Thursday 7th May 2026
Blog Page 827

Men’s fashion or mother’s fashion?

Skye Humbert
-
0
Men’s fashion or mother’s fashion?

An unspoken fashion phenomenon has come to my attention. The one question we’ve all been asking: in the midst of studying vigorously in the Rad Cam, swiping constantly left on tinder and complaining about being generalised by woman as ‘trash’: where does a guy find the time to buy his clothes? Apparently, he doesn’t, relying on the boundless generosity of a mother’s love. In a less sarcastic tone, blankly, I’ve come across an astonishing number of guys whose parents still buy their clothes.

This is in no way instigating the battle of the sexes; merely appreciating motherly instincts supporting the ambitions of our brothers, our friends and our comrades, by keeping their drawers well stocked with all the socks they could desire. There is a promising investigation here: how can so many men find the apparent confidence to hit on any girl they see on Bridge Thursday, or show their underwear at a crew date, yet fall short when it comes to actually buying said underwear. Most of the guys I approached with the question of whether their parents by their clothes hit me with a scowl saying, “nah I’m twenty, I’m a big boy innit” and others asked defensively, “do I look like my mum buys my clothes?” – to which I would like to point out I am not slating our good mother’s tastes in men’s fashion at all. Yet at 20+, they’re out there, receiving package after package of new clothes they didn’t choose themselves.

There are some fairly nuanced distinctions to point out. First, I’ll concede there are the boys who receive their clothes as a present: they may regularly buy their own clothes, but their parents keep them stocked up on birthdays and Christmases. This is probably something to do with 20-year-old males being the most difficult species to buy gifts for – gifting socks has never been so trendy. Next, the boys on a tight budget; accepting, understandably as students, reimbursements for the clothes they buy themselves (though I appreciate this is a system lots of students follow, of any gender). And finally, we have the boys that, at over 20, still rely on someone else to dress and clothe them. Perhaps after years wearing the same black-tie suits at school, being expected to pick out regular clothes is a far too taxing endeavour.

Having trailed through several popular men’s fashion stores it became clear to me there was something draining about sifting through the same basic printed t-shirts, jackets with and without hoods, and making an uninspiring choice between chinos or jeans. Perhaps the issue is that it’s plain boring to go shopping. The choice to express yourself beyond wearing a North Face jacket or a Barber one doesn’t inspire the amount of interest that the variety in women’s wear can offer. For women, the excitement of shopping comes from the possibility of finding an absolute gem, searching for the perfect outfit for the next event or even just buying some cute underwear for some yourself for some good ol’ self-love. But when night and day outfits are interchangeable for men, what’s there to look for? ANOTHER JACK WILLS SHIRT? How many can one man have?

So where does my feeble womanly opinion come into all this? As with many other girls who have but their bare animal instincts to go on when looking for a mate, the way a man dresses does, as they say, ‘bits’. Dressing up or dressing down, a man’s attire can add or subtract volumes to their attractiveness. Fashion is an expression of who you are: I can tell what kind of music or films you like, how much money you’re pretending you don’t have and probably which college you’re from (if all you wear is stash, stash, stash – NOT a trend). But this allusion of cool sophisticated costume is entirely destroyed if I realise you didn’t buy the clothes yourself. It shows a certain amount of contempt for fashion, like it’s not worth your time, and ergo my own interest in fashion is a pitiful, unworthy interest. Like I said, this is not a battle of the sexes…just my own bitterness against the fashion patriarchy. It’s almost, dare I say, childish? And lazy? I hope there are some people out there who know what I’m trying to say.

Yet I save a nod to the men out there carefully collecting their vintage garms and wavy shirts in an effort to appear cool, and probably ripping off Morrissey or Buddy Holly in the process – of course this isn’t the only acceptable trend in men’s fashion, it’s just probable they chose these clothes themselves.

