, aligned to or responsive to societal expectations or constraints. This different way of thinking can be an enormous strength, and some great thinkers and innovators are autistic. However, this can lead to challenges for autistic people, especially in settings like the workplace and education, where specific things are expected that might not align with an autistic person's skills or abilities.

This guide aims to help raise awareness of some of the differences autistic people may experience, and to help educators design learning, activities, tutorials and assessment that can help autistic students demonstrate their potential on a more level playing field. It was collaboratively created with autistic people (OU staff and students.)

Terminology
Language and terminology used to describe autism is highly debated, so we start with a note on the definitions and terminology chosen for this guidance.

Autism is a catch-all name for a spectrum of social and learning differences. Some resources refer to autism spectrum 'disabilities', 'disorders', 'developmental issues' or 'conditions', but these have been criticised for positioning autism as negative or something that needs to be fixed, using a 'deficit model' and positioning autistic people as 'not normal'. Studies have suggested that the terms 'autistic', 'autism' and 'the autism spectrum' are preferred by autistic people (e.g. Kenny et al, 2015), so we use these terms in this guidance. Additionally, whilst the diagnosis Asperger's Syndrome is no longer given you might find students using this term (Asperger's Syndrome is a type of autism.)

Neurodiversity is a wider term that relates to autism, AD(H)D and some other differences, and works to recognise and celebrate differences as normal, natural variations in human genomes. In this guidance we follow these principles.
There is a debate around inclusive language models, particularly whether 'person first' (i.e. 'person with autism') or 'identity-first' (i.e. 'autistic person') language is preferable. Studies suggest that identity-first language is preferred by most autistic people and their families, so in this guide we use we use identity first language throughout. Figure 1: diverse minds

Don't generalise
All autistic people are different. Societal generalisations about autism, such as that 'autistic people don't make eye contact', or 'autistic people are hyper-intelligent' are only true for certain people, often not the majority. These stereotypes can be distressing to the student, and can damage their chances of success in education, if a one-size-fits-all approach is taken. It is always best to ask the student about their needs, and then arrange for adjustments to suit the student. This guidance lays out some common adjustments and considerations, but these are by no means an exhaustive list.

Avoid figurative language
It is well documented that many people on the autism spectrum can struggle with figurative language, such as metaphors, similes and irony, and may interpret literally spoken or written language that has intended nonliteral meanings. This means, when you're teaching or writing, make sure your language is easy to understand and that there aren't any hidden or implied meanings, things that neurotypical students would understand, thus placing autistic students at a disadvantage. In your own communications be as explicit as possible. For example, if expecting students to complete a task, it is better to state what exact outcomes you require, e.g. rather than saying "Research X topic", say "Spend thirty minutes reading about X topic and write down some notes summarising your reading." Executive functioning can be difficult for many autistic people, so being clear about how long tasks should take is beneficial.

Design for anxiety
Autistic people may get anxious or upset about unfamiliar situations and social events. They request detailed information well in advance so they can visualise the situation (be it a tutorial, event or course) and plan it in advance, or may prefer to avoid them altogether. Educators should aim to provide this information as far as possible, and should be understanding if an autistic student chooses not to participate. Give as much information as possible to reduce anxiety. For example, at the start of a tutorial state when breaks will be, when questions should be asked and what tasks are going to be undertaken during the session.

'Stimming' can be a useful coping mechanism for autistic students, particularly when they are anxious or feeling under pressure. Stimming is a repetitive action that can calm or sooth; whilst many non-autistic people will stim by fiddling with pens or their hair, autistic people may exhibit more unusual actions, with common stims including flapping hands, rocking, rubbing a leg or arm, spinning, or repeating specific words or phrases. Stimming is extremely normal, and educators in a classroom environment should ensure that autistic students feel comfortable if they do need to stim, and that other students don't feel threatened or concerned if one of their peers stims. Specifically, you should not try to stop or distract a person from stimming as this will usually increase their anxiety.

Educators should also try to design learning so it doesn't provoke unnecessary anxiety. Activities such as ice breakers are particularly likely to be anxiety-inducing and should be designed so that they don't put students on the spot, or necessitate eye contact, verbal contribution or proximity to other students. Assessments can also provoke anxiety; educators should endeavour to make assessments as inclusive as possible, and work to support students in the run up to summative assessments with adjustments such as practice sessions or exemplars (please note, this does not give autistic students an unfair advantage, it merely levels the playing field.)

Inclusive collaborative work
Collaborative work can be challenging for many students. Students with and without disabilities have reported feeling anxious about working with others, unsure about how roles and workloads are to be allocated, frustrated when others don't work in the way they need or expect, and unhappy about how this affects their final grade. Autistic students can be particularly affected by this, and they have the right (under the Equality Act 2010) to request adjustments to the way they are required to engage in groupwork, including an alternative activity if necessary.

If group or paired work will be part of a session, keeping working partners the same throughout, or offering an individual activity as an alternative, may help. Be explicit up front about how this will work and don't insist that the groupings are constantly changed between activities.

As educators, there are two areas we can support students: firstly, by designing groupwork to be as inclusive as possible so it is less likely to be an issue for students, and secondly, by being flexible and making adjustments to groupwork activities if they are required. McPherson et al have detailed guidance on designing and delivering inclusive groupwork, available on the IncSTEM project website.

Adjustments to reflective activities
We know autistic people have different ways of thinking and experiencing the world. Studies have suggested that some autistic people think more visually than verbally, thinking more 'in pictures' than using an 'inner voice', whilst others may have a reduced ability to visualise. Verbal processing may be delayed, with more time and energy needed to process verbal information, so allow them space to do this. Diversity in thinking is clearly a strength and something to be celebrated, but tasks and activities involving written or oral reflection can be challenging for autistic students who have less experience using an 'inner voice', and we often receive requests for adjustments for reflective activities.

When making an adjustment to a reflective activity, it's best to speak to the student and find out what would be most suitable for them. A typical alternative is asking students to produce a factual account rather than a reflective account and then asking the student certain questions to guide them to reflect on it. This can result in a strong reflective account, and can help the student gain valuable skills. Another option is to ask for a visual representation of the reflective account, such as a mind map, timeline, or other form of representation. It is important to consider that the student may have had negative experiences in the past, and terms like 'reflection' can provoke extreme anxiety or stress, so understanding, empathy and kindness will go a long way.

When designing a reflective activity or assessment, consider the language you use and try to build in flexibility. Terms like 'reflection' can be very loaded and distressing for students, so it's good to define clearly what they mean in your particular context. Also, try not to mandate a written account if an oral or visual account would also meet the learning outcomes.

Avoid overstimulation
Autistic people can find bright lights, strong odours, garish colours or loud, repetitive or continuous noises stressful or uncomfortable. At times this can become overwhelming, and the person may need to stim or remove themselves from the environment. Knowing how and when it's ok to leave a group can be stressful, so ensure they are able to do this with a minimum of disruption.

Educators should try to avoid these kinds of sensory antagonisms. In designing course materials, try to adopt soothing colour combinations and avoid too many bright, clashing or garish colours. Some studies suggest yellow is a particularly problematic colour, but further research is needed. Similarly, when creating podcasts or multimedia learning resources, try to avoid loud or relentless noises, and when arranging a physical learning environment (such as a classroom) try to consider lighting and décor as well as giving the student opportunity to choose their own seating to reduce stimuli.

Support behaviour decoding
Autistic people may communicate and interact with people in ways that are different from what society categories as normal or socially acceptable. This can lead to frustrations, misunderstandings, and can mean autistic people feel anxious about social interaction. As part of this, autistic people can sometimes (although not always) find it hard to intuit how other people are thinking or feeling, and may have learned to decode behaviour and facial expressions to compensate for this. Educators should be aware of this, and if an autistic student requests things that would help (having the video function on during Skype calls, for example) they should do their best to support them.

Avoid timed information assimilation activities
Autistic students (and students with a variety of additional needs or disabilities) may take a different length of time to understand or assimilate information; they may be faster or slower than neurotypical students, depending on the student or the type of information. As part of creating an inclusive learning environment, educators should be aware of this and should not expect information to be assimilated in a timed context.

Clothing and presentation
Autistic students may find a particular outfit, style or colour makes them feel more comfortable, so educators should avoid making judgements or avoid drawing attention to the student if they often wear the same clothes, or if they wear something different from the usual style expected of students. This may also be linked to sensory overstimulation, and some students may find formal clothes excessively uncomfortable.
Autistic people can sometimes present in their communication style differently - i.e. using repetitive phrases, overly formal language or pauses, and should be given time to respond and not made to feel awkward or different. Also, if they are studying something of particular interest to them, they may appear to become obsessive about a particular topic and want to discuss it at length. This can be difficult for tutors and in the tutorial environment.

Additionally, studies have suggested that a higher number of autistic people may be gender-fluid, transgender or non-binary (enby), when compared to the neurotypical population. Therefore, as part of a wider commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, educators should work to ensure that their learning environments are safe spaces for students to present in different gender identities, and that other students are similarly understanding and welcoming.

Masking and mental health
Many autistic people learn to hide or 'mask' their challenges, and this means that they may be struggling in ways that are not apparent to others. Don't judge their need for support, or assume everything about your learning environment is fine with them, based on your own observations. Autism is about the student's experience of the world, not how the world experiences the student.

Masking can consume a vast amount of energy and over time this can be detrimental to their mental health. For this reason, they may need to chunk learning down into smaller pieces and take regular breaks; 'intensive' programmes may not be suitable. On the other hand, an obsessive special interest may need to be indulged intensively, with time to rest and recuperate afterwards. Check in regularly with the student in a way that doesn't make them feel singled out. Ensure that all students are aware of any sources of pastoral support for their mental health.

Feedback on this guide
This guide was collaboratively created with a range of OU staff and students; people with lived experience of autism and of supporting autistic people in learning, and people with research expertise in autism in higher education contexts. We recognise that there are many other perspectives to explore, so if you would like to give feedback or add additional information to this guide, please contact kate.lister@open.ac.uk.
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Guidance: Designing Learning for Autistic and Neurodiverse Students | OpenTEL

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Autism and neurodiversity
Autism and neurodiversity are labels used to describe people who have certain differences in the way in which they think and in the way they interact with society. Typically, people on the autism spectrum may be less aware of, bound by, aligned to or responsive to societal…

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British Veterinary Ethnicity and Diversity Society

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British Veterinary Ethnicity and Diversity Society

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British Veterinary Ethnicity and Diversity Society

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We are proud to be finalists for the National Diversity Awards 2020 in the Community Organisation Award for Race, Faith and Religion .

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A blog entry on supporting students with invisible disabilities.

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Natascha Chtena is a Ph.D. student in Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. You can follow her on Twitter @nataschachtena.
A while ago, a struggling student (let's call her Jane) walked into my office to discuss her performance in my German class. Jane was a shy student who rarely participated in class discussion, and her performance on the quizzes and midterm was below average. As I usually do with underachieving students, I asked Jane some questions about her goals, program and current commitments.

We were talking about her study habits, when Jane brought up dyslexia. She only mentioned it offhandedly, and wasn't making excuses or apologies. I was surprised to hear about it, to say the least, as neither she nor the school's disability counselor had gotten in touch with me to inform me of her condition and to request accommodations. When I asked her whether she was registered with our school's disability office, she said that indeed she was. When I further asked her why she hadn't asked for special accommodation, she said that she "didn't want to be a problem," and went on to give me examples of faculty who had questioned her sincerity or refused to take her seriously when asking for an accommodation.

Her feeling was, Jane said, that "many professors are more willing to accommodate students with 'tangible' disabilities," such as those who are blind, deaf or use a wheelchair. Students with invisible conditions like learning disabilities, clinical depression or ADHD were often "put on the pile of 'boutique disabilities,'" i.e. outright dismissed or begrudgingly accommodated.

There may be several students in your classroom like Jane. Like Jane, some of them will not share their condition with you or request special accommodation, either because of previous negative experiences or because they fear being seen as "lesser" or stigmatized as "pathological." Some may be unaware that they have a disability in the first place or may be unaware that their condition qualifies as a disability. Most people I know don't think of chronic illness, brain injury, neurological disorders, mental illness, or oxygen impairment as a "disability."

The fact that invisible disabilities are in fact "invisible" poses a challenge for us TAs. If a student doesn't reach out to us, an entire semester can go by without us noticing or providing the tools that student needs to succeed. So in a way, we are failing the students who need us most, even without intending or realizing it.

For those who aren't familiar with the term, " invisible disabilities" aren't obscure, rare or merely currently "en vogue." In fact, they are the most common type of disability among college students. Since students whose disabilities are invisible far outweigh those with visible ones, if our goal is to create a truly inclusive classroom, we must do a better job of understanding 1) who those students are, 2) what obstacles they face and, ultimately, 3) how we can support them to achieve their full potential.

