Calls for third level staff to receive unconscious bias training following ’shocking’ GMIT incident

Senator Aisling Dolan said she was “distressed” to learn of the incident at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology. Picture: Ray Ryan

A Fine Gael education spokesperson has said the “shocking” incident in which lecturers were overheard "using insulting language" about their students has highlighted "the need for unconscious bias training for all staff" in the Higher Education sector.

Senator Aisling Dolan said she was “distressed” to learn of the incident at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology.

“This behaviour is unacceptable, unprofessional and has rightly angered and upset students and parents," she said.

Yesterday, GMIT apologised to students after two lecturers forgot to switch their cameras off after watching virtual presentations, and were overheard using offensive and insulting language to describe what they had seen.

Students at the college who had just made online presentations could hear the two lecturers discuss their work and allocate marks as their connections remained live.

One of the lecturers referred to a student as “that f**king [student's name]” and speculated that there was “something wrong with” a female student, while the other said she felt like “drilling [her] teeth” because one of them was “so painful to be listening to”.

Ms Dolan said that she appreciated the apology but said that the incident "highlights the need to take action”.

She said: “We have an excellent education system, however there is always room for improvement, and this is something that I raised in the Seanad today.

“We know that conscious and unconscious bias has a serious impact on decision-making – proven by Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman based on decades of research.” Ms Dolan is calling for unconscious bias training to be rolled out to all staff at third level institutes.

She said: As a member of staff at NUI Galway, in the last few years as part of HR requirements, we had to conduct unconscious bias training prior to conducting any interviews. This exists at 3rd level and I would like to call for this training to be rolled out to all staff involved in making assessments.

“Under Dept of Further & Higher Education, Science, Research & Innovation, Minister Simon Harris is bringing through governance reform for third level will is due before the Houses here at the start of 2021.

“I would call on all stakeholders to take part in this discussion so that all views can be taken into consideration.”