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Bath Spa University is conducting an internal inquiry into claims that it turned down an application for research on gender reassignment reversal because it was "potentially politically incorrect" and would attract criticism on social media.
James Caspian, a psychotherapist who specialises in working with transgender people, proposed the research about "detransitioning" to the university in south-west England, which, he said, initially approved the application.
When he went back with his preliminary findings that suggested growing numbers of young people, particularly women, were regretting gender reassignment, Bath Spa said his proposal would have to be resubmitted to the ethics committee, which rejected it.
Caspian, who enrolled on an MA course at the university, said he was "astonished" by the decision and had sought legal advice.
"The fundamental reason given was that it might cause criticism of the research on social media, and criticism of the research would be criticism of the university. They also added it's better not to offend people," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Monday.
I was going to add some snark here but they pretty well covered making a mockery of academia for me.
Source: The Guardian
Also at: The Times
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 10 2017, @12:39PM (1 child)
> I don't know a study that lets the student choose a research topic upon enrolling.
One method that works is to bring your own funding. I know of one PhD that was done this way, at a large state university:
* He worked for several years after completing a Masters degree (engineering)
* Applied for and won a federal(USA) scholarship from Department of Transportation, his employer wrote one of the required recommendations, as did faculty from his Master's program
* The award included funding for tuition, books, and a living stipend
* Student discussed his chosen topic with faculty, got permission and agreed on scope
* PhD completed a few years later, combined with part time work at the university that was funded by a fellowship from his employer
But this is far different from most engineering PhD's that I'm aware of, where the student's funding is completely dependent on research funding that is obtained by their faculty advisor. If the advisor changes research interest (gets a different grant) it is entirely possible that the student will have to scrap completed research and start over with a different PhD topic.
(Score: 2) by FakeBeldin on Tuesday October 10 2017, @07:00PM
Ah! Continental crosstalk!
PhD's are not a study where I am from - they're a job. Indeed, if you bring your own funding for a PhD position, then I can imagine this scenario.
It might even be possible otherwise, although nowadays virtually all PhD funding around here comes from projects which outlines the expected research.
(Sidenote: the person in the story enrolled for an "MA", which I took to be a Masters of Art. For master's programmes, I'd expect the curriculum to be fixed and not tailored to each individual student.)