Men should take pride in their appearance and the clothes they buy. They should wear what they want to wear – that’s what we should all do. No one should tell them how to dress – not their mothers or peers, not even their girlfriends who already have to be seen with their terrible haircuts every few weeks. Maybe choosing your own clothes won’t help you pull, and maybe the reason mothers buy their kids clothes is because most men can’t dress themselves….BUT there is a lot of respect on the line, from women, for the industry, for oneself. So good luck.

Let’s Talk About: Everyday Sexism

Eleanor Harris
-
0
Let’s Talk About: Everyday Sexism

Campaigns against “everyday sexism” have immensely benefitted many women. The Everyday Sexism project, amongst others, has created a platform for millions of women to share their experiences and bring forward the injustices that they face everyday. In the past, many of these women have often just been expected to put up with these issues, namely cat-calling and inappropriate demeaning comments; now, however, they can often lead in the national discussion.

Campaigners seek to encourage and educate people, including female victims themselves, to see these discriminations as serious issues. They should no longer be dismissed as a “woman’s lot”, but rather issues that can and should be fought against. This is vital work. It has raised the standards of acceptable behaviour and emboldened many women to stand up to those who demean, underestimate or seek to intimidate them.

However, I believe the term “everyday sexism” itself is not helpful for the feminist movement. This is because it does not represent the reality of sexist behaviour. Incidents of “everyday sexism” are seen as less severe than crimes like sexual assault. Activists who use the term aim to demonstrate that although everyday sexist behaviours have been normalised, they are unacceptable, and take a great toll on many women’s ability to enjoy and succeed in life.

The way this term is used to refer only to certain types of sexism creates an opposition between these incidents and more severe crimes. This hinders our ability to truly tackle sexism. Cat-calling and demeaning comments are caused by strikingly similar attitudes to those which cause rape and sexual assault. The existence of “everyday sexism” shows how in the minds of many, women are less valuable than men and are treated as sexual objects.

The causes of sexual violence are of course more complex.  However, understanding the links between different types of sexist behaviour is essential to changing these attitudes and fighting for gender equality. Due to the common ground these crimes share with “everyday sexism”, the distinction which the use of this term creates, between “everyday” sexist incidents and crimes like assault, makes it harder to identify and eliminate the sexist attitudes which are one of the key causes of both. Thereby a conversation which would be beneficial to the progress of the feminist movement as a whole is stifled.

The usual understanding of “everyday sexism” does not include crimes like rape and female genital mutilation. Yet for the women who have experienced them, these incidents are an “everyday” issue.

The trauma of FGM, sexual assault or rape affects the women who have gone through it on a daily basis via the enduring feelings of fear, vulnerability and physical and mental suffering they cause. To use the term “everyday sexism” to refer solely to normalised incidents implies that other experiences are not “everyday”. This thereby understates the impact of these experiences on women’s everyday lives.

The experiences of survivors of rape, sexual assault and FGM are left out of a conversation they should be central in. Of course this is not the aim of the activists who use this term, but it shows how the term itself can be unhelpful.

It is particularly problematic when dealing with intersectional issues. FGM for example tends to affect women from non-white, first or second generation immigrant families and who are often from less affluent backgrounds. To categorize their experiences as different to those faced by the majority of women alienates them further. It also makes it even harder to help women in their position.

The real focus of the movement against “everyday sexism” to me seems to be fighting against the way that sexist injustices are normalised and treated as though they can’t be prevented. I believe the goals of the movement would be better served by a term which focusses on the normalised nature of these incidents. This way we can tackle the way they are dismissed as unimportant. Moreover this would allow us to understand the links between them and more severe crimes, without unintentionally alienating the women who are most in need of feminism and female solidarity.

Trying to ‘Feaster’ ethically

Georgina MacRae
-
0
Trying to ‘Feaster’ ethically

Easter, now that I feel a bit too old to hunt around the garden for chocolates, has become a food-orientated event. Yet large companies have made Easter festivities and eggs seem a bit hollow (get it) when I think of all of the packaging required, all of the trees cut down and all of the metal foil used to present chocolate in a different shape just for one, traditionally religious, celebratory day.

