My new paper published today looks at attempts by the Quality Assurance Association for Higher Education (QAA) to impose ideas from "critical pedagogy" across university curricula in the UK, and looks at what happens if you follow their advice... 🧵

bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/be… The QAA insists that all university subject areas cover Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Education (EEE) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

Which is more important sex or gender identity?

In a study published today we used data on non-binary athletes' performance in road races to compare the power of gender-identity theory and gender-critical theory. kcl.ac.uk/news/indicator… It is generally accepted that sports performance depends on a mixture of biological and social factors. According to gender-identity theory, gender-identity is much more important than sex in determining almost all outcomes and this should include mass participation sport.

Why Jo Grady is misunderstanding the academic freedom argument 🧵

https://twitter.com/ucu/status/1721604927640732129

In Ireland, to receive research funding universities must agree that "individuals have the right to determine and affirm their gender".

This flies in the face of academic freedom, but by putting together a panel of identitarians, UKRI was setting the UK up to head the same way.

Mathematicians are coming under pressure to "decolonise mathematics". But what could this even mean?

In our new paper, posted today on the maths Arxiv, we review the literature on decolonising mathematics to find out. 🧵

arxiv.org/abs/2310.13594 The common theme we found is that we should teach mathematics and science are just "one way of knowing" which should not be seen as superior to other such as faith and tradition. Many authors we studied go much further and even claim that maths and science were created to oppress

🧵The research I wished to conduct into athletes' views on trans inclusion has been blocked by the King's College London (KCL) ethics committee. The letter rejecting the application stated that by using the word "males" I was misgendering athletes. telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/03/2… The proposal began: "The principle aim of the project is to find the views of athletes and volunteers on the question of when males should be allowed to compete in the female category in athletics."

This sentence was not even part of the proposed survey.

NHS Health England Education are making a dramatically political statement about trans rights. This is bad for female patients who value their privacy and dignity. But in this thread I want to consider the impact upon employees. 🧵

https://twitter.com/NHS_HealthEdEng/status/1592163203550957568

The NHS HEE statement reveals that they advise their staff to be "trans allies". But what does it take to be an ally. Here are some examples from their document "How to be a trans ally"

I and a number of colleagues have written an open letter objecting to attempts to politicise mathematics degrees by requiring them to take a 'decolonized' perspective. 🧵

timeshighereducation.com/news/professor… The QAA subject benchmark for mathematics, statistics and operational research (MSOR) is intended to provide a common understanding of what students can expect from a UK degree in these areas
and what employers, and wider society, can expect these students to learn.

1/ It’s not normal for a company CEO to email all staff tell them there are certain views they should not express. But that’s what Guy Goodwin (@GuyNatCen) of @NatCen did over sex and the census. 2/ Companies like NatCen have policies on their employees communications that let them know the boundaries on how they may engage in public debate without risking the companies reputation for impartiality.