Here are a few steps you can take to create a safe and welcoming environment for students with invisible disabilities:

1. Educate yourself. If you've never heard of the term "invisible disabilities" or are only marginally familiar with it, do some background reading to get an idea of what constitutes an invisible disability and what living with such a condition may look like. You may also want to contact your school's disability office to inquire about campus resources for students with invisible disabilities, and potential training opportunities for instructors working with them. It's also a good idea to talk to a disability counselor about the legally correct and ethically appropriate ways to work with such a student. If you're thinking about going one step further, I recommend looking at research done by the Society for Disability Studies, which examines disability as a category of identity rather than purely as a medical construct.

2. Let them know you are invested in their success and committed to supporting them. Dedicate a few minutes on the first day of class to addressing students with disabilities (visible and invisible), and let them know that you are there to accommodate them to your fullest ability. Don't just read the standard disability statement you copy and pasted on your syllabus, but use the knowledge from your research (see point 1) to ensure that they are feeling seen and welcomed. If you too have an invisible disability, consider coming-out to them. In my own experience I have found that students who feel accepted and/or understood are far more willing to request appropriate accommodations and to engage fully in classes compared to when they feel overlooked.

3. Be discreet, but don't be afraid to ask questions. Many students feel embarrassed or uncomfortable about their disabilities and avoid talking about them. Students with invisible disabilities sometimes even more so, because the severity of their condition and/or their sincerity is often questioned. Some students may choose not to disclose the exact nature of their disability and/or may have their disability counselor contact you requesting an accommodation instead of doing it directly. While I do believe that student privacy is important, I also think it's useful to know the nature of their disability and how it interferes with their work. Often these students need more support than a laptop or extra time on a test and that's something disability offices usually don't encourage. The only way we can provide that support is through direct and honest conversation with students. I wouldn't encourage pushing students to disclose information they don't feel comfortable sharing, but I would suggest explaining to them that a better understanding of their disability can help you improve their learning experience and, possibly, their performance.

4. Believe them. Sometimes we have our own ideas about how a person with disability should look like or what they should be able to accomplish for their condition to be "real" or "significant." Don't make judgment about what a student may be able to do based on how they look and don't add to their stress by questioning their accommodation request. Appearances can be highly deceptive, especially among people with invisible disabilities. For some of them just staying upright can be a fight all day, everyday.

5. Ask for their input. Part of offering an inclusive learning experience is meeting the needs of the individual learner, and there is no one who understands a condition and the challenges it poses better than the person affected directly by it. Without wanting to underestimate the value or significance of disability offices, I have found that they tend to have a rather specific idea of what constitutes an accommodation, which often isn't enough or appropriate for a given student. Ask students which aspects of your course are working for them and which aren't, and ask for recommendations on how you can better meet their learning needs. Their feedback will likely be eye-opening and make you reconsider the way you conduct lessons and deliver content.

There has been so much talk about campus diversity recently, but, so far, students with disabilities have been largely left out of that conversation. Invisible disabilities, meanwhile, are completely overlooked, much to the detriment of many students. I believe as instructors we have the responsibility of bringing these students out of the shadows, supporting them and even advocating for them, at least until they feel comfortable enough to advocate for themselves.
Additional Resources
Here at GradHacker we've thought and written a lot about disability over time, both from a student and educator perspective. If you're looking for additional resources on how to make your classroom more accessible for students will all types of disabilities, check out Liz's post on inclusive instruction.

If you're interested in reading more on the topic of invisible disability specifically, you can check out Brianne's post on navigating grad school with learning disabilities and ADHD Leslie's post on navigating chronic illness.
Are invisible disabilities discussed at your school? What can we do as educators to support students with such conditions? [Image by Flickr user ramos alejandro and used under Creative Commons.]

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Natascha Chtena is a Ph.D. student in Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. You can follow her on Twitter @nataschachtena. A while ago, a struggling student (let's call her Jane) walked into my office to discuss her performance in my German class.

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A short course on SurreyLearn introduces you to key themes of race equity. You will need to have a University of Surrey login to access this course.

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Ethnicity and the Postgraduate Student Experience Report

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Ethnicity and the Postgraduate Student Experience Report

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This new report investigates the data gathered by the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) and the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) in 2019, in order to understand how the postgraduate experience differs for students of different ethnic backgrounds, to develop the somewhat scarce body of evidence in this area.

While there is a large amount of evidence demonstrating that undergraduate academic experiences and outcomes for students from Black, Asian and Minority (BAME) ethnicity groups are significantly worse than those of white undergraduates there is considerably less evidence examining whether and how experiences differ among postgraduate students of different ethnic backgrounds.

Rather than looking only at the difference between White and BAME students' satisfaction, I wanted to dig deeper to understand the differences in satisfaction among students of more specific ethnic backgrounds and what might be driving these differences, to help institutions understand which particular groups might be having a less than optimal postgraduate student experience. I've also taken a look into students' motivations to study at postgraduate level, and whether they have considered leaving their course.
Considering other personal characteristics
As well as looking at the differences in overall satisfaction among students from different ethnicity groups, the PRES and PTES datasets enabled me to also consider ethnicity alongside other personal characteristics, such as age and whether the students were studying on a full or part time basis.

What strikes me in particular when examining students' age alongside their ethnicity is that when considered all together, students from Black backgrounds reported relatively high levels of overall satisfaction due to the majority of Black students being aged 31 and above; but this consideration at the overall level masks the finding that younger Black students were actually some of the least satisfied PGR students.

While I have identified several cohorts of students whose satisfaction is lower than other, based on their ethnicity and other personal characteristics, a key take-out for me is that several of these groups have common areas of concern. Both younger black PGTs and PGTs studing on a face-to-face basis of Other ethnicity have concerns about assessment, for example. Guidance and support and help with future career planning are also areas of the student experience connected with lower satisfaction among more than one group. Suggested improvements in these areas may therefore help a range of students.
Defined by diversity
A particular challenge I encountered while conducting this analysis is that each of the groups (White, Black, Asian, Chinese, Mixed and Other) considered in this report are comprised of a range of different sub-groups, each of which may face particular issues. In particular, the Mixed and Other ethnicity groups are quite challenging to analyse as they are defined by diversity.

My report finds that at both PGT and PGR level, students of Other ethnicity are among the least satisfied groups overall. While there may appear to be a contradiction in examining a group of students who don't fall into any of the other categories, I wanted to ensure that these students' concerns were voiced in my report.

While I appreciate that it may be difficult for institutions to identify exactly which students who are members of this Other ethnicity category are most in need of support, my suggestions and recommendations are broad and should benefit all students, including and especially those who raised the issues they are intended to combat. I hope that bringing in other personal characteristics, as well as ethnic background, will help institutions identify those whose experience is most in need of improvement.
Measures for improvement
Analysing postgraduate students' experiences alongside their ethnicity and other personal characteristics not only enables us to identify cohorts who are less satisfied than others and specific areas of the student experience which may be contributing to that dissatisfaction. The report also highlights measures institutions can take to improve these students' experiences, many of which are suggested by the students themselves through the opportunity to leave open text comments.
The full report, Ethnicity and the Postgraduate Experience, is available for Advance HE members. Find out more about our student surveys.

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Ethnicity and the Postgraduate Student Experience Report

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This new report investigates the data gathered by the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) and the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) in 2019, in order to understand how the postgraduate experience differs for students of different ethnic backgrounds, to develop the somewhat scarce body of evidence in this area.

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The 2017 report provides a qualitative snapshot of the challenges faced by BME postgraduate research students (PGR). 

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Exploring Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Doctoral Students’ Perceptions of An Academic Career 

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Exploring Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Doctoral Students’ Perceptions of An Academic Career 

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Written by a group of authors at Astrobites , a team with multiple members. Centred on astronomy but most things apply to all fields.

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#BlackInAstro: How Can We Support Black Astronomers?

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#BlackInAstro: How Can We Support Black Astronomers?

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A Spanish translation of this post can be found here at Astrobitos.
Una traducción al español de este artículo está aquí en Astrobitos.
This week, the U.S. is rising in protest in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police Department. The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and Ahmaud Arbery are the most recent in a long history of extrajudicial murders of Black people in the U.S. We at Astrobites stand in solidarity with the protestors, and against the systemic anti-Blackness that continues to enact violence on Black people in this country. We recognize that these same systems pervade academia and our field, and contribute to the inequities present in astronomy.

Why are we discussing these issues on an astronomy website? First, our scientific research is stronger when it comes from a community grounded in respect and diversity. But most importantly, we believe that the people in our community should be prioritized over our science. In order to do so, astronomy must be explicitly anti-racist and actively work to support Black students and researchers.

As authors for a publication widely read by astronomers and students, we at Astrobites have a responsibility to address issues of inequity. We acknowledge that we can be and should be doing more to amplify Black voices and build a better community for our Black colleagues. As one effort, we are starting a new series called #BlackInAstro, aimed to highlight the work of Black astronomers and the ways in which racism affects their experiences.

In this first post, we'll share things that astronomers (particularly non-Black astronomers) can do, both during this time and to address racism and anti-Blackness in the long term in our field. We've also put together a list of suggested resources-compilations, readings, and podcasts-for folks working towards becoming more anti-racist.

What can astronomers do?

We have compiled some ways that astronomers-particularly non-Black astronomers-can support Black folks in the field, both immediately in response to events like this week's and in the longer term. Some of these are specific to our positions in academia, while many are general things that everyone can do, and that Black folks have been asking everyone to do for a long time. Whether you are an undergraduate, a graduate student, a post-doc, or a professor, you can help make the field of astronomy more anti-racist!

1. Listen to Black people and amplify their voices. Work to understand what Black people are telling you, and work to listen without getting defensive. This can be difficult, particularly because as astronomers we're often trained to defend our scientific results-but it's important to listen, and to reflect on and learn from our mistakes.

2. Check in with Black colleagues, friends, and students. This is a time of immense grief, pain and trauma for Black folks. Check in with the Black folks in your professional and personal circles; share your support and offer to do anything you can.

3. Talk to non-Black people about what's happening. The burden to address issues of racism and anti-Blackness often falls on Black folks, which is labor-intensive and can be traumatic. Non-Black people have a responsibility to start these conversations.

4. Advocate and don't gatekeep. Direct effort into advocating for Black students and folks in the field, both by supporting institutional efforts to improve equity and by stepping up for individual Black colleagues. On the flip side, do not engage in gatekeeping behaviors that make the field more exclusionary, such as those that continue to occur in introductory STEM courses and graduate admissions.

5. Educate ourselves. Don't expect Black people to do the additional work of educating everyone else. Take time to read about the history of the oppression of Black people and the ways anti-Blackness manifests today. Focus on writings by Black folks. In an academic setting, one way to do this is to start an equity-focused journal club. If this is newer to you, this glossary is a good place to start. A list of further suggested reading is at the bottom of this post.

6. Support #BlackInSTEM efforts. Signal-boost Black students and researchers in STEM and share their work. This is critical both for supporting these individuals and for showing others that Black folks can succeed in the field; representation matters. For one great list of Black junior astronomers, check out this Twitter list compiled by Ashley Walker.

7. Speak up and push leadership to speak up. We should expect leaders in our spaces-department chairs, PIs, project/telescope/survey directors-to speak up and express support for Black folks under their leadership. Silence plays into the myth that our workplaces and identities can be separated.

8. Don't expect productivity. During this time, all of us should be focusing our energy on supporting Black colleagues and anti-racism efforts. Black folks especially are processing, grieving, and fighting. Expecting academic productivity in these times of crisis ignores the experiences and needs of Black people.

9. Don't take up space. During times of crisis for Black folks, focusing on unrelated issues can seem minimizing. This is especially true for academic-related matters which Black folks may not have time and energy for right now.

10. Donate. Many of us are in the privileged position of still receiving paychecks during this pandemic. Donate to Black justice organizations and to organizations that promote Black folks in STEM. Here are some suggestions:

As a reminder, many of these suggestions aren't just action items for the immediate crisis! We must continually work to support Black peers and colleagues.

Suggested reading lists

Note: consider buying from Black-owned bookstores! Here is a list of some in the US.

Comprehensive guides to anti-racist reading (and watching)

Some suggested reading on race and anti-racism in the US and UK

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
Ibram X. Kendi
Award winning history of how racist ideas were created, spread and rooted in American society. A staple of US anti-racism literature.

How To Be an Antiracist
Ibram X. Kendi
Award winning guide through antiracist ideas, and how to work to oppose them in society and ourselves.

Books on race in academia and STEM

Superior: The Return of Race Science
Angela Saini
An in-depth, cross-disciplinary look at the presence of race science in modern society, while thoroughly debunking it.
(Note that in some regions of the world, Amazon is offering free versions of this book for a limited time.)

