Universities should ban artworks and names that lead to partial aggression

news | Editors

12 July 2021 | OCW has developed a guide to help universities become more diverse. This guideline was prepared in part because the European Union makes increased diversity a requirement for European research funding.

In the Opening of the academic year 2020-2021 Minister van Engelshoven presented a diversified plan of action for higher education. For example, the NWO’s grant making toolkit should be more comprehensive, there should be broad monitoring of progress in diversity, and Award-A system for diversifying research funding.

The majority in the House was against the Minister of Diversity Plan

room was severe criticism of the plan They came up with a series of parliamentary motions that severely resulted in the minister being stripped of a plan. The right-wing parliamentary majority prevented diversity from being tracked by numbers and becoming a requirement for research funding by the NWO.

About a year later, an advisory committee that had to advise the minister on achieving diversity goals nonetheless came up with guidelines. The Minister writes to the Chamber of Deputies that the European Commission obliges institutions to obtain certification from 2022 gender equality plan (GEP). If the institutions do not comply with this, Dutch universities will not be eligible for research funding from Europe – an amount of up to 5 billion euros annually. The Minister therefore tasked the Advisory Committee with developing a guideline using the GEP as a guideline.

Not only white women, heterosexual, CIS countries

The committee writes in the guideline that this plan should not exclusively target white, heterosexual, non-disabled women who are from the social middle class and hold a permanent position. Attention should be paid to the great diversity within the group of female academics, generally for non-binary and transgender people. The committee is still studying a plan to give women a better place in science. “Measures in this category are mainly aimed at increasing

Gender diversity in various scientific fields and hierarchical layers. This may include the creation of special positions for female scientists, but also measures aimed at increasing the visibility of women on commissions, commissions and external outreach.

Collecting data on diversity and employee gender is a prerequisite for eligibility for research funding.

More curricular attention to diversity

Another measure aims to change the cultural and structural organizational processes that produce and perpetuate gender inequality. In addition, science and education must become more inclusive by introducing more topics into the curriculum that deal with diversity, gender equality, and intersectionality.

Higher education institutions must also monitor the physical environment. For example, it is necessary to check art, names of buildings and photos that can cause petty aggression. In addition, gender-neutral toilets must be present in the premises.

Settings are free to make their own choices here

In education and research, dimensions of diversity must be integrated into education, such as gender, race, nationality and social class. The Minister wrote to the House of Representatives that institutions are free to make their own choices in this regard in order to achieve an ambitious JEP.

Minister Van Engelshoven is pleased with this guideline that allows organizations to create an ambitious diversity plan themselves. “I am pleased that this how-to guide provides concrete starting points for all organizations, regardless of how far they have progressed in developing their own diversity policy. In this way, all organizations can design a GEP that meets the requirements and, if desired, can take the next step towards a broader diversity plan. .”