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The typical isolation experienced when working toward a PhD, and dis-
cussed in some detail throughout this book, is intensified in the case of
ethnic minority students. They may experience discrimination by staff
and other students, which can take the form of unfounded perceptions
that emphasize deficits in abilities and underachievement due to their
background and culture, and incorporate ideas that, for example, black
individuals cannot be as clever as their white peers. They can feel isolated
from their peers; isolated from white students with whom relationships
are often strained, isolated within largely white institutions, and isolated
from parents and parental cultures. Black individuals are conspicuous by
their absence from this level of education in the UK, so there is a clear lack
of role models for students from a wide range of ethnic minorities. This
serves to make relationships with staff more difficult for them than it is for
most other students. Gundara (1997) gives a full discussion of the cultural
issues involved.
Black students may have to deal with racist taunts, but other minorities
also have problems. Jewish students contend with anti-Semitism and dis-
abled students struggle to establish their independence. Muslim students,
both home and overseas, may find themselves confronted by unexpected
problems. Since 9/11 (the events in New York on 11 September 2001) the
world has become more afraid than ever of the possibility of attacks by
terrorists. This fear has developed into a form of Islamophobia which
manifests itself into a suspicion of Arabs and conveys in particular a
stereotype of Muslims as potential terrorists.
Many of the suspects held captive by the Americans, as well as some who
succeeded in their suicide bombing of the World Trade Center, were
known to be university students. This mistrust of people who fit such a
170 HOW TO GET A PhD
stereotype may result in harassment of students from these ethnic minor-
ities especially when newspapers, radio and TV broadcasts are full of items
about the police stopping and searching young Muslims. The suspicion is
likely to be greatest in politically-sensitive subjects such as nuclear physics
or aeronautics.
Even before the current rise in Islamic extremism, University Jewish and
Israel societies were also facing difficulties. Worries about the threat of
harassment or attack prevented some Jewish students from joining. In a
few universities they were unable to join these societies because of student
union anti-Zionist action which had resulted in their closure.
For these reasons many minority students may be feeling cut off from
the main group which would have given them the much needed peer
support we recommend for all students. It is doubtful that students will
tell their supervisors about any of these problems so supervisors need
to demonstrate their understanding of the problems and endeavour to
provide greater than usual social and emotional support.
Women students
Even though women research students are no longer a small minority in
most subjects, there can still be problems of gender difference in the
supervisor student relationship. Women are clearly visible and should not
be treated as token presences in order for the department to prove that
they are not sexist, but do practice equal opportunities. Supervisors should
ensure that the allocation of scarce resources such as money for conference
attendance or part-time, paid research or teaching work does not
discriminate against any group.
You as a supervisor should be aware that there are a number of different
ways in which female students may need extra support. In a review of the
literature on gender differences in behaviour in small groups, Conrad and
Phillips (1995) found clear evidence that in mixed working groups men
tended to dominate. You should therefore make particular efforts to
encourage your female students to speak up in seminars and discussions.
In the not unusual situation of a male academic supervising a female
student, it may be the case that the supervisor believes (wrongly) that
women are more emotional than men or feels that they would not know
how to cope with tears if they occurred, and so limit their criticism. In this
situation female students may not receive detailed feedback on their work.
Then the male student is given an advantage denied to his female col-
league through no fault of her own. He will know what to do to avoid
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