Podcasts

Cite Black Women Collective Podcast
https://www.citeblackwomencollective.org/our-podcast.html
This bi-weekly podcast features reflections and conversations about the politics and praxis of acknowledging and centering Black women's ideas and intellectual contributions inside and outside of the academy through citation.

The Nod
https://gimletmedia.com/shows/the-nod
The Nod uplifts Black experiences in the U.S. and abroad. For example, in episodes over the last couple years, hosts Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings have told stories about everything from Josephine Baker's "rainbow tribe" to an oral history of the song "Knuck If You Buck." Where else have you heard or read those stories? Probably nowhere.

The Stoop
http://www.thestoop.org/
Similar to The Nod, The Stoop highlights Blackness by digging deeper into stories that we don't hear enough about. Hosts Leila Day and Hana Baba discuss what it means to be Black and how we talk about our Black experiences through conversations between the two, as well as experts and Black people across the diaspora. A recent episode examined the word "hotep," its meaning, and how its use has changed over the years.

Code Switch (on NPR)
https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch
Code-switching is the practice of shifting between languages or forms of expression in different contexts. Hosted by journalists of color, Code Switch explores race and how it impacts every part of society. The most recent episode, "A Decade of Watching Black People Die," is particularly relevant right now.

Credit for the Milky Way picture in the background of the featured image: ESO/B. Tafreshi (twanight.org)

Disclaimer: This article was written by a group of Astrobites authors. It is not intended to be representative of the views of the AAS (which supports Astrobites) or all astronomers. AAS has posted their own statement regarding current events, which you can find here.

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#BlackInAstro: How Can We Support Black Astronomers?

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A Spanish translation of this post can be found here at Astrobitos. Una traducción al español de este artículo está aquí en Astrobitos. This week, the U.S. is rising in protest in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police Department.

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Information on a range of schemes promoting racial diversity in the legal profession.

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Founded by Dr Ann Limb in 1998, the organisation was set up following Baroness Kennedy QC's Learning Works report which identified a significant number of adults who lacked formal qualifications.

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Founded by Dr Ann Limb in 1998, the organisation was set up following Baroness Kennedy QC's Learning Works report which identified a significant number of adults who lacked formal qualifications.

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A stimulus paper by a leading BAME academic in this area, Dr Kalwant Bhopal.

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The Experience of BME Academics in Higher Education: Aspirations in the Face of Inequality

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The Experience of BME Academics in Higher Education: Aspirations in the Face of Inequality

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A pioneering initiative that aims to prepare the next generation of Black academics.

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Our Vision Leading Routes is a pioneering initiative that aims to prepare the next generation...

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Miah Bailey discusses the common microaggressions that black people experience in UK workplaces and the role that education can play in responding to the BLM.

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Why I Am Talking to White People about Race

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Why I Am Talking to White People about Race

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Racial Equality in Higher Education: Is It Really One Step Forward?

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Racial Equality in Higher Education: Is It Really One Step Forward?

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Bhavik Patel analyses resistance to the adoption of the Race Equality Charter in universities, identifying both barriers and incentives to change.

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A paper by Isabelle Régner et al. about biases in hiring committees and how to try and compensate them.

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Committees with Implicit Biases Promote Fewer Women when They Do Not Believe Gender Bias Exists

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Committees with Implicit Biases Promote Fewer Women when They Do Not Believe Gender Bias Exists

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A paper that identifies important steps that can be taken to make the academic environment welcoming for transgender and gender diverse students and staff.

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Moving Academia beyond the Gender Binary

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Moving Academia beyond the Gender Binary

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A summary by Giovanni Mirouh (not vetted by the speaker) of the seminar given by Tamsin Hinton-Smith’s seminar at the University of Surrey.

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This article explores some of these issues in the context of higher education institutions in the United Kingdom. 

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Ableism in Academia: Where Are the Disabled and Ill Academics?

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Ableism in Academia: Where Are the Disabled and Ill Academics?

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Abstract
Recent coverage in higher education newspapers and social media platforms implies that chronic conditions, illnesses and disabilities are becoming more prominent amongst academics. Changes to funding structures, increased globalisation, marketisation and bureaucratisation of higher education have resulted in a performance-driven working environment where teaching workload and pressures to publish are further intensified due to excellence exercises in teaching and research. The result is low morale and an ever-rising number of reported mental health issues, burnout and stress-related illnesses within academia. This article explores some of these issues in the context of higher education institutions in the United Kingdom. We draw on our research and our experiences as speakers regarding ableism in academia to provide food for thought, stimulate a debate and raise awareness of those academics experiencing chronic illness, disability or neurodiversity, whose voices are not heard.

Disabled academics and students

The proportion of staff in universities declaring health conditions or impairments rose from 2.2% in 2003/04 to 3.9% in 2012/13 (HESA ). However, 16% of working-age adults (GOV ) and nearly 13% of undergraduates (HESA ) have a known disability. Considering these statistics, there is a stark under-representation of disabilities, chronic conditions, invisible illnesses and neurodiversity amongst academic staff.

However, at the same time there is increased coverage and interest about disability issues in academia. This may be linked to more awareness and acceptance of disabilities and chronic illnesses, as specific illness experiences are becoming more openly discussed, resulting in increased numbers of 'disclosures'. However, the vast majority of publications relate to students, and making adjustments for students. Naturally, the matter of declaring hidden and invisible disabilities and illnesses is a primary concern. Yet statistics show that disclosure rates are higher amongst students than staff; and so, our question: 'Where are the disabled and ill academics?'

Illnesses, neurodiversity and disabilities in academia

Depending on one's ontological and epistemological view, disability is either considered as the experience resulting from a biological or medical focus on the personal, or as the experience of social oppression and environmental barriers. Within the binary of the medical versus the social model of disability, impairment or chronic illness focus on the biological and functional, whereas disability reflects the social and environmental response to the biological and functional. We are concerned with a further complication within this existing binary: the role of chronic illness in relation to disability (Oliver ). According to the social model of disability, a disability is socially constructed and is interpreted on a social, environmental level. However, this social, environmental experience may well follow from a physical, biological and functional cause of disease or chronic illness. Therefore, illness and disability should not be entirely separated, as 'pain, fatigue, depression and chronic illness are constant facts for many of us' (Crow , 58).

Whilst disabilities, illnesses and neurodiversity are treated differently, with regard to our concern in relation to where those academics are, they can and should be conflated. After all, they are all commonly considered as deviants and divergences from norms. Today's society is particularly focused on standards, norms, league tables, achievements and productivity. As a result, ableism is internalised, normalised and ingrained to such an extent that being 'normal or non-disabled' is no longer sufficient. Indeed, transhumanist hyper-normative enhancement is becoming a new normal (Goodley , 25).

'Disclosure' in academia

Disclosure is understood in connection with 'disclosing' something that people are ashamed of, keep secret and then feel obliged to open up about. If we reject ableism, then we should be comfortable with illness or disability, and so should not feel the need to 'disclose'. Academia, however, prides itself for research activity, teaching excellence, knowledge exchanges and transfers. In this working environment, overwork is normalised. Scholarly contributions and institutional citizenship are so prized that holidays and sick leave are minimised, if not avoided. Therefore, people feel they cannot be honest about their issues or health concerns and keep them secret.

Declaring a disability, chronic illness or neurodiversity is not only a matter of succumbing to social oppression and control. Ticking the 'I am disabled' box is a statement and commitment. By underwriting a disability, the academic has to be confident and comfortable with identifying as a disabled person. Illness and disability trajectories are often experienced as journeys of acceptance, particularly if these illnesses or disabilities occur later in life or appear suddenly. To be confident enough to tick the 'I am disabled' box means that this person would have accepted his/her dysfunction, disability or illness. This might mean learning to accept chronic illness, neurodiversity or disability as a normal experience of life or even as an asset, an outlook on disability that is at odds with internalised ableism. In addition to this very personal interpretation and understanding of disability, a public disclosure brings further risks. Academics, specifically early-career academics, worry about the consequences of being identified as someone dealing with health issues and conditions. In an environment where temporary, as-and-when contracts are more prevalent than permanent, tenured positions, employees are concerned about job insecurity. Individuals fear that by admitting to health conditions or disabilities they may be worsening their chances for employment.

Whether or not academics choose to disclose their disabilities and illnesses is, in practice, a risk-benefit analysis of consequences associated with the specific concern or issue. In order to access support, workplace adjustments, potential financial benefits and allowances, academics do need to disclose their conditions. However, disclosing could potentially mean being categorised as a non-deviant within the normed and normalised society, which in turn leads to being stigmatised (Goffman ). Within academia it is this stigmatisation that causes particular concerns. Invisible, less known or contested conditions are dismissed as a fabrication, malingering and an act of a fundamentally lazy or overwhelmed worker seeking validation. Considering such strong views, the act of disclosing automatically links the personal and private to the public.

The decision about whether to disclose or to hide a condition is therefore an act of self-preservation, information control and impression management (Goffman , ), and thus identity work. So how is academic identity impacted if an academic makes adjustments to work-life arrangements, has to limit work to a part-time position or has to work differently due to illness or disability?

Disability, illness and academic identity

In our research projects about academic identity, we ask academics to reflect on the impact that chronic and temporary illnesses or disabilities may have. These research projects are reported elsewhere (Brown , ; Brown and Leigh forthcoming; Leigh forthcoming a, forthcoming b), but suffice it to say that 'the emotional ties to academic labour are binding' (Chubb, Watermeyer, and Wakeling , 556). Academics with disabilities or illnesses work hard to hold onto their academic work and identity whilst compromising other aspects of their life. In contrast, non-academic individuals with similar health challenges reported that work was the first thing they dropped to maintain their personal lives and relationships.

Academics with health conditions are concerned that they are not taken seriously or seen as academics in their own right, and that their achievements and publications are considered through the lens of their disability status. Although this can in turn lead to successful careers within critical disability studies, this may not be their disciplinary passion or desired career focus. They may be expected to trade off their identity. They fear that they are suddenly no longer seen as academics or persons, but as their disability or health condition. In this sense, academics themselves are the physical manifestation of internalised ableism within academia.

Ableism in academia

Moving in the circles of ableism studies and disability research, we have witnessed the increased calls for making conferences and/or studies more accessible and equitable. We have witnessed how a support group for disabled women in academia gained more than 60 members in less than 24 hours. We have witnessed how an event about ableism in academia attracted so much attention that four separate institutions provided funding, and that all 80 tickets were allocated with more than 70 people on a waiting list. Ableism in academia is endemic and so the concern for equality and equitability is on the increase. But there still remains our question: where are all the academics with disabilities, chronic illnesses or neurodiversity? Particularly, given the comparatively high number of student disclosures, according to which 11.5% of postgraduate research students have a known disability (HESA )?

Of course, not every student who graduates seeks a career within academia, but there is a pipeline. So what happens to those that have disclosed their conditions and issues as students once they have graduated? Do they experience academia as an ableist community and so simply leave the academy? If not, when and why do those with disabilities and illnesses stop disclosing? How do they reconcile their past as disabled or ill students with their performed present as able-bodied and able-minded academics? What about those who develop illnesses or acquire disabilities whilst in post? Where does this leave the academy and what can be done?

A societal shift in relation to our understanding of disabilities is needed. Rather than focusing on disabilities and illnesses, it is time to consider how ingrained the normalisations are in society that we all aspire to. Being human in this ableist community or society is not merely being, but being perfect and meeting specific criteria, 'a particular kind of self and body (the corporeal standard)' (Campbell , 5). Becoming more consciously aware of how we measure and compare our bodies and selves to such standards is a first step, but also important is raising awareness through conferences and articles. In the long term, academics need to be seen not as the privileged elite sitting in the ivory tower of scholarship, but as individuals who, when it comes to navigating workplaces, may also be marginalised and whose voices may remain equally unheard. We trust this article will contribute to changing that situation, so that their voices can be heard more loudly in the future.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

References

2018. "Video-Conference Interviews: Ethical and Methodological Concerns in the Context of Health Research." SAGE Research Methods Cases. doi:10.4135/9781526441812.

, and . forthcoming. Creativity and Playfulness in Higher Education Research. Theory and Method in Higher Education Research.

2009. Contours of Ableism: The Production of Disability and Abledness. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan UK.10.1057/9780230245181

, R. Watermeyer, and . 2017. "Fear and Loathing in the Academy? The Role of Emotion in Response to an Impact Agenda in the UK and Australia." Higher Education Research and Development 36 (3): 556-568.

1990a. Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. London: Penguin Books.

GOV. 2014. Accessed. . https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disability-facts-and-figures/disability-facts-and-figures

HESA. 2017. Accessed . https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis

forthcoming b. Embodied Practice an Embodied Academic Identity. In Conversations on Embodiment: Teaching, Research, and Practice, edited by . Abingdon: Routledge.

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Ableism in academia: where are the disabled and ill academics?