Pizza Hut have nicknamed last weekend’s holiday ‘Feaster’, with money-off offers to entice individuals to fill their weekend with a non-traditional pizza alternative. Clever name, but perhaps a marked reflection of how religious holidays are interpreted and, increasingly, twisted into marketing opportunities.

Waitrose, ironically, stocked a ‘Dark Chocolate Avocado Easter Egg’ this year, which was not dairy-free, appealing instead to those who identify with the ‘basic bitch’ image. They’ve successfully jumped onto the band-wagon of the avocado craze, and the famously high-priced food-stuff went swimmingly with the supermarket’s image.

However, the meme of the ‘Vegan Easter Egg’ – the avocado wrapped in Cadbury’s purple foil – points to the becoming-mainstream, better-for-the-planet veganism as a diet which  excludes an individual from a classic chocolate Easter Egg. But the meme’s success shows just how popular the vegan diet has become!

What is a classic Easter meal? Seemingly, lamb. Celebrating spring with Easter chicks, bunnies, and new-born lambs – let’s eat one! I’ve always rather liked the taste of meat, but, increasingly, I’ve really felt conscious and bad about eating it, especially when I now know both how unnecessary meat is for a healthy lifestyle, and how bad for the planet meat-consumption is.

As a person trying to be as plant-based as possible, I’d like to try a vegan hot cross bun recipe around this time of year and I hope it’s as tasty I imagine. Similarly, I’ve found out how to make chocolate from cocoa and cocoa butter – plant-based and completely flexible. (I also want to experiment with adding orange oil or freeze-dried raspberries to it – yum.) These DIY things will take time but that’s what finding and eating great food is all about– the prep and discovery of great ingredients and recipes.

Nevertheless, my Easter lunch this year was not quite vegan – I prepared leeks, peas, salmon, and vegan hasselback garlic and rosemary potatoes. White wine and company made it a very nice occasion, and my mostly-deaf grandmother really enjoyed the food! Whatever you ate, and whatever marketing campaigns you bought into this Easter, I hope everybody had a nice weekend.

Oxford needs an education fit for the times

Rupert Stuart-Smith
-
0
Oxford needs an education fit for the times

Climate change will determine the future of humanity. It is the most pressing political, economic, ethical, and scientific challenge we face today. Yet many of Oxford’s subject curricula make only cursory mentions of a crisis which will define our personal and professional lives.

Oxford Climate Society’s open letter to University departments targets climate change’s absence from most subjects’ core curricula. This is the case even for some of the most obviously relevant courses, such as politics and economics.

We increasingly live in the inescapable shadow of a climate crisis, affecting and affected by our economic and political systems. As an all-encompassing issue, it is vital that the solutions to climate change come from all disciplines, and the arts, physical, natural and social sciences, psychology, law and more all have a vital role to play.

Climate change is not a niche area of study. It should not be limited to a small number of courses, nor is it a tangential issue which should be restricted to optional modules.

Rather, it is in the context of climate change and efforts to minimise its damages that political decisions must be made, business plans devised, and infrastructure designed. It is an unavoidable reality of our lives and the disciplines we study. Understanding its consequences is increasingly an expectation of employers.

If we are to avoid the humanitarian, economic, and natural crises promised by continued greenhouse gas emissions, the next generation of politicians, scientists, campaigners, and professionals must be equipped to manage a rapid decarbonisation of the global economy and the impacts of climate change. The Paris Climate Agreement sets out a task for our generation: reduce global emissions to net-zero in just four decades. This requires action from every industry, every level of government, and every individual.

As we move away from fossil fuels in coming decades, universities must ensure that their graduates have the knowledge to be at the forefront of this transition. This is why we are calling on Oxford’s departments to ensure that all relevant undergraduate courses cover climate change and its significance for their discipline.

