A Heriot-Watt academic is at the heart of a row over freedom of speech and political interference in research funding.
Kate Sang, a professor of gender and employment studies, was named in a letter published by Michelle Donelan, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology on 28 October.
The letter expressed her “disgust and outrage” at certain academics “sharing extremist views on social media,” relating to the conflict in Gaza.
Sang was a member of a newly appointed expert advisory group on equality, diversity, and inclusion at Research England, a research council responsible for allocating taxpayer funding to research projects in English higher education institutions.
This group aims to help Research England develop and implement an equality, diversity, and inclusion action plan.
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On 30 October, Ottoline Leyser, Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) – the non-departmental government body of which Research England is a part – announced that this advisory group had been suspended “with immediate effect” and an investigation launched into Donelan’s “specific areas of concern.”
These areas of concern include a post on X, formerly known as twitter, in which Sang allegedly described the UK’s “crackdown on Hamas support in the UK” [as] “disturbing.”
This post has since been deleted and Sang was unavailable for comment.
Alongside worries about specific social media posts made by academics, Donelan also expressed concern that: “UKRI has been going beyond the requirements of equality law in ways which add burden and bureaucracy to funding requirements.”
Responding to the suspension of the advisory group, on 1 November, Jo Grady, General Secretary of the University and College Union (UCU), described Donelan’s letter as a: “flagrantly political attack on efforts to address systemic inequality in both our research sphere and wider public life, by a minister in search of a headline.
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“It is deeply disappointing that, instead of pushing back against the inappropriate and disproportionate demands which were a thinly veiled excuse to attack wider equality, diversity and inclusion efforts, UKRI has capitulated to unwarranted pressure and in doing so offered validity to this intervention by opting to suspend the advisory board.
“It is absolutely paramount to the protection of academic freedom that bodies that administer research funding are able to operate free from the whim of ministerial diktat. UKRI’s actions over the last three days have given academics cause to think carefully about whether, given the politicisation of the organisation, they wish to continue to serve on UKRI bodies.”
The UCU has threatened to call for its members to resign from voluntary positions within UKRI, unless the suspension of the advisory board is reversed.
In a recent collective statement, UCU Edinburgh has called upon Peter Mathieson, Principal of the University of Edinburgh, to: “reassure all staff and students in an official statement that speech about Israel/Palestine … be it through teaching, events, demonstrations or communications – will not be surveilled or securitized.”
“Michelle Donelan” by Gareth Milner is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.