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Abstract Recent coverage in higher education newspapers and social media platforms implies that chronic conditions, illnesses and disabilities are becoming more prominent amongst academics. Changes to funding structures, increased globalisation, marketisation and bureaucratisation of higher education have resulted in a performance-driven working environment where teaching workload and pressures to publish are further intensified due to excellence exercises in teaching and research.

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Extraordinary demand for a conference on how universities support staff with invisible disabilities highlights how ableism remains widespread in academia.

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Academia Needs to Talk about ‘Invisible’ Disabilities

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Academia Needs to Talk about ‘Invisible’ Disabilities

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This week, Times Higher Education is publishing a series of stories about life on campus with a disability. Here, Brenda Jo Brueggemann writes about hearing loss

This week, Times Higher Education is publishing a series of stories about life on campus with a disability. Here, Anna Nibbs writes about her autism

This week, Times Higher Education is publishing a series of stories about life on campus with a disability. Here, Nigel Lockett talks about being a dyslexic professor

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Academia needs to talk about 'invisible' disabilities

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This week, Times Higher Education is publishing a series of stories about life on campus with a disability. Here, Brenda Jo Brueggemann writes about hearing loss This week, Times Higher Education is publishing a series of stories about life on campus with a disability.

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This article is rooted in the narratives of four disabled people with obvious impairments within higher education institutions (HEI).

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Reporting from the Margins: Disabled Academics Reflections on Higher Education

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Reporting from the Margins: Disabled Academics Reflections on Higher Education

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Introduction

Neoliberalism is rooted in the belief that financial markets should organize and regulate the provision of goods and services to grow the economy. Over the years, HEIs have become incorporated into this ethos, and now view themselves as money-making businesses. The result is that one's value as an academic can be based upon if the HEI regards them as 'earners' or 'costers'.

Students are 'earners' for HEIs because they pay tuition but often require limited investment. Non-disabled academic staff are 'earners' because they can advertise the institution at conferences and events and work extra hours, often uncompensated.

On the other hand, 'costers' require investment to remove barriers to inclusion. These often emerge as reasonable adjustments, policy changes, or other impairment-related needs. HEIs often label these an undue hardship and regularly create complicated burdensome processes to obtaining them. The result is that disabled academics are blocked from accessing supports that can significantly contribute towards their success (e.g. interpreters). This neoliberal belief, that disability is detrimental to HEIs, regularly emanates from those in powerful positions within the HEI and often emerges as negative treatment from fellow academics.

However, these weren't the only similarities we discovered. We found that our experiences as disabled academics converged upon numerous other topics too.

Our shared experiences

Through our discussions, we recognised that modern-day HEIs continuously marginalise and exclude disabled people in the same manner seen in mainstream society and private industry (Kitchin 1998). We each endured this in various ways, including in our pursuits of reasonable adjustments and other provisions that would allow us to work to our fullest potential. From these experiences, we recognised that as a societal structure, HEIs do not prohibit, but rather maintain the devaluation of disabled people to second-class citizens (Wolfensberger 1998). We also identified that part of this was due to HEIs' embracement of the neoliberal ethos, which resulted in HEIs' using power to exclude disabled people and perpetuate discriminatory norms against them, instead of using it to include them (Acheson 2011).

Please note: Many of these narratives do not contain all the shadow barriers we face. Jason Olsen describes shadow barriers as:

Barriers that 'shadow' disabled people's daily lived experiences. These are often invisible to non-disabled people but are ever-present in disabled people's lives. Examples of shadow barriers include: unreliable personal assistance; unpredictable accessible transportation; leaking bodily fluids; and/or any other necessities tied to our impairments that interfere with our inclusion and participation. Employers and others are often unaware of or do not recognise these barriers, despite them greatly impacting disabled people's abilities to meet established policies and social norms.

For us, shadow barriers are a vital issue. We often have to contest HEIs' standardised umbrella policies before fighting the HEIs' neo-liberalistic policies concerning adjustments and other 'extra' needs. These standard policies are often designed by non-disabled staff, forcing us to explain what our shadow barriers are and that our disabilities do not begin and end upon our entrance to, or exit from, the grounds of the HEI; an issue HEIs often consider outside their scope of concern.

It is naïve to suggest that individuals, committed to addressing disabled people's experiences of marginalisation, are aware of the totality of barriers encountered by individuals when navigating a disabling HEI. Shadow barriers require continual assessment and action surrounding the marginalising and discriminatory practices inherent within HEIs, particularly as HEIs respond to the political, economic and social events that affect its organisation and operations.

Jason Olsen

Upon arrival, the recommended 'accessible' hotel had a large step and no ramp. The next location provided had two heavy gates, an inaccessible roll-in shower and a bed barely off the floor-substantial barriers for a full-time wheelchair user paralysed from the chest down. The conference featured an impromptu two-mile walk to a secondary location, in the sun, along uneven streets, with bad curb cuts. This was a tough trek for someone in a manual wheelchair, who cannot regulate their body temperature, and who was nursing a sprained shoulder.

Another way it does so is through the targeted exclusion of one's knowledge. I also remember the visit to an independent living facility (ILF) in 2018. The leader of the educational event gathered participants together to discuss the experience. Here we were asked to give our opinions. I shared that the location gave me a visceral reaction, and I couldn't wait to leave. I stated that despite knowing it was irrational, I feared abandonment in the place we had visited. The head academic and disability 'expert' merely dismissed my feelings and comments, stating that I simply did not understand the important role these centres play, that I didn't separate my personal feelings from what I saw as a good academic should, and that ILFs are necessities for disabled people's families. She went on to state that she had recently put her mother into an ILF due to her severe dementia.

These reflections sent chills down my broken spine. I realized that in her position, she has the power to decide what kinds of research will be undertaken at her university and what kinds of studies her students will pursue. The research produced will justify social policies that will be put in place and impact the disability community. This is a lot of power for someone who gives little value to the knowledge, perceptions and feelings of those of us actually living with a disability.

In just one brief exchange, she'd dismissed social power imbalances that I and others face that can lead to: a loss of independent living; a loss of life choices; fears of de-kinning; inaccessible housing; ineffective pan-disability approaches; a removal of social rights; limited social inclusion; medical care barriers; medical ableism; lack of access to legislative protections; and other topics that lead to a disabled person's abandonment at an ILF against their will-something I have witnessed numerous times. Nevertheless, in her position, her university will look to her for expertise regarding disabled academics. If her view on ILFs is anything to go by, the HEI will be happy to find it has a compatriot in the belief that minimum assistance for inclusion is all that is warranted, and that if this does not address the situation, then removal from the social structure is a viable option.

Armineh Soorenian

Silencing disabled academics' voices

Through ableist norms, disabled staff and students' voices have been disavowed and suppressed under the violence of the neoliberal system pervading today's academic institutions (Campbell 2018). Evidenced in the suppression of my own experience throughout my academic journey as a student first, and, since 2012, as an academic, this situation has perpetuated the legitimisation of the complex webs of structural inequalities present in HEIs. I have experienced multiple discriminations grounded in being 'disabled', 'international' and 'woman'. In my contribution to this article, I will write how in the ableist academia-enshrined within the maintenance of the dominant ideology-attitudinal barriers and discriminatory practices have worked hand in hand towards my exclusion and marginalisation. I will then explain the damaging effects of such practices on my self-esteem and confidence.

Attitudinal barriers

To demonstrate a political, economic, social and cultural privileged position, it's expected that academics master a specific form of articulation when communicating, such as expressing their views or putting forward an argument. This ableist norm of elegance has worked to differentiate, divide, rank and colonise academics. Following a brain injury almost three decades ago, I have dysarthria, which is speech that is difficult or has unclear articulation. While outside academia, people usually respond to my slow and slurred speech in patronising or impatient ways, or both, in academia this type of overt verbal treatment is generally absent. However, the underlying biases and prejudices remain deeply ingrained in some academics' attitudes, whereby I'm not taken seriously or seen as an academic in my own right. These preconceived notions are held without recognising that I've managed research projects and produced a large quantity of high-quality written work in English, which is my third language, for over a decade. Consequently, I'm either not given adequate time or space to express my views, as this would fall outside the able body norm and may require a slight increase in costs. My arguments are often discredited and dismissed outright without a willingness to be understood. This too appears to be what fellow academics would consider a 'waste of time'.

Discriminatory practices

With a focus on standards, league tables and achievements, the need for extra time and extensions isn't desirable or even recognised as possible in the neoliberal academic environment. High productivity is expected in compressed time frames, and increasing demands are placed on academics' time with teaching workloads and pressures to publish over the life of their fixed, short-term contracts. One of the side effects of my medical condition is that I need more time to process information, reflect and prepare my responses, a situation not necessarily conducive to a traditional academic culture or typical interview situations. Everyday tasks take longer; I may require double or even triple the time of that taken by a non-disabled researcher to complete the same work. I also have a visual impairment, and converting standard print written materials to a format that I can access is a very time-consuming process. Wendell (1996: 30) refers to such impeding effects on time and energy levels, when disabled people make accommodations to their physical environments to overcome access barriers, as 'ordinary living arrangements'. However, in a working environment, where overwork is normalised (Brown & Leigh 2018), I've truly performed like a 'super cripple' (Oliver & Barnes 1997) by working over and beyond the hours expected of an academic, even in full-time employment. I've held onto my academic work and identity whilst compromising my physical and mental health and other aspects of my life. Additionally, some days I experience extreme fatigue, which, together with chronic migraines that occur regularly, could delay the completion of work by days if not weeks. Sadly, in academia, little accommodation is made for disabled academics who may need extra time for impairment-related reasons. Thus, as Kumari-Campbell (2018) argues, ableism in favour of non-disabled people is endemic in academia.

The psychological impact

The numerous barriers I've experienced in my academic journey have been multi-layered and multifaceted. The way my speech impairments have been dealt with has made me reluctant to contribute in academic and social settings, as it has left me feeling that I would not be understood, so why try? The feeling of isolation-not belonging, and not fitting in both academically and socially-has been damaging and destructive to my self-esteem, resulting in years of trying to constantly prove myself, yet feeling inadequate and uncertain in the academic sphere and in other areas, despite clear proven successes. I've blamed myself for my disadvantages rather than affirming that these beliefs are constructed within me by socio-economic political oppressive systems. Freire (1970) argues that this dominant ideology is mostly invisible to the oppressed group because their perceptions of themselves are submerged in the reality of oppression. The layers of oppression I have accumulated inside myself have become internalised, mostly resulting in permanent panic, depression and competition with others.

We are valuable

Miro Griffiths

The realm of academia continues to be a contested area for activists, scholars and policymakers. It should exist as a platform to explore, challenge, critique and put into practice historical and contemporary models and theories. Instead, HEIs are plagued by neoliberal agendas that prioritise: the economic viability of educational institutions (Hazelkorn 2015); the competitiveness between learners to attain the highest grades (Verhaeghe 2014); and the implementation of an educational model that emphasises conformity over creative inquiry (Chomsky 2012). With academia in crisis, there is an opportunity to consider how disabled people navigate this complex, inaccessible and ableist structure. As attempts are made to establish methods which counter the neoliberal condition within HEIs (Cannella & Koro-Ljungberg 2017), there is a desperate need to use this period of crisis to identify problems and advance solutions to address the micro-and macro barriers encountered by disabled people. As a contribution, I will draw on personal experience to highlight three aspects that require attention if there is to be an accessible and inclusive higher education system. Firstly, I'll discuss how the current assessment procedures to identify 'health', 'social' and 'academic' needs restrict participation and further marginalise disabled people from higher education. Secondly, I will discuss the absence of disabled people and their organisations within the design, development and delivery of assessment procedures to identify and address disabled learners' access requirements. I'll conclude by speaking about the apathetic response from HEIs to address the political issues and concerns raised by disabled activists and their organisations that negatively impact disabled academics.

'We provide geriatric care; we will not support you when you are at University. Good luck.' - Assessment procedures

Prior to starting University, I was in receipt of joint 'health' and 'social care' support. My 'academic' support needs had been assessed, but the professionals associated with my care plan had not discussed how the support would be delivered throughout the academic calendar. There were disagreements: 'academic' support wouldn't include 'personal care'-I could study, but the assigned support worker wouldn't assist me to use the toilet or consume any food/drink; 'social care' would be provided, but it was too costly to have a personal assistant stay for the entire day. The disagreements continued, and two days before my first lecture I received a phone call from a private care agency. They had been assigned to support my 'personal care' needs; however, as quoted above, I was informed I did not meet the criteria to receive support. For the initial few months, I relied on volunteers to help me eat and toilet. When I required more structure, I obtained a student loan, not for extra educational opportunities, but to pay for assistance. Eventually, a somewhat workable solution was implemented, but I was exhausted and outraged.

