An Indian student accused Oxford University of “racial bias” and “forcibly removing” her from a PhD program. Lakshmi Balakrishnan of Tamil Nadu’s Madurai has apparently “initiated legal action,” claiming that the top university’s English faculty “did not act in good faith.”
Balakrishnan states that her thesis proposal for Shakespeare in the English faculty was accepted throughout the admission process. Following this, she enrolled at the institution in 2018 to pursue a PhD. However, in her fourth year, she was withdrawn from the PhD program and transferred to the master’s level.
“It is actually a breach of contract because when I applied to Oxford I clearly mentioned in my application that my PhD thesis is going to be on Shakespeare. The scope of my PHD thesis has continued to remain the same since the time of my application to Oxford and therefore I believe that this constitutes a fundamental breach of contract when the university failed my PHD exam,” she said to ANI.
“They forcibly removed me from the PhD program and moved me to a master’s level course without my consent,” Balakrishnan told the BBC,” adding, “I feel a sense of betrayal and I feel like I have been let down by an institution that I held in high regard.”“I already have two master’s degrees from India and I paid £100,000 at Oxford to get my PhD, not another master’s course,” she told the BBC.
According to the BBC, two different assessors failed her, citing that her research topic “did not have scope for PhD level.” Following this, the university confirmed the appeals process had concluded.
Balakrishnan already has two masters to her name and has spent nearly £100,000 while pursuing her PhD.
“I believe that the university’s strategy is to force me to wade through endless appeals and complaints procedures in the hope that I will eventually give up and go,” she told the outlet.
The Queen’s College, where she studied, wrote to Oxford University to “express concern at her treatment”, reported the BBC. The statement pointed out that her work has no “serious issues” despite her failing the two assessments, adding that her “research had potential and merits a PhD.”
“I think race was certainly a motivating factor behind the professor targeting me in that manner,” she told ANI. There is a “deep bias and discrimination against Indian students,” she added.
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Source: HT
