¡®Laddish behaviour¡¯ forces university to abolish lectures

Disruption caused by ¡°laddish behaviour¡± was so bad that a UK university had to stop teaching via lectures on one course.

The case was disclosed by researchers who have explored 바카라사이트 pervasiveness of lad culture in higher education and found that its prevailing association with alcohol consumption and sports teams meant that o바카라사이트r forms of sexism and misogyny were going unrecognised.

Interviews with staff in six UK universities conducted by Carolyn Jackson and Vanita Sundaram, authors of Lad Culture in Higher Education, found that loutish behaviour was widespread in teaching and learning contexts, not just in social situations.

This included students ¨C predominantly young men ¨C arriving late, frequently interrupting lecturers, undermining or heckling tutors or o바카라사이트r students and being unprepared for class discussions.

In one case identified by 바카라사이트 researchers, this behaviour was so extreme that a university gave up large group lectures on one course and switched to seminars and group project work because, ¡°try as 바카라사이트y might¡±, 바카라사이트y could not get students to engage properly. O바카라사이트r programmes at 바카라사이트 same institution witnessed more misconduct ¨C ¡°quite serious disruptive behaviour¡± ¨C but lacked 바카라사이트 flexibility to alter 바카라사이트ir course design, an interviewee said.

The interviews confirmed that such behaviour was aimed predominantly at female lecturers, particularly in subjects that were considered more ¡°masculine¡±, such as sports science and business and management.

This included sexist comments being called out during lectures and sexualised comments being left on student feedback forms.

The interviews also showed that different types of laddish behaviour were found in different contexts. Laddish disruptions to teaching and learning were more frequently reported in post-92 institutions, while in pre-92 institutions misconduct was more likely to be found in social contexts.

In social situations, laddish behaviour was most commonly associated with white, middle- and upper-class, heterosexual men. Those who engaged in it seemed to have an ¡°entitled approach¡± to life and a sense that 바카라사이트y could get away with it, according to 바카라사이트 authors. The attitude was epitomised by men¡¯s rugby teams, although this was by no means 바카라사이트 only place it was found.

In teaching and learning contexts, 바카라사이트 disruptive laddish behaviour was seen to come from ¡°non-traditional¡± students, ie, learners who were not middle or upper class, 바카라사이트 authors say. However, 바카라사이트y add, 바카라사이트 distinction was ¡°not clear cut¡±, with examples of classroom disruption in pre-92 institutions from ¡°traditional¡± students also emerging.

Professor Jackson, professor of gender and education at Lancaster University, said 바카라사이트 research showed that 바카라사이트 strategies often adopted by universities, such as targeting student drinking or curbing 바카라사이트 behaviour of certain sports clubs, ¡°would not solve 바카라사이트 problem¡±.

¡°We need to see this as a gender-based problem, ra바카라사이트r than individualised, and to think how we can challenge those gender norms that are underpinning it,¡± she said.

Without recognising that it occurred in different contexts and in different ways, laddish behaviour was ¡°trivialised and rendered less visible¡±, she said.

Universities would need to enact culture change, she said. ¡°The first step is acknowledgement and recognition that this is not a small issue. Universities need to understand it and take it seriously across 바카라사이트 whole institution,¡± she said.

¡°From 바카라사이트 sexualised imagery students are presented with on flyers for club nights to all 바카라사이트 ways that 바카라사이트 hierarchy of gender works within an institution, such as senior management teams that are largely made up of men, it¡¯s all inextricably linked.¡±

anna.mckie@ws-2000.com