The Independent Living Movement (Evans 2008) demands that support is provided to enhance an individual's autonomy and realise their aspirations. However, there's substantial risk that experiences such as mine-and others (Pring 2015)-will continue due to fragmented, underfunded services that offer reactionary responses to individuals who require support. Detrimental cuts to local authority services, (O'Hara 2014) combined with social care policies framed to dismiss the needs of working-age people, will lead to HEIs becoming an unrealistic ambition for disabled people. I was made to feel I was an inconvenience to the rigid assessment procedures, which refused to account for the fluctuating and spontaneous experiences I would have at University. Professionals, who were preoccupied with meeting budgetary constraints and implementing policy procedures, abandoned me.

If we wish to change this, we must resist current practices and propose alternative options to identify and provide support to disabled people. As Morris (2011: 1) suggests:

disability policy [...] must value diversity and in which disabled people are treated as belonging and contributing to the communities in which they live. [...] We need to develop more radical challenges to the current disability policy agenda and engage in wider debates.

To continue this line of thought, I will focus on the specific experience of 'academic' support.

'Just stop. I'll advise you later on what you can have. Most importantly, when was your diagnosis?' - Design, development and delivery of assessment procedures

Scholars have discussed the barriers encountered by disabled students as they access support, raising concerns about: institutional culture towards inclusive learning environments (Fuller, Bradley & Healey 2004), disclosure (Goode 2007) and implementation of reasonable adjustments (Hewett et al. 2018). Such discussions are required but are limited in their application; instead, a radical overhaul of the assessment procedure is needed. The absence of disabled people and Disabled People's Organisations to design, develop and deliver assessments of support must be evaluated and acted upon. The Disabled People's Movement will continue resisting cuts to Disabled Student Allowances (Lewthwaite 2014), but disabled activists, their allies and HEIs must offer an alternative vision for assessing and providing support. This means universities must respond to the political concerns raised by disabled people.

'Your feedback is really important to us.' - Political concerns, apathetic responses

The issues I have raised-assessment procedures, involvement of disabled people, and institutional responses-require serious attention if an inclusive higher education system is to be realised. The political and economic crisis afflicting HEIs will continue, but this provides an opportunity to realise alternative possibilities for the inclusion of disabled people within academia.

Rebecca Porter

Introduction

Society often views the disabled person as a lesser person. It permeates every part of life, including that of the academic. I have spent four years in university. In that time, as a disabled woman, I have faced unsurmountable pressure to perform at the same level as my peers. But in truth I can't, and the toxically high production standards academic culture prides itself on are unattainable to someone like me. While my impairments can deeply affect my academic performance, to varying degrees the impact of them can be lessened with appropriate reasonable adjustments and expectations. However, this can only occur if the HEI is willing to provide them.

My first experience of ableism came long before my discovery of the social model of disability. It was 2014, approximately my third or fourth week of my first semester. As the first in my immediate family to attend university, it was like walking into an exciting, rather terrifying black hole. I had recently received monies from the Disabled Student's Allowance (DSA), which funded software on my laptop to help me take notes. My lecturer walked into the room and refused to start the lecture until everyone put their laptops and notebooks away, only allowing students to annotate the handouts he had provided. He said we would learn a lot more by listening. I sat there for an hour and learnt nothing. This policy was applied to not just the lecture but to the modules seminar group the following day: no one could discuss the lecture, and we stared in stunned silence at my seminar leader.

I sought help from study support, but there is only so much an hour of 1:1 learning support can do for a stressed disabled student with a high workload and no notes. I relied heavily on my friends to support me because the academy had failed to do so. My mental health suffered severely, but if I was achieving my grades, it felt as though very few people cared. As my chronic pain and fatigue worsened with each year, and I was having long depressive episodes and spells of heightened anxiety, my allocated funding for hours of 1:1 support dwindled. I had fewer hours to discuss my essays and almost crumbled under the pressures to attain high grades. It was clear to me that my costs to access the HEI clearly outweighed my perceived value. Increasingly, I find the pressure never emerges from lecturers directly (I am very lucky in that sense that disability studies lecturers 'get' disability). It comes from toxic work cultures in academia that stem from neoliberal ideas of production, the goals of which are often untenable by disabled academics, especially by those who are unsupported.

Accessibility and academic tradition

As I progress through academia, dealing with my own internalised ableism has been one of my toughest challenges. There are lots of pressures and demands to keep up with deadlines. Thrown in, however, is the idea that in their spare time students and staff should also be attending conferences, volunteering, maintaining a family life, and having a social life. Under the weight of these obligations, can we really be surprised that many academics are experiencing a mental health crisis? ( Universitiesuk.ac.uk 2018) I know for me at least, the toxic university culture results in feeling guilty for being unable to reach prescribed, yet unrealistic, ableist expectations (Brown and Leigh 2018).

Does academia work for anyone?

My outright answer is no. No matter who you are, your background, your expertise, I feel all academics struggle under the weight of university culture. Under this hegemony, you can't work too hard, you can't put too many hours in, both paid and unpaid, and exhaustion is almost a requirement. I fear this culture heavily affects all academics, regardless of position- from first-year students to the highest of senior lecturers, but it disparately impacts disabled people. This results in disabled people's leaving academia; universities with disability studies curriculums, and more broadly, those with social science departments, lose disabled people's lived experiences and expertise.

Disability, the academy and beyond

Activism, in any form, is a way forward for social change. But this can only occur if there are enough people to speak out. Without them, disabled people will remain the scapegoats of bad policy. Academia plays a key role in this potential liberation because if society will not listen to those who are oppressed, it's up to those with the power and resources for social change to do good. Education, and the highly inaccessible world of the neo-liberal academy, is a potential space for this (Goodley 2014). But it must be done in the right way. During my time at University, I have been supported by fellow students and lecturers alike and made to feel I'm understood as a disabled student and researcher. However, I still feel at times that the emotional and physical labour academia carries is untenable. In the past, trying to keep up with everything has led me to feel like I was drowning in obligation. I have learnt the hard way that my health comes first, that letting things go for a few days doesn't equate to failure, and that my exhaustion is valid.

In this messiest of debates, I know one thing is clear: disabled people need ownership of our identity. Disability isn't something to be 'dealt with' by universities, but something to be accepted and included. I have lost count of how many student union election posters I see, who talk about diversity but do not present disability as another intersection where people can experience oppression. Disability is the biggest intersection we have, and it requires more acknowledgement than just being an hour a week where you're helped with work. In the classroom, in the street, wherever I go, I do not just want acceptance and toleration; I want full inclusion and liberation.

Conclusion

This has contributed to disabled academics being framed as 'costers.' As 'costers' we are perceived to 'cost' the HEI money for daring not to have the physical stamina to work extra hours, often gratis, to the HEIs benefit. We often face resentment from the HEI, due to its being asked to spend monies on adjustments, when they question if the investment in disabled academics is worth the productivity that will result from it (Hazer & Bedell 2000). The consequence is that we often cannot fully demonstrate our knowledge and capabilities. This in turn blocks us from inclusion and advancement, relegating us to the margins of academia. As part of an accepted structure, these approaches often block our non-disabled colleagues from recognising the social injustices we face. Instead they are led to believe our lack of advancement is a natural and inevitable delineation between the capable and the incapable (Cundiff & Vescio 2016). The result is that fellow academics see us as objects of pity and as institutional burdens who do not possess the competence necessary to perform in the academic sector (Wolfensberger 1998). While many of us are acutely aware it's our responsibility to manage the stigmas against us if we wish to minimize the prejudice and biases we will face (Gioaba & Krings 2017), this discrimination can be hard to endure on a daily basis-even more so when it is experienced not just from leadership, but from co-workers and others who believe incorrect narratives about our worth and our ability to contribute.

These conclusions are often not challenged but are supported by the non-disabled 'disability experts' HEIs have hired. This is not an accidental occurrence, as HEIs create power-relationships that deny disabled people access to important decision-making positions that could repudiate its exclusionary practices (Kitchin 1998). Unfortunately, the lack of disability voices in academia has meant that current truth regimes in institutional arrangements have gone unchallenged on an international level within academia (Bazzul & Carter 2017). Until disabled academics are in real places of power, this negativism will inexorably lead to their further exclusion. We've already seen this in the low representation of disabled academics employed by academia (Brown & Leigh 2018).

Competing Interests

The authors have no competing interests to declare.

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Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research

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Article: Reporting from the Margins: Disabled Academics Reflections on Higher Education

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An opinion piece on how inaccessibility continues to push disabled scientists out of science.

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Disabled scientists excluded from the lab

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Inaccessibility continues to push disabled researchers out of science

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Academic, Activist, or Advocate? Angry, Entangled, and Emerging: A Critical Reflection on Autism Knowledge Production

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Academic, Activist, or Advocate? Angry, Entangled, and Emerging: A Critical Reflection on Autism Knowledge Production

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Academic, Activist, or Advocate? Angry, Entangled, and Emerging: A Critical Reflection on Autism Knowledge Production

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There has been a focus on autistic-led and participatory research in autism research, but minimal discussion about whether the field is hospitable to autistic involvement. While the focus on participatory and/or autistic-led research is abundantly welcome, a wider conversation should also happen about how autistic people are treated in the process of knowledge creation.

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Literature on how neurodiverse students experience higher education and the ways in which HE institutions respond to the cluster of neurodiverse conditions.

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Neurodiversity in Higher Education: A Narrative Synthesis

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Neurodiversity in Higher Education: A Narrative Synthesis

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Abstract

Neurodiversity is an umbrella term, including dyspraxia, dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyscalculia, autistic spectrum and Tourette syndrome. The increasing number of students with learning difficulties associated with neurodiversity entering higher education (HE) poses a shared and growing challenge internationally for teachers and institutional leaders. This narrative synthesis draws together a corpus of international literature on how neurodiverse students experience higher education and the ways in which higher education institutions respond to the cluster of neurodiverse conditions. A systematic review was carried out to search, retrieve, appraise and synthesize the available evidence to provide an original contribution to the literature and significant insights of worth to higher education internationally. An inclusive approach to data extraction was used to ensure that all the relevant studies were included. All stages of the review process, including the initial search, screening, sample selection and analysis, are described. Three main themes and 11 subthemes were identified. Although the majority of publications focus on either dyslexia, autistic spectrum disorder, or ADHD, some common themes are evident in student experience across learning difficulties associated with neurodiversity. Although support services and technologies are available to meet students' specific needs, there is an apparent dislocation between the two. Fear of stigmatization and labelling worsens the divide between what is needed and what is available to ensure neurodiverse students' success in higher education, where good intentions are evidently not enough.

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Notes

Common acronyms:

DCDDevelopmental coordination disorder

AD(H)DAttention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder

ASDAutism spectrum disorder

ASAsperger's syndrome

SpLDsSpecific learning difficulties

LDLearning disabilities

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Acknowledgements

No funding was received for this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

1. Coventry University, Priory Street, Coventry, UK

Lynn Clouder

2. University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy

Alessia Cinotti

3. Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Rosario, Argentina

María Virginia Ferreyra & Patricia Rojo

4. University of Colima, Colima, Mexico

Genoveva Amador Fierros

5. Nazarbayev University, Nur-Sultan City, Kazakhstan

Mehmet Karakus

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lynn Clouder.

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Clouder, L., Karakus, M., Cinotti, A. et al. Neurodiversity in higher education: a narrative synthesis. High Educ 80, 757-778 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00513-6
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Keywords

Neurodiversity

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Narrative synthesis

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Neurodiversity in higher education: a narrative synthesis - Higher Education

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Neurodiversity is an umbrella term, including dyspraxia, dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyscalculia, autistic spectrum and Tourette syndrome. The increasing number of students with learning difficulties associated with neurodiversity entering higher education (HE) poses a shared and growing challenge internationally for teachers and institutional leaders.

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Students with anxiety disorders, autism and other disabilities are struggling with the disruption of their normal routines after the move to remote education.

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How Neurodivergent Students Are Getting Through the Pandemic

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How Neurodivergent Students Are Getting Through the Pandemic

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learning

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Amber Nicole Wolfe had settled into a daily routine that worked well for her. She would go to her classes in American Sign Language at Pikes Peak Community College in Colorado, then go to the American Sign Language lab to do her work. Then she would go home and relax.

The coronavirus pandemic has changed her routine, and most everyone's, for several months. And it doesn't look like things will go back to normal any time soon.

But for some students, routines are important. Wolfe has autism, and she relies on her routines to help manage some of the issues that come along with that. She has executive function issues, which means it's hard for her to get started on a task, and difficulties absorbing texts, which means relying on only one method of learning with just written instructions has been a struggle.

"I don't want to lose my momentum for school, because I moved here for this program," Wolfe said. "But it is going to be very hard [in the fall] and I'm going to have to create new routines for myself. Right now I created a makeshift routine, but I don't like it."

Many students are working through issues and disabilities that are not very apparent. Some are neurodivergent, like Wolfe, and have to work harder to adjust to new situations and stressors.

