Uni appoints woman to lead faculty after row
AUNIVERSITY mired in a sexism scandal has appoi nt ed a female academic to oversee the medical school. Dr Margaret McMillan, a renal specialist, will take on the role of interim head of the University of Glasgow faculty, which is regarded as one of the best in the UK, while a permanent replacement is found.
The institution announced last month that Professor John Paul Leach, a consultant neurologist, is to leave his post as head of undergraduate medicine.
The university launched an inquiry after a grievance lodged by staff against Prof Leach alleging misogynistic behaviour was upheld.
The university said “no individual” was responsible but admitted it had identified “sexist and discriminatory” incidents that “fell short of professional expectations”.
It led to another senior academic, Dr James Going, quitting his post after 35 years claiming “a culture of misogyny is flourishing” within the school.
The university announced an action plan to tackle sexism including a new college oversight group to make improvements “where necessary” and an external consultancy team. It has now been announced that Prof Leach’s temporary replacement will be a woman, which may be seen as an attempt to still the waters.
In a letter to staff and students, Professor Matthew Walters, head of the medicine, dentistry and nursing, wrote: “I’m delighted to announce that Dr Margaret McMillan will assume the role of interim head of the undergraduate medical school pending the substantive appointment of a new head of UMS in early 2023.
“Margaret is a nephrologist who has served for many years as a teacher and advisor within the school, and her experience will be of great value to us over the next few months as we undertake a robust and competitive external recruitment process to find the next leader of the UMS.”
The university said concerns about gender- based bullying and discrimination were raised within the UMS community in 2021.
Dr Going, the pathologist who resigned from his teaching post, said female academics had been “sidelined, undermined and ignored”. He said the university’s apparent failure to tackle the problem was akin to “putting a sticking plaster” on a festering abscess.
He stated: “I would say the university’s position on this has been, let’s pretend nothing is happening and it will all go away. I think they have been completely spineless.”
Prof Leach claims the university’s inquiry exonerated him of all charges. Complaints were made about a “sexist” slide depicting the female brain that was shown to medical students by the head of undergraduate medicine.
In it a small area is labelled “sex initiation” gland while driving skills and “realisation of wants vs needs” are shown as dots.
It was shown alongside another image depicting the brain of fictional TV character Homer Simpson.
In January Morag Ross QC was appointed by the university to carry out a review of the institution’s approach to addressing gender- based violence, including harassment and harmful practices that are “committed disproportionately by men against women”.