University Challenge to bring in ‘gender neutral’ questions

UNIVERSITY Challenge is introducing ‘gender neutral’ questions to make the TV quiz show more ‘inclusive and diverse’.

The BBC2 programme, fronted by Jeremy Paxman, should have questions written in a way that does not reveal if they were devised by a man or a woman, said executive producer Peter Gwyn.

It follows calls for greater gender balance on the show amid a perceived lack of questions about women and too few female contestants. Mr Gwyn said ‘gender neutrality’ would help make the show more interesting.

He added: ‘We try to ensure that when hearing a question, we don’t have any sense of whether it was written by a man or a woman – just as questions should never sound as if they are directed more at men than women. We believe very strongly that the more representative, inclusive and diverse we can make the programme, the better and more interesting it will be,’ he told the Radio Times.

Some observers believe there is a lack of female contestants because they receive so much online abuse following appearances. The show had an all-male final in 2017.

Rosie McKeown, from this year’s winning team, St John’s Cambridge, said the show’s gender imbalance was also due to women not feeling confident enough to apply.