"Neurodiversity is a paradigm that acknowledges and accepts different ways of thinking and acting. It's a diversity and inclusion perspective applied to autism, ADHD, learning disabilities and other invisible disabilities," said Solvegi Shmulsky, a professor and director of the Center for Neurodiversity at Landmark College, a Vermont institution that specializes in serving students with learning disabilities. ​"For my students, autism, ADHD or dyslexia is often part of who they are, and they say they want to be accepted, not fixed."

When her students went online, they worried they would lose the support they needed, Shmulsky said. Since the switch, many of her students have reported activation -- or executive function -- issues.

"If you're in your house, you don't have the structure from your peers," she said. "And not everyone's home is the kind of place that is going to be conducive for them to work on their studies."

Another issue she's heard about is how difficult it can be to understand complex concepts on a video call. It's harder for faculty to tell when students are having trouble in a virtual setting, as well.

This can all be upsetting emotionally, she said. Students who are neurodivergent learned how to deal with difficulties, like how they best study and how to advocate for themselves. Now all of their strategies have been shaken up. ​
Pros and Cons of Online Learning
Steven Vitt, a senior at Landmark College, has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and nonverbal learning disorder, or NVLD. He wasn't prepared for how much remote learning was going to impact him, he said.

"It's a lot more difficult to stay in a routine. I had my routine and my days scheduled pretty well when I was on campus," Vitt said. "There was a lot of going to different parts of campus to do work, and now it's a lot of sitting in the same place, looking at a computer."

It's more difficult to stay accountable in that setting, he said.

To deal with the stress, he's been turning to connections he made at college.

"One thing I think is important for neurodivergent students, of all ages, is to just remember in times like this when you feel really isolated, there's a lot of people out there who recognize the challenges that you're facing and how valid that is," he said. "That's one thing I've seen for friends I have at Landmark. It's really important for us to connect with each other and have that support in knowing that we're not alone in trying to finish up the semester and getting work done."

That's one way colleges can support neurodivergent students through this pandemic, Shmulsky said. She's heard from several students who say it's important to be with similar people. Online support groups for students who have autism or ADHD can be critical to lifting up students' spirits.

For some neurodivergent students, online learning is superior to its face-to-face counterpart.

"I definitely prefer online classes. You get to control the environment," said Emma Irvine, a junior at the online Western Governors University who previously earned an associate degree at a brick-and-mortar institution. "In a class you're surrounded by a bunch of people, and there could be distractions going on. When you're online, you get to choose where you learn and where you study, and you don't have to worry about getting to class on time."

Irvine has ADHD as well as fibromyalgia, a condition that causes pain all over the body. She's glad to be at an online institution because she has more time to get things done and more flexibility for her disabilities, she said.

She has experienced a fair amount of issues due to the pandemic, though. Her fibromyalgia symptoms have flared up in recent weeks due to stress.

If someone touches her on the back, for example, she'll feel a lot of pain. And her disorder also causes memory issues.

"With fibromyalgia, I will forget certain words," she said. "I forgot the word 'medication' today." ​
Concerns for Support and Retention
To help these students succeed online, faculty can use universal design when setting up courses, Shmulsky said. Institutions can make sure students have access to text readers and keep up online support for tutoring and reading assistance.

At Landmark, Vitt and other students said access to advisers and faculty had helped ease the stress from the transition. He meets with Shmulsky, his adviser, nearly every day to plan out his tasks and talk through problems.

There is some concern that the quick move to remote learning will let supportive infrastructure at institutions slide, said Meg Grigal, co-director of Think College at the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts at Boston.

"Right now colleges are still in that place where they don't know what to expect," she said. "I think they're doing their best, but it's also going to be incumbent upon students to ensure that, if their needs aren't being met, it's documented and shared. It's harder to hold people accountable when no one's in the same space."

Retention and enrollment for students with hidden disabilities will be another problem, Grigal said.

"Thinking about going to college is hard enough for a young person," she said. If students also need certain supports but can't visit colleges to see what they have, it could make them change their mind about enrolling.

Because many students, not just those who need extra support, are reconsidering enrollment, colleges are facing unprecedented financial challenges, she said. So there will be fewer funds for the resources and support neurodivergent and other students need.

"There are so many challenges to college access ... It's already a very heavy lift" for neurodivergent students and those with disabilities, Grigal said. "Adding this additional piece of, you're going to do all that work but not be on a campus -- it could be hard to see that as a good use of their time." ​

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Neurodivergent students face challenges in the quick switch to remote learning

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Amber Nicole Wolfe had settled into a daily routine that worked well for her. She would go to her classes in American Sign Language at Pikes Peak Community College in Colorado, then go to the American Sign Language lab to do her work. Then she would go home and relax.

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A podcast on disability rights and how to be a better ally.

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How to Be a Better Ally, With Disability Advocate Alice Wong

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How to Be a Better Ally, With Disability Advocate Alice Wong

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This week we're learning about disability rights and how to be a better ally with help from disability activist Alice Wong. Listen to hear Alice talk about the unique perspectives that disabled people bring to the conversation, what non-disabled people can do to promote and protect equality, and why is essential viewing.

Alice is a disabled activist, consultant and founder and director of the Disability Visibility Project, a community partnership with StoryCorps and an online community dedicated to amplifying disability, media, and culture in 2020. She also has a podcast called Disability Visibility and recently published the book Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories From the 21st Century .

Listen to The Upgrade above or find us in all the usual places podcasts are served, including Apple Podcasts, Google Play, , iHeartRadio, and NPR One.

Highlights from this week's episode

From the Alice Wong interview:

On the importance of recognizing able-bodied privilege:

I think you know a lot of people just don't realize, "Oh, like, I can move to another city if I, you know, have the means." While a lot of people with disabilities can't just pick up and leave or just decide to go to a bar like tonight. You know, just, it's not that easy. It's a little complicated. But I think you know, non-disabled people can do so much to make the world a little bit more welcoming and a little more accessible by just understanding their own privilege, acknowledging it and also understanding that we all have a collective responsibility. You know we can create access for each other. And that's one of the things that I think is so awesome about disabled people that I love about my community, is this recognition that we're interdependent.

On how the pandemic has shifted the perspective for non-disabled people:

You know, in just big and small ways and I feel like it took a pandemic for a lot of non-disabled people to realize, "whoa, like this is like, you know, this kind of living is really different." And that it's frustrating when they don't get what they want immediately. And I feel like a lot of chronically-ill people or just people who are completely you know, their entire life is centered either in their bed or on their couch. They're like, "welcome to our world." [Y]ou now have a slight inkling of the struggles or challenges because, you know, one thing that gets me really salty is that disabled people have been fighting for remote working options for offices... And suddenly when non-disabled people have something taken away from them. All these things are suddenly not so difficult. They're not an issue any more. I think that to me is pretty enraging because so much of the work that we've done has really been erased. It hasn't been acknowledged. And I really hope, you know, as we come out of this together that we don't go back to normal. I want workplaces and organizations and institutions to keep doing what they're doing as they adjust to the pandemic. But just keep it. Keep it. Because it'll only enhance their outreach, their inclusion.

On the small ways in which you can start becoming a better ally:

[B]elieve disabled people when they tell you something is problematic. You know when they say like, "Hey, this is not very cool what your friend said, or, "Oh I love this video that you put up, but did you notice that you don't have captions?" Or like, you know, "I see you posting a lot of great photos, have you thought about adding alt text?" You know these are little things people can do every day to incorporate just a little bit of access that really says a lot. Because if you let's say post content, for example, especially [with a] major publication...if you don't caption it. If you don't supply image description, you're saying you don't care about a huge segment of the population. And disabled people have said this for a long time that access not only helps disabled people, but it benefits everyone.

To hear more of Alice's conversation about disability rights, we recommend listening to the full episode.

Have any feedback or ideas for future episodes? Want to be featured on the show? Leave us a voicemail at 347-687-8109 or send a voice memo to upgrade@lifehacker.com.

Episode Transcript

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How to Be a Better Ally, With Disability Advocate Alice Wong

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This week we're learning about disability rights and how to be a better ally with help from disability activist Alice Wong. Listen to hear Alice talk about the unique perspectives that disabled people bring to the conversation, what non-disabled people can do to promote and protect equality, and why Crip Camp is...

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This qualitative study explored the experiences of 27 current and previous students with a range of specific LDs.

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Student Experiences of Neurodiversity in Higher Education: Insights from the BRAINHE Project

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Student Experiences of Neurodiversity in Higher Education: Insights from the BRAINHE Project

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Student experiences of neurodiversity in higher education: insights from the BRAINHE project - PubMed

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The number of students with identified learning differences (LDs) of all kinds is increasing in higher education. This qualitative study explored the experiences of 27 current and previous students with a range of specific LDs by means of semi-structured interviews, using a thematic approach. The fi…

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This post is part of a series about being disabled at university, with a focus on graduate school.

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Disabled in Grad School: I, Too, Dread the Accommodations Talk

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Disabled in Grad School: I, Too, Dread the Accommodations Talk

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Disabled in Grad School: I, Too, Dread the Accommodations Talk | Inside Higher Ed

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A student’s perspective on discussing accommodations.

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A blog post about the experience of PhD students living on campus.

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The Adjusted PhD: What Accommodations Work(ed) for You?

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The Adjusted PhD: What Accommodations Work(ed) for You?

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Annual Conference for ECRs from Black Asian Minority Ethnic backgrounds.

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You are invited to join the 5 th Black and Minority Ethnic Early Career Researchers Conference, 'Moving on up', hosted online by The Open University and the University of West London.

The conference has been running for four years with the aim of empowering Black and Minority Ethnic Early Career Researchers to stay in academia.

Keynote Speakers

Professor Gus John, award-winning writer, education campaigner, consultant, lecturer and researcher

Professor Funmi Olonisakin, Vice Principal/President International King's College London

Afternoon workshops will explore wellbeing, mentoring, resilence and leadership.

Just 200 tickets will be available for this popular event so we recommend you secure your place as soon as possible. A detailed programme will be shared soon.

Follow up intervention - 'Maximising your potential' provided by Fistral Training end of July 2021.
Reserve your place

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You are invited to join the 5 th Black and Minority Ethnic Early Career Researchers Conference, 'Moving on up', hosted online by The Open University and the University of West London. The conference has been running for four years with the aim of empowering Black and Minority Ethnic Early Career Researchers to stay in academia.

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This article presents a set of reasonable adjustments designed to remove social barriers from the existing viva process for the benefit of autistic candidates.

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Examining Intellectual Prowess, Not Social Difference: Removing Barriers from the Doctoral Viva for Autistic Candidates

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Examining Intellectual Prowess, Not Social Difference: Removing Barriers from the Doctoral Viva for Autistic Candidates

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Examining intellectual prowess, not social difference: Removing barriers from the doctoral viva for autistic candidates

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Open Research at LSBU | A repository of internationally recognised and world-leading research generated by our staff and students

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This paper reflects the ‘Inclusive Teaching and Learning in Higher Education as a route to Excellence’ by the Disabled Students Sector Leadership Group's.

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Inclusive Teaching and Learning: What's Next?

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Inclusive Teaching and Learning: What's Next?

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Inclusive teaching and learning: what’s next? : LSBU Open Research

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This paper reflects the ‘Inclusive Teaching and Learning in Higher Education as a route to Excellence’ published by the Disabled Students Sector Leadership Group’s (DSSLG) in January 2017 and highlights actions that may be required to attain the goals set out in the report. Here we link Universal De…

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A book that brings together disability studies and institutional critique.

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Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education

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Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education

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Academic Ableism brings together disability studies and institutional critique to recognize the ways that disability is composed in and by higher education, and rewrites the spaces, times, and economies of disability in higher education to place disability front and center. For too long, argues Jay Timothy Dolmage, disability has been constructed as the antithesis of higher education, often positioned as a distraction, a drain, a problem to be solved. The ethic of higher education encourages students and teachers alike to accentuate ability, valorize perfection, and stigmatize anything that hints at intellectual, mental, or physical weakness, even as we gesture toward the value of diversity and innovation. Examining everything from campus accommodation processes, to architecture, to popular films about college life, Dolmage argues that disability is central to higher education, and that building more inclusive schools allows better education for all.

" Academic Ableism is a landmark book for higher education. Using disability as the frame, it is the first and only of its kind to take on structural ableism in the academy."
-Brenda Brueggemann, University of Connecticut

"For those new to the field of Disability Studies, Dolmage provides clear, authoritative definitions of terms and the opportunity to analyze, critically, what students know best and need tools to think about, their own spaces and roles. For those who are old hats, this book is game-changing."
- Susan Schweik, University of California, Berkeley

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Academic Ableism brings together disability studies and institutional critique to recognize the ways that disability is composed in and by higher education, and rewrites the spaces, times, and economies of disability in higher education to place disability front and center. For too long, argues Jay...

