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Less than a quarter of adults support ‘decolonising’ university courses, a poll showed yesterday.
Lecturers are trying to make reading lists less ‘male, pale and stale’ over fears they alienate ethnic minority students.
However the survey of 2,000 people found just 23 per cent support the move, 31 per cent are against and 33 per cent undecided.
One of the most fervent decolonising campaigns was the ‘Rhodes Must Fall’ movement at Oxford
Advocates say traditional courses have been ‘colonised’ by white European thinkers and minority students need to ‘see themselves’ in all subjects, including history, English and even maths.
But the study, by the Higher Education Policy Institute, shows little support for the ‘removal of Western-centric viewpoints’ in academia.
The think-tank said universities should frame the issue ‘in a more neutral way’, to allow students to choose between Western and non-Western texts.
When asked about ‘broadening the curriculum’ to take in materials ‘from across the world’ without removing anything, 67 per cent approved and just 4 per cent were against. The report said: ‘People are more inclined to support progressive changes when they are framed as a broadening of perspectives rather than the removal of Western-centric viewpoints or decolonisation.
‘Our advice is to move away from slogans which the public either do not generally understand, or are hostile to, and present activity in a way which seeks to build broad coalitions of support.’
However the report provoked anger from the University and College Union, which represents lecturers. General secretary Jo Grady claimed the ‘hostility’ of the general public toward decolonisation showed ‘how far we have to go to tackle systemic racism’.
She said: ‘Decolonising curricula benefits students from all backgrounds,