If Oxford’s students are to lead efforts to tackle climate change and adapt to its impacts, it is essential that courses evolve with the times and equip the students of today to do so. The University is a world leader on climate change research, including in climate economics, policy and science, and is home to respected institutions such as the Environmental Change Institute and Oxford Martin School. As such, Oxford is well positioned to spread this expertise among its students.

None of this, of course, is to belittle the many other important issues which rightly feature on curricula, and should continue to do so. But for curricula to neglect climate change is of great disservice to today’s students and hampers efforts to limit climate change and prevent the injustices it otherwise threatens to deliver.

The Oxford Climate Society has sought to address the lack of climate education at the University through our weekly events, the heavily oversubscribed Oxford School of Climate Change, our publications, Anthroposphere, rise, two degrees, and a blog.

But if we are to effectively address climate change, we must also move on from anachronistic curricula which fuel a crisis advanced by inaction and ignorance. Oxford’s students can be leaders of the future, if only we’re given the tools to do so

Rupert Stuart-Smith was President of the Oxford Climate Society from April 2017 – March 2018. To read and sign their open letter, please click here.

Record number of Oxford students found guilty of plagiarism

Matthew Roller
-
1
Record number of Oxford students found guilty of plagiarism

A record number of Oxford students were found guilty of ‘academic misconduct’ last year, new data has revealed.

There were 57 reported cases in the proctorial year 2017-18, of which 53 were for plagiarism.

The figure reflects an increase of 47% from 2016-17.

The rise in cases comes despite the University warning students they could face expulsion if caught copying others’ work without acknowledgement.

In the senior proctor’s annual oration, the outgoing holder of the role, Dr Edward Bispham, said that there had been steady increase in “reports of plagiarism and collusion, which are concentrated in particular parts of the University.”

While Dr Bispham did not elaborate upon that claim, in 2011, the senior proctor said: “The great majority of [plagiarism] cases come from international students at the Saïd Business School.”

Details of the four cases of academic misconduct that did not fall under plagiarism were not given.

In October, government watchdog, the Quality and Assurance Agency for Higher Education, published a guide for universities outlining how they could fight a rise in “pernicious” cheating, and encouraging the use of increasingly sophisticated technology.

Legal expert and the bursar of New College, David Palfreyman, said the majority of cases involved international students taking postgraduate degrees. He told the Daily Mail: “A lot of people on these courses have a lot at stake, and might be tempted to cheat because they are paying the full fees.”

In 2009, the senior proctor revealed that one student had plagiarised almost half of their final-year project. “[It] contained some twenty-nine pages out of sixty-five that had been copied verbatim from a previous year’s report,” he said. “Admittedly they had been carefully retyped using a different typeface.”

Proctorial years run from 9th week of Hilary Term to 8th week of the following Hilary.

Oxford will not reconsider Sackler donations despite opioid link

Libby Cherry
-
0
Oxford will not reconsider Sackler donations despite opioid link

Oxford University has confirmed that it will not reconsider donations from the Sackler family, despite their involvement in the production of an addictive opioid.

The family’s pharmaceutical company, Purdue Pharma, produces the opioid OxyContin. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say 200,000 people have died as a result of taking OxyContin and other related prescription opioids.

The University’s response follows the news that a £1 million donation from the Sacklers to the National Portrait Gallery has been held up in internal review.

Only three other institutions — the V&A, the Royal Court Theatre, and the National Maritime Museum — have explicitly said they would consider future donations, according to the Evening Standard.

A University of Oxford spokesperson told Cherwell: “The Committee [to review donations] considers the sources of an individual’s or organisation’s wealth and may reconsider a donor in the light of new information.

“At present, there is no intention for the Committee to reconsider the Sackler family and trusts.”

In 2006, Purdue Pharma, owned by the Sacklers, pleaded guilty in US federal court to marketing OxyContin with “the intent to defraud or mislead.”

