From the results of qualitative text analysis of students' papers, there appeared some distinctive learning outcomes of ICU that are different from Eylers and Giles' indicator. They include students' *career choices* and deep consideration of *what the service is*. In the primary phase (1996– 1998), the influence of service-learning on students' career choice was more apparent than in other phases because the course was offered as an "internship" closely linked with career development. Deep consideration of meaning of service was more evident in the second and third phases. In the second phase, service-learning became the university-wide curriculum that included introduction to service-learning, preparation, and reflection courses. In the second and third phases, service-learning courses focused on the definition and moral reasoning of service and learning processes. As a matter of fact, it was between these two phases when ICU published the first three volumes of the monograph entitled *The Service-Learning Studies Series* to explore an academic and institutional identity of servicelearning. In these series, there was much discussion of the connection

41A. Kuronuma, "Learning Outcomes of International Service-Learning in the Japanese Context: The Case of International Christian University" (Paper, 7th Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Service Learning, Singapore, June 2019); J. Eyler and D. E. Giles Jr., *Where's the Learning in Service-Learning?* (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1999).

between service-learning and Christian philosophy, experiential learning pedagogies, and whole-personal development.42

In contrast, the element that was commonly found in service-learning practices in the United States but not in ICU was *citizenship*. While citizenship is a major and critical outcome of service-learning in American higher education, it was less prominent in ICU. ICU's approach to service-learning focused on students' whole-personal development with Christian philosophy and there was comparatively less discussion or inquiry of social justice, social change, or democracy. Again, critical perspectives of service-learning that emerged in the international sphere in the late 2000s did not appear in any curricular intent, students' reports, or faculty-led monographs.

Overall findings show that ICU's service-learning in the first three phases focused on the content and operation of service activities, their quality improvement as pedagogy, and diversification of programs to create more opportunities for students to serve others. Such characteristics influenced the outcome to nurture "personal development," "perspective transformation," "interpersonal development," "avoiding stereotyping," "tolerance," and so on. While ICU distinctively shows the characteristics of deep conceptions of the meaning of doing service for others, "others" for or with whom we serve was vaguely defined. Positionality of students remained unquestioned and the programs did not clearly address social inequality or social justice issues.

# Discussion: Missing Link Between Moral Awareness and Civic Engagement

The outcomes of ICU's service-learning in the previous section reveal that students learned much about their self-conceptions, obtained intercultural communication skills and competencies, and achieved personal development. Some received the intellectual stimulation to investigate underlying social issues, while others were able to revisit their own culture and social problems from a comparative lens in interacting with international students or communities in different countries.

42 International Christian University (ICU), *Introduction to Service-Learning* (Tokyo: ICU, 2004); ICU, *Why Do People Do Service?* (Tokyo: ICU, 2005); ICU, *Invitation to Service-Learning* (Tokyo: ICU, 2008).

Nevertheless, critical perspectives were missing from the programs. The design of the programs almost entirely focused on students' learning of the self and society. The roles of community and faculty in promoting social and intellectual inquiry with students were negligent. Such design did not allow students to convey their thinking beyond personal experience to refer to the structural problems and strategic communication beyond cultural exchange. Reciprocity is depoliticized whereby everything that students see and feel are presented in such a way that students are supposed to *receive* them in the form of learning rather than question, reinterpret, challenge, and *cocreate* them with the community. Students perceive social problems, especially in a rural village or in a foreign country, as a "social problem" detached from them or where students did not perceive themselves as part of the *change agent*. This stance echoes with demonstrating their desire to help "the disadvantaged" in ways that do not require them to acknowledge or address structural inequality.43

Furthermore, the way volunteer opportunities are organized in Japan is worth noting in thinking about civic engagement with a critical lens. Local government organizations, community organizations, and nonprofit organizations usually post an advertisement for volunteer opportunities on their homepage, in public papers, and through universities. Students simply "apply" for the volunteer posts that match their interests. Community in this sense is the opportunity-giver and students are opportunity-taker, while students are service-giver and communities are service-taker. In this highly institutionalized and organized context of reciprocity, the concept of a joint change maker or solidarity is hard to grow. In the "General Education on Service-Learning" course at ICU, where students were required to do service for 18 hours in 9 weeks, one student asked how a part-time job and service were different apart from the presence/absence of monetary rewards. This question addresses students' passive perception of "opportunity-taker" to volunteer without questioning their *status quo* or pursuing any social change. This is the very concern critics have raised about institutionalized volunteer and learning opportunity.44

43Mitchell, Monahue, and Young-Law, "Service Learning as a Pedagogy of Whiteness."

44T. Stanton, "Half Full or Half Empty…Who Knows?: Reflections on Forty-Five Years in Service Learning's Trenches," in *Where's the Wisdom in Service-Learning?* edited by R. Shumer (Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, 2019), 81–92.