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An organisation that works with schools and universities across the UK in an attempt to bridge the low-income attainment gap.

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The Brilliant Club is a UK non-profit organisation that works with the PhD community to support less advantage students to access the most competitive universities and succeed when they get there.

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A research project that aims to explore and assess the processes by which higher education promotes social mobility whilst maintaining income-based inequalities

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Education, and a university education in particular, is often seen as a key catalyst to enhancing a person's social and economic life chances.

However, despite efforts to widen participation in higher education, elite universities have failed to meet the targets set and continue to have difficulties in attracting and recruiting students from working-class families.

Little is known about how students from lower-income families fare when they do reach university and even less about whether their graduate status really enables them to enter prestigious professional careers on an equal footing with better-off peers.
As of autumn 2012, the cap on tuition fees has been raised, and most universities now charge students £9,000 per year, leaving graduates with the prospect of at least a £27,000 debt.

Now more than ever, we need a better understanding of how social class facilitates or impedes the catalytic effects of a university education.

Paired Peers: Moving On Up

We believe that higher education (HE) does play key role in social mobility but the processes by which this happens are still relatively under-researched. In particular the transition from university to work is the time when individuals can start to realize the economic, cultural and social capital of HE, mediated by class and gender. Paired Peers Moving On Up aims at exactly this: exploring in depth the post university transition as well as the processes by which different trajectories of social mobility are set in train.

Paired Peers Moving On Up, which is funded by the Leverhulme Trust, is built upon the previous Paired Peers study, which was a three-year qualitative study of students' experiences at the two universities in Bristol (University of Bristol and the University of the West of England). Paired Peers has tracked an initial cohort of 90 (final number 73) of middle-class and working-class students through their undergraduate life and collected rich data on all aspects of the student experience. The overarching aim was to consider the impact of social class on the undergraduate experience and thus to evaluate the role of HE in promoting social mobility. Now, in the second phase of the project, we are tracking the same cohort into the next stages of career-building and employment (in terms of class and gender differences, aspirations and approaches to career development).

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Education, and a university education in particular, is often seen as a key catalyst to enhancing a person's social and economic life chances. However, despite efforts to widen participation in higher education, elite universities have failed to meet the targets set and continue to have difficulties in attracting and recruiting students from working-class families.

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The campaign aims at reducing tuition fees at universities through concerted efforts at lobbying the UK government via campaigns and petitions. 

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University leaders, the Department for Education, and the Office for Students, are ghosting domestic students by supporting institutions charging full fees for what are much diminished courses and much reduced student experiences. IF thinks this totally unfair and is calling for a cut in fees for students.

"Imagine paying £9,250 a year for one 50 minute online class per week !! oh wait I don't need to imagine that's literally what's happening to me right now."

- A 2020 University Student

"My daughter can only have 6 hours study space a week at Nottingham Uni. The library restriction will be tough when essays start. Her guaranteed hours for an arts subject should be 10. She has 3 pre-recorded lectures, 3 online Q&A lectures, and 3 in person seminars BUT her timetable shows no seminars for weeks 6 and 13."

- Anon

Teaching offer

Higher education institutions are selling #students down the river in the 2020/21 academic year. Part or all online-only courses should not be charged at full fees when already well-established distance learning courses charge much less. Years abroad should not be charged at full fees now they are to be "virtual" years abroad. Laboratory or studio-orientated courses should not be charged at full fees when students will not be able to gain full access.

Physical offer

Teaching alone is not what universities "sell" to students. A myriad of physical goods are also offered: access to impressive grounds and buildings; sports facilities and playing fields; libraries and computers; design, art, photographic studios and science blocks; as well as halls for accommodation and catering. The list goes on.

In a pandemic world students cannot access any of these goods so why should they pay for them?

Intangible offer

There is another range of intangible goods that universities go out of their way to sell to students as part of the overall package of a university "experience". These include becoming part of a family, joining a club or community, and/or making life-long friendships with people from different backgrounds and different cultures - all of which adds to the rich tapestry that makes up much of the social capital that comes from going into higher or further education. In a pandemic world students cannot access this social capital so why should they have to pay?

It seems obvious that in a "marketised" world of higher education, where students are supposed to have power, discounts should be given when the accepted "traditional student experience" upon which most higher and further institutions trade cannot now be delivered. The fact that a loss of custom has not led to discounts demonstrates that the so-called higher education "market" simply does not exist.

Higher education institutions have encouraged students to sign on to their courses, encouraged them to take up student loans and sign up for accommodation. They know that those loans will be fed back to them by the government. Now that students have signed their contracts and started to arrive at their institutions of choice, the sector is now closing ranks and pulling up the drawbridge: radically reduced teaching hours, a refusal to teach face-to-face, bans on social gatherings, and the publication of threats, sanctions and dismissals for breaking COVID-related rules, all while blaming students for daring to turn-up and be taught.

We want to see a return to higher and further education as a public good. Until that times come we will continue to call on the government to #CutTheFees and treat domestic students more fairly.

UK government response

It seems wholly unfair to expect students to sign up for the same fees as in a pre-pandemic world, for a university experience they simply cannot buy. The government's response to a letter sent by IF is that universities are "autonomous" and can charge what they want, yet the government has stepped in to close down entire industries such as aviation. The government could step in to lower the overall fee gap.

The government must do better

We want to see a fairer student finance offer to students, one that acknowledges that this year's intake will simply not have the same student experience. Nor should this year's domestic students have to foot the bill for the evaporation of international student fees, on which so much of our bloated higher education sector has come to depend.

The marketisation of higher education is a myth

The higher education sector's response to COVID-19 proves that there is no market in higher education. The sector showed its true colours in 2012 when most institutions stampeded to £9,000 fees. It has now closed ranks and is intent on continuing to feed off students with little regard to how much debt students will incur: an average of £50,000, paid back over the next 30 years once earning over a threshold that conveniently matches the average annual wage. The current system means that the average graduate faces a 41% marginal tax rate for the next 30 years.

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University leaders, the Department for Education, and the Office for Students, are ghosting domestic students by supporting institutions charging full fees for what are much diminished courses and much reduced student experiences. IF thinks this totally unfair and is calling for a cut in fees for students.

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A network supporting faculty and students from diverse working class backgrounds.

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A monthly webinar & podcast series exploring the challenges that students from working-class backgrounds are facing during the pandemic.

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If you're a working-class student, you may have experienced some unique difficulties this year. This might include challenges with fitting in or having to code-switch, managing your mental health or navigating the intersectionality between race and class.

That's why we've partnered with RECLAIM to deliver a programme of webinars and podcasts to support students from working class backgrounds. RECLAIM is a charity that supports and amplifies the voices of working-class young people.

Webinar series

Our webinar series will explore the challenges that working-class students have faced during the pandemic.

Each webinar will be based on a specific theme of working- class student experiences. They will include:

Contributions from present and former students

Tips and advice for overcoming challenges related to working class student life

Opportunities to take part in Q&As and discussion

Find the webinar recordings

Podcast

Our forthcoming podcast will explore similar themes of working-class student experiences in depth, including:

Mental health

Race and class

Finances at university

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If you're a working-class student, you may have experienced some unique difficulties this year. This might include challenges with fitting in or having to code-switch, managing your mental health or navigating the intersectionality between race and class. That's why we've partnered with RECLAIM to deliver a programme of webinars and podcasts to support students from working class backgrounds.

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A 2019 article that examines a new scheme introduced by the University of Cambridge to offer disadvantaged students a second chance to apply.

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Cambridge University Offers Disadvantaged Students Second Chance to Apply

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Cambridge University Offers Disadvantaged Students Second Chance to Apply

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The University of Cambridge is seeking to increase student diversity by offering disadvantaged candidates who narrowly miss out on a place a second chance to apply after they get their A-level results.

From this summer, students from underrepresented backgrounds who applied and were interviewed for an undergraduate course but just fell short will be able to refer themselves to be reconsidered on results day once they know their grades.

Cambridge will for the first time participate in the Ucas system of adjustment that allows students who have outperformed the terms of the conditional university offer they are holding to refer themselves for consideration by another institution.

Each year more than 14,000 students who apply to Cambridge fail to secure an offer. The university says up to 100 places will be available under the new scheme, which forms one plank of its efforts to widen participation.

Dr Sam Lucy, director of admissions at Cambridge, said: "Students have to apply almost a year before they start their course, and some may be on an upward academic trajectory and not demonstrating their full academic potential at the point of interview.

"Adjustment provides those students who go on to achieve highly with an opportunity to be reconsidered as soon as they have their final results, rather than having to make a reapplication the following year. We hope this will have a positive impact, in enabling us to admit talented students from underrepresented groups who narrowly miss out in the first round."

Only those who applied and were interviewed during the main application cycle, which begins in October and ends with offers in January, will be eligible; candidates can only apply for the subject they originally applied for, and will have to meet specific widening participation criteria in order to be considered.

Sir Peter Lampl, founder of the Sutton Trust which campaigns for greater social mobility through education, welcomed the move as a step in the right direction. "Closing the stubbornly wide access gap at our best universities is vital so it is good to see Cambridge looking to new solutions to tackle the problem."

Research has shown however that poor but high-achieving pupils who go on to gain the kind of grades required to get into Oxford or Cambridge either do not apply or have their grades underpredicted. "We want to see a complete move to post-qualification applications where students apply only after they have received their A-level results. This does away with predicted grades and empowers students to make the best possible choices."

Leading UK universities which are still dominated by white, wealthy students have come under increasing pressure from government to attract young people from hard-to-reach backgrounds where they may be the first in their family to consider university.

Last year Cambridge launched a £500m fundraising campaign to pay for a new "transition programme" to encourage and support applications from talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds who might otherwise not get a place.

The scheme includes a three-week bridging programme plus a transition year before a degree to raise the attainment of disadvantaged students with academic potential. A similar initiative has been adopted by Oxford University's Lady Margaret Hall.

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Cambridge University offers disadvantaged students second chance to apply

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The University of Cambridge is seeking to increase student diversity by offering disadvantaged candidates who narrowly miss out on a place a second chance to apply after they get their A-level results.

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An organisation for community writing and publishing groups. Originally established in 1976 as the Federation for Workers Writers and Community Publishers.

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TheFED is an umbrella organisation for individuals and community writing and publishing groups. We promote skill-sharing and encourage our members to support and help each other.

TheFED is continuing the work started by

'The Federation of Worker Writers and Community Publishers' or 'The FWWCP'

TheFED aims to encourage and promote writing done by ordinary, working class people and people who may struggle to get their ideas down on paper.

TheFED values difference and welcomes people who lack confidence in themselves and their writing ability.

TheFED is run entirely voluntarily, by the members and for the members. We have no funding, no office and no paid workers.

TheFED welcomes people of all backgrounds and abilities. Our MiniFests are accessible and friendly. We try to cater for people's special needs as far as we possibly can. For example:

We offer 'writing hands' to help those who find it difficult to write down what they want to say.

We try to provide a variety of foods that are suitable for people with food allergies or who have special diets for health or religious reasons.

We make sure that the venues we use have good disabled access.

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TheFED - Network of Writing & Community Publishers, Sheffield

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TheFED is an umbrella organisation for individuals and community writing and publishing groups. We promote skill-sharing and encourage our members to support and help each other. TheFED is continuing the work started by 'The Federation of Worker Writers and Community Publishers' or 'The FWWCP' TheFED aims to encourage and promote writing done by ordinary, working class people and people who may struggle to get their ideas down on paper.

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An organisation that supports the scholarship, research, teaching and activism related to working class life and cultures.

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A review by Ross Goldstone of the 2017 book Higher Education and Social Inequalities: University Admissions, Experiences and Outcomes.

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Higher Education and Social Inequalities

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Higher Education and Social Inequalities

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Higher education and social inequalities | LSE Higher Education

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The chapters throughout the volume provide an array of ways through which the relationship between higher education and social inequalities can manifest, from secondary data analysis of official statistics on student participation in higher education (Chapters Three and Four), to the embodied nature of social class identities (Chapter Eight) and how social class might be important in participating in internships after university (Chapter Eleven).

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A 2020 article by Teresa Crew that draws on the work of Pierre Bourdieu to examine the experiences of working class academics.

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Higher Education and Working Class Academics: Precarity and Diversity in Academia

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Higher Education and Working Class Academics: Precarity and Diversity in Academia

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Higher Education and Working-Class Academics | SpringerLink

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This book examines how a working-class habitus interacts with the elite culture of academia in higher education. Drawing on extensive qualitative data and informed by the work of Pierre Bourdieu, the author presents new ways of examining impostor syndrome, alienation and microaggressions.

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This book explores why socioeconomic inequality persists in higher education despite widespread knowledge of the problem.