The company allegedly told doctors that its drug OxyContin had minimal addictive effects.

One third-year medical student told Cherwell: “I’m disgusted by the behaviour of Purdue Pharma…Oxford should distance itself fully from them.

“Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family that run it are guilty of falsifying evidence. This is never acceptable in science, but is particularly pernicious when done in medicine.

“The New England Journal of Medicine holds their pushing of OxyContin responsible for the majority of heroin addictions in the United States. Thousands of lives have been destroyed by their behaviour and Oxford University should eschew their blood money.”

A spokesperson for Oxford SU told Cherwell: “Oxford SU believes that the university should not accept money from sources that the student body disapprove of.”

Since 1991, Oxford has received over £11 million in donations from the Sackler trusts and family. Donations have gone towards building the Bodleian Sackler Library and funding the Sackler Keeper of Antiquities at the Ashmolean. Contributions from the Sacklers also make up part of the museum’s endowment.

Outside the humanities, the Sacklers also support a University lecturer and a Teaching fellowship in Earth Sciences, whilst projects in paediatrics and neuroscience have been facilitated through the family’s contributions.

Oxford academics also participate in partnerships established by the family, such as the Raymond and Beverly Sackler US-UK Scientific Forum.

A first year medical student told Cherwell: “As far as I’m concerned the important medical advances that the money allows are the most important factor.

“From the University’s point of view, you just need to get enough funding to allow them to carry out their vital research.”

A spokesperson for Purdue Pharma told Cherwell: “Many leading medical, scientific, cultural and educational institutions throughout the world have been beneficiaries of Sackler family philanthropy for nearly seven decades, including long before OxyContin was approved by FDA in December 1995.

“Since that approval, OxyContin has been and continues to be appropriately prescribed by doctors to bring needed relief to thousands suffering from severe pain, including those with cancer and terminal illnesses.”

The Sackler Trusts and family have also been contacted for comment.

(This article was updated on 2 April (15:00BST) to include Purdue Pharma’s response)

Patriotism and Chilean Poetry

Bridget McNulty
-
1
Patriotism and Chilean Poetry

Tackling the ever-growing vacation reading list can often feel like a hike up the Andes. A new poetry collection by Chilean writer Victor Hugo Ortega, however, offers a refreshing antidote to the post-term drudge through its incisive perception of everyday life for ‘Latinos del sur,’ or ‘Latinos of the South.’

Having made his name in Chile as a writer of short stories, Ortega’s debut work of poetry aims to ‘prestar oído al fondo indiferenciado’ (‘lend an ear to a featureless background’) in the words of Cristián Sánchez Garfias. This collection weaves a variety of both public and private experiences into a montage of the unstable and ever-changing capital city, and its not without politics or humour.

The opening poem of Ortega’s collection, ‘Cambria,’ sets the scene for an overt challenge of misguided representation, and the speaker championing his favourite computer font becomes a principal theme. From a revolution which no one saw coming, to the assertion that ‘en Europa también hay melodrama,’ (‘in Europe, too, there is melodrama’), Ortega’s humour reinforces the need for both self-consciousness and an awareness of one’s own personal deficiencies.

The poet’s role as ambassador can only function through an attempt to distance themselves from the community in question. Despite the implications of its title, Ortega’s discussion of identity expands beyond the Chilean –  the poetic voice inhabits several distinctive world views, through representatives of those views. Even in what is arguably the most romantic poem of the collection, ‘Hay viento en Varsovia’ (‘There is Wind in Vienna’), the poetic voice is incapable of distinguishing the individual from their identity. The poetic voice appeals to Poland, as a country which has suffered romantically, to reflect his own grief at the loss of his lover.

