Foreign Students Discriminated

The recent survey «Studentspeilet» indicates that 16 percent of the foreign students at UiO and students without native proficiency in Norwegian are discriminated. An astounding 16 per cent said «yes» in answer to «Have you been discriminated on the basis of your ethnic background during your studies at UiO?».

– This is an unfortunate and unexpected finding, Torbjørn Grønner thinks. He is head of studieavdelingen at UiO.

Grønner explains that his unit is prepared to consider doing a new survey on the basis of these findings:

– The aim is to find out what kind of discrimination the students have experienced and to get to the bottom of how this has happened.

– Why has such a survey not been done before?

– Because we never thought discrimination was a huge problem at the University until now. We have rarely been approached with matters of discrimination and never experienced grave incidents of this at the University.

– Shockingly high

– When 16 percent of the students from a lingual minority background experiences discrimination in an international environment such as the University, it is surprising. The number is shockingly high, general manager of the Centre for Combating Ethnic Discrimination Ella Ghosh says.

Ghosh thinks the central management of UiO should clarify that they do not accept discrimination of any kind.

– The possibility to file complaints on the basis of discrimination should be properly announced so that students and both administrative and scientific staff members are aware of it, Ghosh adds.

– More English

– More modules should be available in English, and there should be more English material on the curriculum, vice-president of the Student Parliament Torkel Nybakk Kvaal thinks, who is surprised to learn that so many feel discriminated.

– Integrating students into student life through contact with other students organised by volunteers during Fresher`s week is important, Kvaal says.

He fears the result might be that the University gets a bad reputation among minorities and foreign students, and that fewer students from these groups will post their applications to the University of Oslo.

Leader of Norsk Studentunion (NSU), the Norwegian union of students, Jørn Henriksen points out that several institutions offer information on exam registration in Norwegian only.

– When you create regulations and systems, you have to remember that there should be corresponding alternatives of languages, Henriksen thinks.

Anti-Discrimination Act

In Sweden, there has since 2003 been a «law on equal-treatment» that is supposed to keep discrimination out of universities and university colleges. In Norway, a similar law will also be passed some time next year.

– This is among others to meet the requirements set out by EU directives on anti-discrimination, Ghosh says, full of expectations.

The law will apply to students or university employees who are discriminated on the basis of either ethnic or religious background.

Students at the Faculty of Humanities (HF) are the least satisfied with their situation. An astounding 47 per cent of students at HF say that they often or always are swamped with work. This is revealed by the survey «Studentspeilet».

HF students also experience the poorest access to guidance and support from their fellow students. The survey reveals that the same students are among those who spend the least time on co-operating with other students. What is more, they also spend the least time on extra-curricular activities.

– Anything that may be considered negative for the student environment is a serious matter to us, dean Bjarne Rogan at HF says.

The same Faculty was earlier this year named the fifth best faculty of its kind in Europe by the British newspaper The Times. HF was preferred among rival faculties in the Nordic region. HF came in 16th on a worldwide basis.

The most successful of the survey «Studentspeilet» is the Faculty of Dentistry. Findings indicate that students of Dentistry are the most pleased with their own work load and with their own ability to solve problems that may appear along the way. According to the survey, the Faculty of Dentistry also scores the highest compared to all other faculties concerning guidance and support from fellow students.

– We are pleased by the findings of «Studentspeilet». It is nice that students enjoy themselves and that their expectations are met, Pål Barkvoll, head of the Institute for Clinical Dentistry, proudly says.