There is another contextual lens that we can offer here with regards to positionality of students. In East Asia, individuals are expected to adopt Confucian values and social norms, such as respecting authoritative persons' decisions, conforming to the majority's views, and giving priority to collective over personal interests.45 In Japan, people often use the term "*gakusei*" (student as a learning person) and "*shakaijin*" (a member of the society who contributes to the society mostly by participating in the labor market) to draw a line to maintain the *status quo*. Such a social norm suggests that a student is someone who has not yet entered a "society" to make a tangible contribution, thus substantially reinforces a notion of students' immaturity and limited control over what they can do. The comment we received from students in the General Education Course presents the case in point:

As a volunteer, I was told to guide the participants to respective seats at the event. A disabled person in the wheelchair came and needed an extra space. I found the need to create the space for it but felt that I should not just do it without permission from the event organizer. I was not sure how much I, as a student volunteer, can suggest a change of the planned operation or do something beyond what I was told to do.

In the hierarchical society by age, gender, social status, etc., students' spontaneity and self-efficacy as citizens are hard to grow. The literature on global citizenship education in East Asia also suggests that students tend to do well in exams to reproduce their knowledge on global citizenship, but that it is harder to translate that knowledge into behavioral change.46 Service-learning tends to encourage students to revisit their conception of self, but whether this revision will transform their behavior is potentially a critical challenge.

Faculty and staff who design service-learning may also need transformation if we are to seek more intellectual rigor and incorporation of social change and solidarity ideals into service-learning beyond

45M. Yang, B. Webster, and M. Prosser, "Travelling a Thousand Miles: Hong Kong Chinese Students' Study Abroad Experience," *International Journal of Intercultural Relation* 35, no. 1 (2011): 69–78.

46H. R. Sim, "Global Citizenship Education in South Korea Through Civil Society Organizations: Its Status and Limitations," *Asian Journal of Education* 17 (2016): 107– 129.

dichotomous reciprocity of service-provider/service-taker or opportunitygiver/opportunity-taker. In an aging society with a declining universitygoing population and at the universalization stage of higher education,47 Japanese universities (and parents) are more and more over-protective for students and deal with them as a consumer and recipient of higher education services, which reinforces students' sense of immaturity and helplessness. Such a vicious circle should be overcome by generating more students' autonomy and responsibilities in service-learning so that they can obtain the sense of self as one who can transform a society. As Jacoby suggests, we may need a brave space for students on campus in addition to a safe space to empower and enhance their civic engagement.48

In order for learning outcomes of service-learning to sustain and to lead to behavioral change, its design should focus more on student inquiry of social issues (Why do we do service?) and their positionality and awareness of the social structure that affects their *status quo* as well as those oppressed/disadvantaged (What is the problem surrounding us and how can we approach it?). International service-learning challenges one's epistemology or deeply embedded beliefs and knowledge about the world around us.49 Such epistemological challenges should include our revision of the socially constructed self-concept as "student" in the Asian context.

With the tendency of focusing on Western practicality and growing competition in higher education in Asia, educators at the university level need to stop and contemplate their role in nurturing civically engaged students and scholars. Especially in hierarchical societies within Asia, it may be a long way to go to transform our mind-set from someone who receives/gives service and skillsets to someone who jointly works for a co-created purpose. The United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (2015–2030) suggest that the concept of modern development should be revisited with the perspectives of global sustainability and social inclusion. Equity, inclusion, and quality of education are of primary importance outlined in SDG 4. Departing from an elusive quest of

47M. Trow, *Problems in the Transition from Elite to Mass Higher Education* (Berkeley: Carnegie Commission on Higher Education, 1973).

48B. Jacoby, "The New Student Activism: Supporting Students as Agents of Social Change," *Journal of College and Character* 18, no. 1 (2017): 1–8.

49A. M. Oberhauser and R. Daniels, "Unpacking Global Service-Learning in Developing Contexts: A Case Study from Rural Tanzania," *Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement* 21, no. 4 (2017): 139–170.

catch-up mind-set with the West, we need to wrestle with the question of how higher education institutions can envision inclusive and equitable quality education for all and situate our role in enhancing social equality and inclusion as an earnest challenge of the twenty-first century.