Patriotism may have become a dirty word nowadays, but Ortega attempts to revitalise a sense of it through his claim that, with patriotism, history will be prohibited from repeating itself. This is a sentiment which is made clear in the events of ‘La Moneda de noche’ (‘La Moneda by Night’) in which a man is compelled to circle the infamous seat of Chile’s Republic to evade an attacker, but refuses to allow his attacker to gain the upper hand. Yet if history cannot be allowed to repeat itself, then neither can the misguided stereotypes which continue to circulate and plague progress. Compelled to find new ways to represent his community and avoid damaging clichés, the poet chooses to openly adapt and challenge misguided statements in the eponymous poem of the collection ‘Latinos del sur,’ quashing salsa as ‘marketing’ and professing the Chilean love for Shakira, ‘the brunette.’ Humour continues to channel Ortega’s objection to the depersonalisation of the Latino community through his choice of unexpected statistics in ‘La misma razón’ (‘The Same Reason’) in which he creates his own unique way of uniting the continent, free from Western stereotyping. From ‘Tiempo de perros’ (‘Time of the Dogs’) to ‘Los primos’ (‘The Cousins’), it would be difficult to find any group which goes unmentioned by Ortega. But his most personal poems, ‘Año nuevo casero’ (‘New Year at Home’) and ‘Ausencia del padre’ (‘A Father’s Absence’) disclose his primary motivation: his frustration at a country that is continually denied the fulfilment of its potential. ‘Amo la ciudad, pero me está matando’ (‘I love the city but it’s killing me’) he exclaims in ‘La ciudad solitaria’ (‘The Solitary City’), a cry which can only come from one who feels intrinsically linked to this city’s fate.

Aside from the occasional dose of Chilean slang, a basic grasp of the Spanish language is all that’s needed for Ortega’s collection. But it’s linguistic simplicity shouldn’t undermine it’s political complexity, as a work in which the poet’s vision is often contrasted with the absence of one for his country. ‘Latinos del sur’ never says that it’s a perfect representation of Chilean life, but Ortega can claim to have brushed off the problems of patriotism in his revival of the concept.

What to expect on a student film set

Olivia Webster
-
0
What to expect on a student film set

With so many creative and technical minds in Oxford, there is forever a new student film cropping up on the scene. The Oxford film community can appear impenetrable as a result. But, wannabe filmmakers don’t abandon your clapper boards so hastily; getting yourself on set is much easier than you think.

Your first challenge is getting a position on a film crew. An obvious option is to just barge onto the set and throw yourself in front of the camera. However, to avoid such a desperate scene, I’d recommend answering a crew call on the Oxford University Film Foundation’s Facebook page. Whilst some crew positions require a lot of pre-planning if you’re a runner, art assistant or sound recordist then you’re only responsibility is turning up to filming on time — a task that in all honesty seems impossible to most student film types.

Once you have entered the fold, you may have the good fortune of being asked to help raise money. Cue immediate alienation of all your friends once you have shared a crowdfunding link thousands of times on Facebook. Yet, this banishment to social Siberia is essential when trying to meet the goal budget as most student films require upwards of £5,000 in production costs. As this need cannot be met by a poxy student loan, most film crews turn to colleges for help — have fun drafting that JCR motion!

Another joy of life on set is denouncing ownership of your possessions for the day, as in the eyes of the film’s production designer everything is a potential prop. It’s either that or being sent to buy and promptly return clothes and the likes, from various shops around Oxford. With lots of last-minute purchases to be made you’d better invest in some trainers to survive being on set.

Rushing around Oxford is practically the basis of a student shoot; transporting equipment, scenes set across the city, dashing to the shops. Perhaps you think such tasks are beyond your remit. You’d be mistaken. With certain positions hard to fill and cast and crew members’ availability being suitably chaotic, no one is confined to their position. Take my last film, for example, I was at different points producer, sound recordist, set dresser and an extra. However, this is an easy way to learn new skills, with everyone mucking in and doing a bit of everything.

Despite the changeable nature of your time on set, jumping from one role to the next and undoubtedly rushing round Oxford for last minute supplies, a student set is an exciting and inspiring place to be. There is a certain thrill involved in being in an environment filled with like-minded people producing something everyone on set can be proud of.

