Women From Swedish Universities Share Their Experiences Of Harassment

Women from Swedish universities share their experiences of harassment

In the wake of claims that Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein assaulted and raped several actresses, thousands of Swedish women joined the global #MeToo campaign, reports The Local. After numerous stories from numerous fields such as music, politics and theatre have been published, the experiences of women in academia will also be published in one of Sweden’s biggest newspapers. Administrator of Facebook group where some of the stories have been shared, Evin Ismail stated: “The fact that this has been able to go on for so many years in a society we consider equal is deplorable. But now I feel hopeful that these experiences will be taken seriously.”

Greater control of foreign universities in China

After an earlier promise that was supposed to guarantee academic freedom was made, The Chinese Communist Party has ordered foreign-funded universities to install party units and to leave grant decision-making powers to a party official. According to Financial Times, this shows President Xi Jinping’s commitment to securing political control over all levels of education. Since 2003, over 2000 education joint ventures between domestic and foreign universities have been established, and some of them include University of Nottingham Ningbo China, New York University Shanghai and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. 

French president wants to build better university networks in Europe

French president Emmanuel Macron urged fast and coordinated action to create better networks of universities across Europe. A memo sent by French government stresses the importance of research and education funding, and at the same time asks for a support of 27 other European leaders. Macron suggests “emergence by 2024 of around 20 ‘European universities’ that will be based on networks of four to six institutions, in at least three member states.” The memo states that pilot project could be done in September 2018, but it does not define a specific budget. There is a suggestion that each network should get at least 5 to 6 million Euros over five years. This option could also be open to US, UK, or some other non-EU universities.

Photo: Shutterstock

Support us!

All your donations will be used to pay the magazine’s journalists and to support the ongoing costs of maintaining the site.