Universities have been infiltrated by ‘chilling’ diversity culture, warns Scots academic

Universities have been infiltrated by a ‘chilling’ diversity culture that is stifling research into controversial issues such as puberty blockers, a major report warns.

The review, commissioned by the last Tory government, said academics are being ‘bullied, harassed and blocked from career progression’ if they dare to question transgender ideology.

It says Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) staff are ‘over-reaching’ and sometimes even ‘generate harassment’ against academics.

It warns many EDI departments have been captured by trans activists, and calls for their power to be scaled back.

The 433-page document, the most extensive research of its kind, also records dozens of personal accounts of academics being shut down.

In one example, a paper was rejected by numerous journals because reviewers ‘objected to the findings’ that puberty blockers may not be safe.

Its writer, Professor Sallie Baxendale, a consultant clinical neuropsychologist, was told her research ‘risked stigmatising an already stigmatised group’.

Another academic told how they had been ‘ostracised’ by a colleague for ‘providing balance’ during a seminar discussion of puberty blockers.

University of York students hold a protest on campus prior to a talk by women’s rights campaigner Julie Bindel

Robert Gordon University academic Sarah Pedersen said the attacks against her were ‘chilling’ and were all but ignored by the Scottish government.

The report accuses universities of presiding over ‘systemic and institutionalised suppression’ of academic freedom, with ‘far-reaching chilling effects’.

Titled ‘Barriers to research on sex and gender’, it is led by Alice Sullivan, Professor of Sociology at the UCL Social Research Institute.

She said: ‘Researchers investigating vital issues have been subjected to sustained campaigns of intimidation simply for acknowledging the biological and social importance of sex.

‘When fundamental issues cannot be investigated or debated openly, this undermines our academic institutions, it hurts individuals and it compromises the integrity of research.’

The paper is the second instalment of a review originally commissioned by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology under the Tories.

The first instalment, published in March, found that biological sex had been erased from official data in the police, NHS and even the military.

Among the many testimonies is that of Aberdeen-born Professor Kathleen Stock, who was hounded out of her job at Sussex University in 2021 for her gender critical views.

And Professor of communication and media at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Sarah Pedersen told how she came under attack because of her gender-critical views.

Sarah Pedersen, professor of communication and media at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen warned of the ‘chilling effect’ of politics in the university sector

She warned of the ‘chilling effect’ on the university sector, and said: ‘I don’t think the Scottish Government has helped in the slightest.

‘There has been a dereliction of duty towards things like freedom of speech and academic freedom.

‘The statements made by, for example, Nicola Sturgeon about gender-critical women have definitely cast those of us who research the subject as being on the wrong side.’

While she praised Robert Gordon University for supporting her and academic freedom, Prof Pedersen said other universities north of the Border had not been as supportive.

She said: ‘This report clearly demonstrates the chilling effect that the cancellation of high-profile gender-critical academics has had on the whole sector.

‘My personal experiences of disruption, no-platforming and personal attacks have impacted not just my academic career but also my work for third-sector organisations, who were warned away from working with me.’

She told how she was attending one event at the University of Edinburgh which included prominent feminist author Julie Bindel.

Prof Pedersen said: ‘We had an hour-long security briefing, which was one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever sat through – discussing duck and cover and what to do when we were attacked by the audience.’

The latest report highlights concerns that EDI departments are being used as ‘levers for activists pursuing agendas which are not compatible with the truth-seeking mission of universities’.

It says EDI policies have a ‘tendency’ to ‘promote highly contentious theories such as gender-identity theory as unchallengeable fact’.

Universities are also tolerating ‘toxic’ behaviour by ‘a small minority of university staff’ who ‘de-platform’ gender-critical academics, it says.

And it adds: ‘The targets of these campaigns have disproportionately been lesbians.’

There are also concerns about ‘ethics committees’, which ‘use their positions to impose particular viewpoints or to block research that they dislike’.

Giving evidence to the report, Professor Stock detailed the long campaign against her including one incident in 2020 when she ‘became aware of a Sussex student’s social media account in which they referred approvingly to my death’.

The image was of a man with a gun to his dead complete with the words: ‘Lay your weary head down Kathleen’. She made a complaint to the university, but was never informed of its outcome.

Prof Stock told how she had been ‘subject to a sustained campaign of intimidation from protestors on campus’ in September and October 2021 who said they would ‘come to campus every day until I was fired or resigned’.

She said: ‘Posters were placed in major thoroughfares describing me as a transphobe; stickers saying the same were placed in the bathrooms I used; a manifesto defaming me was distributed throughout my building; an open day was disrupted with a large protest, graffiti and flares, and there were several sub-protests.

‘The nature of the protest was widely described in the Press at the time. In tandem with a statement by Sussex branch of UCU that expressed approval of the campaign, I was eventually caused to resign.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The Scottish Government fully supports individuals’ rights to freedom of expression and believes universities to be places where freedom of expression should always be promoted and fostered – but this should be done in a courteous and respectful manner.

‘Universities in Scotland are expected to comply with relevant legal requirements, and carefully consider existing Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance on freedom of expression for higher education providers in Scotland.’

A UK Government spokesman said: ‘We are taking strong action to protect academic freedom and free speech, which are fundamental to our world-leading universities.

‘This includes introducing new duties on universities to ensure they are robust in promoting and protecting free speech on campus.

‘It also comes alongside the firm steps the Office for Students is already taking, through fines and new guidance, to ensure universities remain beacons of academic freedom.’

A spokesman for Universities UK, which represents vice chancellors, said: ‘We agree that universities must protect and defend academic freedom and freedom of speech.

‘They are bound to do so by law and, in England, there is a new regulatory approach under the Freedom of Speech Act which is about to come into force.

‘These are complex issues. In practice universities are bound by law to protect the free speech of individuals who have very different views on contentious topics.

‘They are required both to allow and facilitate protest, and to prevent that protest creating an intimidatory or chilling environment on campus or from preventing staff and students from pursuing their work and studies.

‘We will carefully consider this report as part of our work in supporting universities as they navigate these difficult issues.’