One in twenty-five students has to deal with transgressive behavior within their study programme. The Education Inspectorate concluded this on Wednesday on the basis of a survey about social safety, which was completed by more than fifteen hundred students.
In half of the incidents, the behavior of staff of the educational institution concerned transgressive behaviour. A quarter of the students who had encountered transgressive behavior did not report this, the survey shows. They have little confidence in the existing complaints procedures, the Inspectorate concludes. “They have the idea, for example, that reporting makes no sense,” says Esther Deursen, director of higher education at the Inspectorate. “Or they don’t know where to turn.”
Of the students surveyed, 8 percent sometimes experienced ‘bullying behaviour’, ‘exclusion’ or ‘discrimination’ in themselves or other students. Also, 7 percent think that students do not always feel free to express their opinion. More than three quarters think that lecturers treat students with ‘respect’.
Hundreds of notifications
The survey is the first national survey into social safety of students in higher education. The investigation was started after the Education Inspectorate received hundreds of reports of transgressive behavior last year, especially in art and fashion courses, such as the Amsterdam Fashion Institute, where NRC previously published.
Also read: Critical report: Amsterdam Fashion Institute is not a safe learning and working environment
In May and June last year, the Inspectorate approached ten thousand students with a questionnaire, spread over universities and colleges. More than fifteen hundred of them, 15 percent, filled it in completely. That is representative, according to the inspectorate, although it is not clear whether the students who did not respond are satisfied with their social safety or not. “You should see this study as a first national exploration,” says Deursen. “We will investigate it further in the near future.”
The vast majority of students surveyed, 96 percent, have no experience with transgressive behaviour. “Good news,” says Deursen. “But the 4% that do have to do with this is a cause for concern. If you calculate that percentage, you are in theory talking about 30,000 students. Every student who goes through this is one too many.”
More view
The Education Inspectorate advocates that universities and universities of applied sciences as well as the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science provide a better and more structural picture of the social safety of students. “There is currently no national system to monitor this,” says Deursen. “We think there should be. We need to gain more insight into it.”
The Inspectorate also wants students seeking help or submitting a complaint to receive better assistance. “The complaints procedures are often difficult to find. That makes the threshold for students very high.”
Also read: All codes of conduct, but the students have nowhere to go
Student organization ISO will also present the results of a national survey into social safety in higher education in the spring. According to chair Lisanne de Roos, more than 7,600 students took part in this. “The first results show hundreds of incidents related to bullying, discrimination or transgressive behaviour. Enough cause for concern.”
Since the #metoo movement, the number of complaints about transgressive behavior at university complaints committees has increased, more than a year ago an inventory of NRC† Between 2015 and 2020, 99 complaints related to transgressive behavior were filed. About one in four complaints was (partially) upheld.