Source: Alamy

¡®Laddism¡¯ culture: is some male students¡¯ behaviour ¡®educationally disruptive?¡¯

Student chants, sexist ¡°banter¡±, ¡°stupid noises¡± in class ¨C and how such behaviour can be combated ¨C were all up for discussion at Laddism and Higher Education, a symposium held in London last week.

Matthew Cheeseman, research fellow in the University of Sheffield¡¯s School of English, is also co-convenor of the Society for Research into Higher Education¡¯s Student Experience Network, which organised the event on 7 February.

His own paper drew on research he has been carrying out since 2005 on ¡°chanting students¡±, many of them stirred up by Sheffield¡¯s long-standing rivalry with Sheffield Hallam University.

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Even among those born after 1992, when Sheffield City Polytechnic was one of many such institutions to gain the university title, the old snobberies of the ¡°binary divide¡± seem alive and well. Dr Cheeseman¡¯s research has found some Sheffield Hallam students shouting chants such as ¡°I¡¯d rather be a poly than a cunt¡±, with Sheffield students responding ¡°I¡¯d rather be a cunt than unemployed¡±.

¡°Sheffield students (particularly women) are portrayed by Hallam as ugly, sexually inexperienced and arrogant¡±, he said, while ¡°Hallam students (particularly women) are portrayed by [University of Sheffield students] as sexually attractive but permissive, stupid and poor¡±.

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Carolyn Jackson, a professor in Lancaster University¡¯s department of educational research, and Steven Dempster, a research and teaching associate in the same department, noted that earlier concerns about ¡°laddism¡± undermining boys¡¯ educational performance in secondary schools had now shifted to a focus on ¡°drinking, sexism, misogyny, and in some cases rape-supportive cultures¡± within universities.

The National Union of Students¡¯ 2013 report That¡¯s what she said: Women students¡¯ experiences of ¡°lad culture¡± in higher education, for example, argued that sexual harassment and violence are ¡°very much related to ¡®lad culture¡¯¡±.

Meanwhile, Professor Jackson and Dr Dempster¡¯s own research on a sports science programme, as reported last month in Times Higher Education, indicated how laddism could also be educationally disruptive.

One young woman interviewed for the Lancaster scholars¡¯ research project described ¡°lads¡± who ¡°just think it¡¯s cool to sit there and talk. Like the worst is a Monday morning because they¡¯ll talk about football and you don¡¯t really want to hear about football when you¡¯re in an anatomy class¡±.

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Another recalled male students who ¡°make stupid noises, just silly noises that their friends will find funny ¨C nobody else does ¨C and that, again, would stop the class¡±.

Several speakers at the symposium went on to consider what could be done to discourage such behaviours.

Dr Dempster¡¯s research showed that ¡°even [many] self-identified lads are at odds with extreme laddishness¡±, keen ¡°to avoid being tarred with the same beer-swilling, loutish and sexist brushes as the university¡¯s men¡¯s rugby and football teams¡±. Perhaps this meant that ¡°those practising laddishness in its milder forms¡± could be taught that ¡°the line between ¡®banter¡¯ and ¡®harassment¡¯ is a thin one¡±.

Richard Parry, campaigns officer at Newcastle University Students¡¯ Union, suggested that efforts to combat laddism ¡°must offer ¡®lads¡¯ an alternative model of masculinity¡­The language of feminism tends not to be effective in engaging lads with core messages.¡± Sports clubs were likely to be more responsive to arguments about ¡°the benefits of inclusivity¡± than an ¡°anti-lad message¡±.

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Also crucial, added Sophie van der Ham, welfare officer at the University of Sussex Students¡¯ Union, was ¡°ensuring that frontline university staff are trained so that they know how to respond appropriately and sensitively¡±. Ms van der Ham now sits on the Brighton and Hove Sexual Violence Reference Group and works with the council to look at gaps in provision for students.

matthew.reisz@tsleducation.com