UCT professor defends study that black academics have labelled biased, prejudiced

UNDER-FIRE UCT Professor Nicoli Nattrass has defended her controversial study, “Why are Black South African Students Less Likely to Consider Studying Biological Sciences?” which has resulted in calls for its removal.

This despite the institution distancing itself from her two-page paper, which speculates that black students are indisposed to studying biological sciences because of their “materialism and culture”. Research was conducted by Nattrass and researchers from the Institute for Communities and Wildlife in Africa and published in the SA Journal of Science on May 27.

“Conservation biology, zoology and the other biological sciences subjects struggled to attract black South African students because persisting inequalities in the schooling system make it less likely that they will meet the entrance requirements for science courses,” she said.

Nattrass said other reasons included materialist values and aspirations as well as experience with pets and attitudes towards wildlife, all of which were likely also to be shaped by a student’s socio-economic background.

“Given the ‘Fallist’ protests of 2015/2016 (Rhodes Must Fall and Fees Must Fall), another possibility is that wildlife conservation itself might be regarded as colonial, and students might perceive a trade-off between social justice and conservation,” she said.

Her research was met with outrage last week with the Black Academic Caucus (BAC) charging that the paper was biased. UCT spokesperson Elijah Moholola

said the matter was being investigated further. “The executive views this occurrence as yet again a moment to renew its resolve to foster a university culture that is aligned with our values… inclusive and free of racial prejudices.”

But Nattrass rejected the accusations. “UCT’s statement bears hallmarks of a rushed, error-filled, hatchet-job in response to political pressure from the BAC and student activities,” she said.