Managing an eating disorder shouldn’t entail putting my education on hold

Clare Tierney
-
2
Managing an eating disorder shouldn’t entail putting my education on hold

When I was diagnosed with anorexia aged 12, GCSEs seemed incredibly distant, let alone university, adulthood and having to feed myself.

I had every intention of getting better in time but, as with all mental health problems, the deep-seated and complex nature of an eating disorder is not to be underestimated. That there are many of us managing eating disorders at Oxford may seem surprising to a non-sufferer, but I would say 90% of Oxford students have certain personality traits that could easily find expression through disordered eating. Perfectionism, thirst for challenges, and dedication are all real assets to students at a university like ours.

However, things can go awry when living up to the highest of self-imposed standards is literally jeopardising living itself. The university cannot deny that their learning environment also happens to provide the ideal conditions for the development of a plethora of mental health problems, eating disorders being just one of the most prevalent.

This is the crux of the problem. I do not mean to get on my NHS-basher’s high horse, but I must stress how inadequate provisions are for students like myself who run the ever-increasing risk of rustication as their not-quite-life-threatening eating disorder goes untreated.

Although mental health services countrywide are failing to meet demand, the fact that high-achievers are more likely to develop an eating disorder (and often related anxiety and depression) means that Oxfordshire’s services are more oversubscribed than most. My experience of waiting lists at home versus those at university is testament to this. Clinically underweight and only continuing to lose, I was presented with a 15-month wait for dietary and psychological help from the outpatients’ service at Cotswold House, the local NHS eating disorders unit.

Herein lay the dilemma, one which I know cannot be unique only to me. Either I could rusticate and get the much-needed help quicker, or continue with my studies as my physical and mental health worsened, maybe to the point at which I would end up needing to rusticate anyway. I wanted the psychological help here in Oxford – but it would only be accessible if I returned to the brink of organ failure.

This is the reality, dramatic as it may sound, of having a ‘functional’ eating disorder at Oxford. Despite lacking the severity to warrant immediate intervention through hospitalisation, this kind of eating disorder, whether it be anorexia, bulimia or binge eating, can still force a student to suspend their studies. So many feel compelled to put their education on hold in order to compensate for the NHS’s failings.

The only other alternative is to bite the bullet and go private, if indeed you are privileged enough to have literal thousands lying around. Were this not my fortunate position, I would have had to have rusticated. My Oxford GP was an advocate of paying for treatment and for good reason – it has allowed me to make the most of the incredible opportunity that is working towards an Oxford degree.

I am fully aware that I have given a less-than-glowing review of Oxford from the perspective of someone with an eating disorder, but at least the university does recognise that its high-pressured environment fosters the development and persistence of eating disorders.

In my experience, tutors have stepped up to make my degree doable despite my inability to access NHS help. The very fact I am still here is testament to their understanding and flexibility when it came to pushing back deadlines, giving me special consideration in collections, and sending me regular check-up emails. I have tried to avoid it as much as possible, but when I have needed to miss a class to attend my (of course, private) psychologist appointments, no questions have been asked.

Dealing with my eating disorder has put me on medication for depression and seen my anxiety get so bad that I had to sit Prelims in college – but it could have been much worse.

Trying to eat responsibly on the other side of the Atlantic during my year abroad will be hard. Healthcare certainly won’t be as readily available, but I know my tutors will only be a click away. It is only a shame that so much money needed to be thrown at the problem to guard against the rustication that had initially seemed inevitable. The NHS could and should be providing everyone with on-site support, and I hope it is only a short while before the government makes this possible.

Oxford colleges release gender pay gap data

Oscar Baker
-
0
Oxford colleges release gender pay gap data

All but three Oxford colleges pay men more than women, new data has revealed.

New College recorded the greatest median gender pay gap, at 24.3%. This is followed by Somerville College, which registered a 22.9% median difference in hourly rate in favour of men.

