The following news release may be of interest to CGF and Geogfem members.
Further information can be obtained from the AUT web pages at:
<http://www.aut.org.uk/news/press00/pr0018.htm>
Cheers,
lawrence
AUT News Release
17 April 2000
Halt called to research assessment
scheme
The system that monitors university research
discriminates against
women and should be stopped immediately.
The rules need urgent
change, says the Association of University
Teachers today.
Sex discrimination is embedded in university
research
assessment.
Assessment of research in universities
should be halted immediately
and the rules revised, to minimise the risk
of discriminating against
women.
The Association of University Teachers is
calling upon the funding
councils for higher education to stop the
current research assessment
exercise (RAE). All the rules and
procedures, at both national and
institutional level, should be subjected to
a rigorous equal opportunities
audit, says the association.
The audit should be overseen by the Equal
Opportunities Commission.
An employment tribunal last week found the
London School of
Economics guilty of directly discriminating
against a female internal job
applicant, Dr Helen Mercer, and guilty of
indirect discrimination against
her in relation to the research assessment
exercise.
The research assessment exercise collects
information on individual
academics in their own departments and
assesses the overall quality of
the research. This leads to a departmental
rating and funding is
awarded accordingly. Every department's
research reputation depends
on this scheme.
The research output from women who take
maternity leave, for example,
can be affected and can lead to those
individuals being excluded from
the exercise. This can lower their academic
status and severely retard
their careers.
Evidence considered by the tribunal showed
that although there were
fewer women academics than men in the
subject area an even lower
proportion of women was entered for research
assessment. A woman,
therefore, had less of a chance of being
entered for the exercise than
did a man. Dr Mercer was thus the subject of
indirect discrimination.
The flaws in the research assessment
exercise relating to equal
opportunities have been identified by the
Association of University
Teachers, but the funding councils - while
expressing concern - have
not changed the rules significantly.
David Triesman, general secretary of the
Association of University
Teachers, said:
'There is nothing unusual about Dr Mercer's
position at LSE. It is
reasonable to conclude that the RAE in
general directly
discriminates against women. This
employment tribunal case
opens the floodgates to hundreds of other
similar cases.
'Preparations for the next RAE, due for
April 2001, should be halted
immediately. All RAE rules and procedures,
at both national and
institutional level, should be subjected to
a rigorous equal
opportunities audit, to be carried out under
the auspices of the
EOC.
'The next RAE should take place only when
the inherent
discrimination in the system is rooted out.
To proceed with the
RAE in its current form, ignoring the
warnings of the Mercer case,
would be grossly irresponsible and
potentially extremely
expensive for UK higher education.'
Lawrence D. Berg, Ph.D.
Department of Geography
University of Victoria
PO Box 3050
Victoria, BC, Canada V8W 3P5
Facsimile: (250) 721-6216, Telephone: (250) 592-2278
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
http://members.home.net/lawrencedberg/
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