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Interrupting Class Inequality in Higher Education: Leadership for an Equitable Future

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Interrupting Class Inequality in Higher Education: Leadership for an Equitable Future

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Table of Contents
Part One: Understanding the Problems

1. The Perpetuation of Class Inequity Through Policy

2. The Consequences of Unexamined Practices on Class Inequality

3. The Role of Diminished Public Funding in Class Inequality

4. Class Inequality as a Higher Education Leadership Problem

Part Two: Forging the Solutions

5. Leading Collaboratively

6. Telling a Better Story

7. Gaining the Public Trust

8. Charting a More Equitable Course

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Interrupting Class Inequality in Higher Education: Leadership for an Equitable Future

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Interrupting Class Inequality in Higher Education explores why socioeconomic inequality persists in higher education despite widespread knowledge of the problem. Through a critical analysis of the current leadership practices and policy narratives that perpetuate socioeconomic inequality, this book outlines the trends that negatively impact low- and middle-income students and offers effective tools for creating a more equitable future for higher education.

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A short blog post that shines a light on class-based research in higher education and how it illuminates social inequity in academia today.

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Is Social Class relevant in Higher Education today?

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Is Social Class relevant in Higher Education today?

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0 comments | 30 shares

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Ross Goldstone

February 11th, 2021

0 comments | 30 shares

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Ross Goldstone shines a light on class-based research in higher education and shows how it illuminates social inequity in academia

Coronavirus has fundamentally changed the way we live our lives, with the higher education (HE) being one of the myriad areas experiencing large disruption. However, amongst the disruption instigated by the pandemic, there is also tremendous continuity and replication. This is because the coronavirus pandemic has reinforced and exacerbated a plethora of societal inequalities that have deep socio-historical roots, including those linked to class, neurodivergent, and ethnic and racial identities. Recently, there has justifiably been considerable attention directed towards gendered and ethnic inequalities in society, specifically in HE, epitomised best through calls to `decolonise the university.' However, as early indications of the coronavirus pandemic have indicated, existing social class inequalities will be exacerbated, and this will have powerful ramifications for HE as a sector. Furthermore, the pandemic has revealed the intersections between different characteristics, for instance, how socio-economic status, occupational differences, and structural racism has led to ethnic differences in coronavirus infections. Understanding class inequalities can therefore contribute to better understanding other forms of inequality across society, particularly in HE. Therefore, this blog hopes to reflect on the state of academic research regarding social class HE inequality, while also thinking about possible developments in the field.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, much attention was devoted to the rising socio-economic inequality that was exacerbated by the 2008 financial crisis, which solidified stagnating social mobility in the United Kingdom. At the same time, the discourse of meritocracy was confusing and justifying the class-based inequalities that were growing. These inequalities were increasing despite the expansion of HE which promised, to the half of all young people who now progress onto university study, that doing so would equal better employment, prospects, and ultimately, middle-class lives. In many ways, the expansion of HE came to conceal the rising class inequalities in society. This is because despite the benefits the expansion of HE has provided, a plethora of research has shown that existing social class inequalities have come to be replicated across the sector in terms of participation and experience.

This is largely consistent with literature questioning the central tenet of the human capital theory, upon which much HE policy rests: that education pays and is to some extent the great equaliser.

Sam Friedman has recently shown how individuals indulge in against-the-odds success narratives, wherein, they come to foster meritocratic legitimacy for the outcomes they enjoy, regardless of the structural privileges that have shaped their trajectory. Not only do those from more privileged class backgrounds disproportionately enter the top universities, but where those from lower social class backgrounds do enter these institutions, they are still found to have a very different HE experience. Diane Reay writes vividly of the injuries of class that those from working-class backgrounds must endure if they wish to achieve the meritocratic promise of social mobility at elite universities. Moreover, HE can also come to mystify and legitimate social class inequalities. While social class shapes the transition into higher education (getting in), research demonstrates that it comes to influence experiences within (getting on), and following university (getting out) too. Friedman, demonstrates that the economic, cultural, and social resources those from higher class backgrounds are able to draw upon, are significant, and sometimes more important, to labour market outcomes. This is largely consistent with literature questioning the central tenet of the human capital theory, upon which much HE policy rests: that education pays and is to some extent the great equaliser. However, there is significant space for further exploration of the way class shapes HE participation, experiences, and outcomes. Research might pay particular attention to the classed experiences of the postgraduate research (PGR) student trajectory in the academic labour market, for example.

Recent research has begun to explore the significance of social class to the HE teaching workforce. This has been largely ignored, despite the university student experience being shaped by interactions with teaching and pastoral staff. Research has specifically demonstrated the role social class operates on progression into, and experience of, employment in the middle-class field of academia. Carole Binns, in Experiences of Academics from a Working-Class Heritage, shows how an emotional ambivalence, a reconciliation of working-class family histories and a middle-class present, is a difficult experience for many socially mobile individuals in academia. Many academics from a working-class heritage are shown to speak powerfully of how, despite negative experiences to the self from their fractured classed identities, these very identities enable them to recognise and support working-class students effectively. What Binns concludes from this is the promise that a more diversified higher education workforce might make to the student experience, which is becoming much more diverse as a result of the widening participation agenda. However, perhaps reflecting the problematic relationship between HE and social class inequality, classed transitions into teaching in HE is still a nascent area in need of development. This is despite the precarious nature of social mobility experienced by those from working-class backgrounds in HE. For example, Teresa Crew alludes to the microaggressions and hostile encounters that reveal class dislocation for the working-class and creates difficulties negotiating HE employment for this group.

In this way, the existing evidence has firmly demonstrated the problematic relationship between HE and social inequality, where the former functions both as a site and a source of the latter as well as its panacea.

higher education is likely to function more as a reinforcer and legitimator of ... inequality, wherein the prize of meritocracy is captured overwhelmingly by those from more privileged class backgrounds

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to intensify the inequalities which come to structure the experiences and life chances of all across society, it is of significant importance to recognise the continued relevance of social class to HE today, in research, policy, and practice. Research must continue to innovate in conducting class analyses, recognising that economic indicators of class background overlook its multi-dimensional nature. This will become increasingly important as HE participation and attainment, an indicator often used to capture the non-economic dimensions of class advantage, captures more students from a working-class heritage. At the same time, the way in which classed identities intersect with disability, gender, geography and a number of other identities to constitute the HE experience for students and staff together must be appreciated. Without doing so, HE is likely to function more as a reinforcer and legitimator of such inequality, wherein the prize of meritocracy is captured overwhelmingly by those from more privileged class backgrounds, and those who are able to participate in the social mobility story via HE must live with the imprint of social climbing, (e.g., dislocation from origins and cleft habitus). Thus, there is a need for a pedagogy akin to, what Crew coins, a " working-class academic pedagogy " which will enable HE to render visible the very class inequalities it aims to confront. Placing social class and its changing dynamics, at the heart of researching, understanding, and teaching about equity in HE is therefore an important step in creating a more equitable university in the future post-pandemic world.

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Disclaimer: This post is opinion-based and does not reflect the views of the London School of Economics and Political Science or any of its constituent departments and divisions.

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Image credit: Ben Seymour on Unsplash

About the author

Ross Goldstone

Ross Goldstone is an ESRC-funded PhD candidate at the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University.

Posted In: Shifting Frames

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Is social class relevant in higher education today? | LSE Higher Education

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0 comments | 30 shares Estimated reading time: 10 minutes 0 comments | 30 shares Estimated reading time: 10 minutes Ross Goldstone shines a light on class-based research in higher education and shows how it illuminates social inequity in academia Coronavirus has fundamentally changed the way we live our lives, with the higher education (HE) being one of the myriad areas experiencing large disruption.

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An article by Diane Reay, which explores the transitions to university experienced by working class students in England at a time of growing economic inequality

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Working Class Educational Transitions to University: The Limits of Success

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Working Class Educational Transitions to University: The Limits of Success

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Working class educational transitions to university: The limits of success

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Educational transitions experienced within a context of wide and growing inequalities such as England result in very different transition experiences to those experienced by young people growing up i...

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These links and suggestions in this page are made by our wider researcher community and are not intended as a comprehensive resource bank on EDI themes. The content does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Doctoral College.

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These links and suggestions in this page are made by our wider researcher community and are not intended as a comprehensive resource bank on EDI themes. The content does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Doctoral College.

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The University of Surrey is very proud to stand for what unites us: our shared humanity, and the invaluable contribution each and every one of us makes to our global community. We are committed to providing equality of opportunity for all our students and staff, and to creating an environment in which we can all thrive. We are a community of the mind. Our progress in knowledge, wisdom and understanding can only be underpinned by a diverse and inclusive culture. At the University of Surrey, this is what we strive for. We are united in our commitment against all forms of discrimination. Respect for, and celebration of, each other as individuals is one of our core values.

At the University of Surrey, our ambition and the purpose of our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) work is to achieve equality of opportunity as we recognise and value difference, working together to create a culture of equality and inclusion. We strive for Surrey to be a place where everyone feels welcomed, valued and safe. We are very proud of the diversity within our community and are committed to providing an inclusive environment that offers equal opportunities for all and the chance for everyone to succeed. To achieve excellence, we recognise the value of each individual, enabling and supporting them not only to achieve their maximum potential, but also to understand their own responsibilities in our pursuit of equality. Our vision to be a leading global university relies on our proven ability to attract the best people from the UK and internationally to work and study here; this can only be achieved when we work together to create a truly inclusive culture.

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This book is about disability, so should be in this column rather than the race equality column

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This book is about disability, so should be in this column rather than the race equality column

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Book * 2017

Authors:

Mahadeo A. Sukhai and Chelsea E. Mohler

Book * 2017

Authors:

Mahadeo A. Sukhai and Chelsea E. Mohler

Book description

Creating a Culture of Accessibility in the Sciences provides insights and advice on integrating students with disabilities into the STEM fields. Each chapter features research and ... read full description

Browse content

Table of contents

Description

Creating a Culture of Accessibility in the Sciences provides insights and advice on integrating students with disabilities into the STEM fields. Each chapter features research and best practices that are interwoven with experiential narratives.

The book is reflective of the diversity of STEM disciplines (life and physical sciences, engineering, and mathematics), and is also reflective of cross-disability perspectives (physical, sensory, learning, mental health, chronic medical and developmental disabilities).

It is a useful resource for STEM faculty and university administrators working with students with disabilities, as well as STEM industry professionals interested in accommodating employees with disabilities.

Show more

Creating a Culture of Accessibility in the Sciences provides insights and advice on integrating students with disabilities into the STEM fields. Each chapter features research and best practices that are interwoven with experiential narratives.

The book is reflective of the diversity of STEM disciplines (life and physical sciences, engineering, and mathematics), and is also reflective of cross-disability perspectives (physical, sensory, learning, mental health, chronic medical and developmental disabilities).

It is a useful resource for STEM faculty and university administrators working with students with disabilities, as well as STEM industry professionals interested in accommodating employees with disabilities.

Key Features

Offers a global perspective on making research or work spaces accessible for students with disabilities in the STEM fields

Discusses best practices on accommodating and supporting students and demonstrates how these practices can be translated across disciplines

Enhances faculty knowledge of inclusive teaching practices, adaptive equipment, accessibility features, and accommodations in science laboratories, which would enable the safe participation of students with disabilities

Provides advice for students with disabilities on disclosure and mentoring

Show more

Offers a global perspective on making research or work spaces accessible for students with disabilities in the STEM fields

Discusses best practices on accommodating and supporting students and demonstrates how these practices can be translated across disciplines

Enhances faculty knowledge of inclusive teaching practices, adaptive equipment, accessibility features, and accommodations in science laboratories, which would enable the safe participation of students with disabilities

Provides advice for students with disabilities on disclosure and mentoring

Details

Copyright

Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

You currently don't have access to this book, however you can purchase separate chapters directly from the table of contents or buy the full version.
Purchase the book

Authors

Mahadeo A. Sukhai

University of Toronto and Ontario Cancer Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada

Chelsea E. Mohler

National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS), Ottawa

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Creating a Culture of Accessibility in the Sciences

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Book * 2017 Authors: Mahadeo A. Sukhai and Chelsea E. Mohler Book * 2017 Authors: Mahadeo A. Sukhai and Chelsea E. Mohler Creating a Culture of Accessibility in the Sciences provides insights and advice on integrating students with disabilities into the STEM fields. Each chapter features research and ...

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The findings from the first comprehensive survey of the views and experiences of UK social researchers on issues of diversity and inclusion within the sector.

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Diversity and Inclusion in UK Social Research

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Diversity and Inclusion in UK Social Research

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A podcast aimed at disabled, chronically ill and/or neurodivergent postgraduate research students and early career researchers. Hosted by Lienkie Diedericks, a PGR at King's College London.

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A video resource about supporting Black men in terms of wellbeing and emotional health.

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