Lady Margaret Hall has an 8.7% difference in hourly rate in favour of women. Two colleges – Trinity College and St. Catherine’s College – have no median gender pay gap.

The average median difference in hourly pay across all Oxford colleges is 11.2% in favour of men.

The releases follow a change in the law which requires every employer with over 250 employees to calculate the mean and median difference in hourly rate between genders, as well as figures on bonus pay and the proportion of women in each pay quartile.

Last week, it was revealed Oxford University has a median gender pay gap of 13.7%. Meanwhile, several colleges, including Merton and Univ, are believed to employ fewer than 250 staff, meaning they have no legal obligation to report on their pay gap.

New College had the largest gap between median pay for men and women. In its report, the college said: “We are confident that men and women are paid the same for doing the same job at New College. However, men and women are often employed in difference roles across our organisation creating a gender pay gap.

“We are actively exploring steps to reduce the lack of female representation across roles of different seniority and encourage a diverse applicant mix for new job openings. Once we account for differences in the department that male and female employees are employed in, our mean gender wage gap falls to 5%” the report continued. “We interpret this as a relative lack of female representation amongst our senior roles.

“A key area that we hope to make progress in is the recruitment of women into senior administrative roles and into traditionally “male” departments (e.g. IT). Members of appointment panels will be expected to undergo unconscious bias training and we will take active steps to ensure a diverse applicant pool.”

Somerville, which registered the second highest median gender pay difference in hourly rates, said in its report: “Somerville College is confident that its pay policy complies with Equal Pay legislation and that its staff are paid equally for doing equivalent jobs.

“The Gender Pay Gap shows the difference between the average rate of pay between men and women. This is different from Equal Pay.

“Women are over-represented in the lowest paid roles, such as our Housekeeping staff, and under-represented in the highest paid roles, such as our teaching staff.”

Are colleges doing enough to tackle pay disparity?

Write for Cherwell and have your say – send a 150-word pitch to our comment editors.

The new data also reveals the proportion of women in each pay quartile. Magdalen College have the lowest proportion of women with 29% in the upper quartile of pay, followed by Keble on 30%. At the other end of the scale, 58.3% of St. Hilda’s College’s top roles are filled by women.

The release of bonus pay was also required under the new regulations. Many colleges do not pay bonuses to staff. Wadham College pay 58.1% of women bonuses, and 43.7% men, the highest recorded figures. Trinity pay 66% of male employees bonuses.

The University of Oxford earlier recorded a 48.7% median difference in bonus pay in favour of men.

Other universities have also released gender pay gap data. Cambridge University registered an 15%, higher than Oxford. The University of London has a median gender pay difference of 10.9%.

Oxford University has the fifth lowest gender pay gap in the Russell Group, although every Russell Group university has a median gender pay gap of over 5%.

The UK Government Equalities Office states that “by identifying the age of the middle earner, the median is the best representation of the ‘typical’ gender difference.”

They state: “By taking into account the full earnings distribution, the mean takes into account the low and high earners in an organisation – this is particularly useful as women are often over-represented at the low earning extreme and men are over-represented at the high earning extreme.”

Brasenose has the highest mean gender pay gap among Oxford colleges, at 28.7% in favour of men, whilst Mansfield is the only college to have a mean gender pay gap in favour of women, at 1.2%.

The mean figure is seen as less accurate because it is unable to account for outliers.

Additional reporting by Greg Ritchie and Matthew Roller

This article was amended on Wednesday 4th April, to reflect St John’s and Christ Church releasing their own gender pay gap reports.

1...826827828...2,584Page 827 of 2,584

Support Student Journalism

Cherwell is Oxford’s oldest independent newspaper, established in 1920. We are entirely student-run. By supporting us, you will contribute to keeping our paper in print and online. Every donation makes a difference.

Donate

Explore

Follow us

More

Oxford Student Publications Limited © 2025 - All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy

Website by Jamie Ashley