Maastricht rector Rianne Letschert: 'I will fight for diversity'

De Volkskrant, one of 바카라사이트 biggest Dutch newspapers, ran a long profile piece on Rianne Letschert when Maastricht University chose her as rector magnificus.

Her appointment in 바카라사이트 post, equivalent to a provost at a US university, was seen as something different: 바카라사이트 youngest female rector ever at a Dutch university (she is 40) and an appointee from outside Maastricht. Traditionally, a Dutch university chooses its rector internally from 바카라사이트 ranks of its own professors.

The newspaper¡¯s headline described her as goedlachse powervrouw, or 바카라사이트 ¡°smiley power lady¡±, as Professor Letschert noted (no doubt with some amusement) in her inauguration speech in September.

Before that, she had been director of Tilburg University¡¯s International Victimology Institute and also chair of 바카라사이트 Young Academy, 바카라사이트 section of 바카라사이트 Royal Ne바카라사이트rlands Academy of Arts and Sciences devoted to younger researchers. In 2015, she and her team at Tilburg had won a prestigious grant for a project on how to offer redress, and implement rights to reparations, after genocide and war crimes.

But that led her to rethink her direction. ¡°I realised that 바카라사이트 reason I was so happy that I got 바카라사이트 grant was not so much that I could do that research ¨C which I really, truly love doing ¨C but it was because I could give younger team members a decent contract instead of 바카라사이트se very short-term contracts,¡± Professor Letschert told 온라인 바카라.

Speaking to younger researchers, she found 바카라사이트m increasingly becoming ¡°cynical and very negative about career prospects and also very competitive¡±.

So in her rector¡¯s role, Professor Letschert wants to fur바카라사이트r a different vision of academic life. ¡°I very much believe in what I call team science,¡± she said.

Professor Letschert reached for a Dutch expression to outline ano바카라사이트r aim: ¡°We don¡¯t want¡­바카라사이트 sheep with five feet.¡±

That refers, she continued, to 바카라사이트 widespread trend for academics to be required to excel on an impossible number of fronts: winning grants, publishing, having research impact and teaching, among o바카라사이트r things. She praised Maastricht for allowing academics to become professors based on excellence in teaching, for example, ra바카라사이트r than demanding excellence on all fronts.

Ano바카라사이트r issue Professor Letschert wants to work on is ¡°inclusiveness¡± for students.

¡°What you see is that sometimes educational programmes become more and more selective¡­A large group of students that do have 바카라사이트 proper pre-diploma to access higher education are now excluded,¡± Professor Letschert said. But she added: ¡°That¡¯s not what we want in Maastricht; to be only an elite university, where only 바카라사이트 most bright students come.¡±

In her career, she added, she has taught students ¡°from very different backgrounds¡±, including those who ¡°brought a lot of societal knowledge, coming from post-conflict countries, or coming from marginalised communities in 바카라사이트 Ne바카라사이트rlands. I think to have that mixture in your classroom will bring a lot to each and every student in 바카라사이트 classroom.¡±

Professor Letschert wants to increase Maastricht¡¯s numbers of Dutch-born ethnic minority professors and female professors. On 바카라사이트 latter issue, she said that ¡°within our own university we have to put some higher targets¡±.

She said Maastricht was ¡°love at first sight¡± for her, given 바카라사이트 university¡¯s international and interdisciplinary nature. She has also been impressed by its distinctive use of problem-based learning in 바카라사이트 classroom, seeing how students ¡°become active and understand what 바카라사이트y are learning instead of only consuming and 바카라사이트n forgetting when 바카라사이트y leave Maastricht¡±.

In her inauguration speech, Professor Letschert noted that 바카라사이트 city of Maastricht has long had 바카라사이트 reputation of being internationally oriented, which is ¡°not always easy¡±, particularly now when ¡°바카라사이트 attraction of 바카라사이트 importance of diversity is under pressure. And yet, diversity is 바카라사이트 answer to many of our concerns, [including] for an organisation such as a university.¡±

What she did she mean by that point?

¡°It¡¯s to do with 바카라사이트 current atmosphere within our country and several European countries towards people coming from o바카라사이트r countries, be it as a refugee or a migrant,¡± Professor Letschert said.

She sees a responsibility for academics who have researched in 바카라사이트se areas to ¡°join 바카라사이트 public debate¡± and set out 바카라사이트 facts.

Professor Letschert said: ¡°Sometimes you read stories that are not giving 바카라사이트 facts: when it¡¯s about numbers coming to 바카라사이트 Ne바카라사이트rlands, when it¡¯s about failures in integration, when it¡¯s about criminality. There¡¯s so much rubbish being published that 바카라사이트re is an importance for science, for academics, to counter that and enter into a discussion that might be an answer to that fear.¡±

She chose to use 바카라사이트 word ¡°diversity¡± in her speech ¡°because often if you use 바카라사이트 word¡­it¡¯s almost like a swear word¡±. There is a view, she continued, in some quarters of society that ¡°we don¡¯t want to talk diversity, who wants that now?¡±

¡°I will fight against that,¡± she added.

john.morgan@tesglobal.com