Harassment on the grounds of gender and sexual orientation is the most widely spread type of harassment both among students and lecturers. These results were revealed by the study entitled ‘Multiple discrimination in higher education’ conducted upon the initiative of the Lithuanian Union of Students with support of Dutch Embassy in Vilnius.

Students of 20 universities and 19 colleges of Lithuania participated in the study. The results of the study represent the opinion of 182,081 students.

The newest results of the study revealed that between 39.4 and 76.8 per cent of students attending institutions of higher education constantly experience discriminatory harassment. Most often it is harassment on the grounds of gender and sexual orientation. Between 12.9 and 49.9 per cent of the respondents said they heard lecturers tell insulting jokes.  Most often lecturers make derisive remarks about women (49.9 per cent). There were no statistically significant differences between the responses of students studying for a bachelor’s degree and those studying for a master’s degree.

‘The fact that discriminatory harassment is widely spread both among students and among lecturers once again proves that stereotypes related to gender and sexual orientation, including homophobic attitudes, are deeply rooted in the academic society. The fact that both master and bachelor students share the same attitudes towards variety shows that institutions of higher education in essence have no influence on the formation of cultural values’, – says Vytautas Valentinavičius, the Social Integration Coordinator of the Lithuanian Union of Students.

Students perceive sexism as a normal phenomenon while humiliating environment is perceived by them as something acceptable rather than discriminatory. The revealed situation proves that a systematic education of the academic society is lacking.

According to Vytautas Valentinavičius, the most effective way to reduce discrimination in higher education is the universal education of the academic society representing higher education, including the formation of respective values and continuous analysis of the situation. It is noteworthy that the respondents also had their say on the establishment of special commissions at the institutions of higher education that would monitor the overall situation and deal with the (feasible) complaints regarding discriminatory situations.

For a more detailed summary of the survey in English, please visit the link.