### Bibliography

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# Building a Center for Writing and Communication: Inclusion, Diversity and Writing in the Indian Context

# *Kanika Singh*

# Ashoka University and Its Centre for Writing and Communication

Ashoka University is a private university established in 2014 in the north Indian state of Haryana on the outskirts of Delhi. Ashoka's study programs draw upon a liberal arts model of education where students are introduced to a variety of disciplines and ways of knowing the world. The undergraduate program offers students the flexibility to choose a combination of courses. For instance, one may major in History and do a minor in Visual Studies, or Media Studies, or opt for interdisciplinary majors like Economics and History. Moreover, the students are not expected to be passive receivers of knowledge. Ashoka's pedagogy emphasizes on making the university a space for critical thinking and the teacher–student interaction involves pedagogical tools that focus on student participation in

C. S. Sanger and N. W. Gleason (eds.), *Diversity and Inclusion in Global Higher Education*, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1628-3\_8

209

K. Singh (B)

Ashoka University, Haryana, India e-mail<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
© The Author(s) 2020

unpacking knowledge and creating it anew. Rather than producing rotememorized content, the students are encouraged to be critical thinkers where they learn to appreciate, examine, discuss, critique and innovate on what they learn about the world.

Theoretically, this approach is not a recent one,1 nevertheless, it is surprising how little it is practiced in schools and in institutions of higher education in India. Perhaps only a handful of schools, colleges and universities can boast of an active engagement with pedagogy where the students have the opportunity to be participants in the teaching–learning process. In most institutions, the case is overwhelmingly of the student being a passive receiver of knowledge with little idea of how the material present in the school textbook is relevant to the world.2 Even those of us who had the benefit of a good quality education have not encountered this in our school experience. A friend and fellow-academic whose research focuses on multilingual education remembers her own classes of science and mathematics at school. She was a good student, interested in these subjects and she recalls having enjoyed solving mathematical equations or problems based on conductors and resistances in a circuit diagram. However, she observes, 'While I enjoyed solving these problems on paper, I can't recognize the same concept when it appears in the real world. I got a great kick when I solved mathematical puzzles, but how do matrices shape the world we live it? How do they help me understand the real world?'3

Ashoka's pedagogical vision thus makes a departure from many existing institutions of higher education in India. Moreover, this approach is supported by good infrastructure and resources available to the students and the teachers, a good teacher–student ratio and close mentorship and learning support available to students. The Centre for Writing and Communication (CWC) at Ashoka is instrumental in providing close mentorship and learning support to students.

1Paulo Freire, *Pedagogy of the Oppressed*, translated by Myra Bergman Ramos (Great Britain: Penguin, 1972); bell hooks, *Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practise of Freedom* (New York: Routledge, 1994).

2This is because of a variety of factors including lack of resources, poor teacher–student ratio, ill-equipped and overworked teachers and several institutional and social factors.

3 Shivani Nag, conversation with author, May 16, 2019.

The CWC was established in 2014 as the university welcomed its first undergraduate class. It was envisaged as an integral part of Ashoka's curriculum and pedagogy. Initially, CWC's responsibility was to provide writing support to the Introduction to Critical Thinking (ICT) courses. The ICT is a writing course (taught in English) taken by all undergraduates at Ashoka in the very first semester of their undergraduate program, where close reading and critical analysis of content and learning to respond to it is introduced to students through writing exercises. The classroom teaching of the ICT was supported by one-on-one sessions conducted by the CWC where the students can brainstorm ideas, discuss their drafts and improve their writing samples. CWC played an important role in the pedagogical practices of developing critical thinking skills in students, principally through writing pedagogy.

In the last couple of years, Ashoka has seen rapid expansion in the number of students and the number and the levels of courses. While traditional programs like Economics, Mathematics, History, English and Political Science have expanded, several new programs have been introduced including Media Studies, Visual Studies, Environment Studies, Biology and Physics. The undergraduate cohort makes up the bulk of the student strength, and now postgraduate and graduate students are also part of the university. As a private university near Delhi with very high fees and the lack of caste-based reservation policy,4 Ashoka's student body overwhelmingly constitutes students from an elite, English-speaking background. Ashoka through its financial aid program has admitted a number of students from economically weaker sections, and from non-metropolitan areas within India. So, it is not only the numbers that have increased but also there is a student body with differing learning needs as a result of growing interdisciplinarity, different levels of courses, varying levels of fluency in English among students, and varied educational and social background of the students.

As the university has grown, the CWC too has had an opportunity to reconsider the role it can play in the university. As the head of the CWC, my responsibilities include both formulating an intellectual vision for the CWC and devising a working model to achieve it. For the purposes of this volume, I focus on the intellectual task before the CWC.

4As is mandatory in a government or public university.

This paper shares some of the questions we have grappled with, the possibilities we have considered, and the initiatives taken since the year 2017 as an attempt to creatively engage with the issues of critical thinking, knowledge creation, pedagogy and inclusion within Ashoka and in India. Our work has been grounded in the following eight fundamental issues of inclusive writing support.

5Vaidehi Ramanathan, *The English-Vernacular Divide: Postcolonial Language Politics and Practice* (New Delhi: Orient Longman, 2005); Shalini Advani, *Schooling the National Imagination: Education, English, and the Indian Modern* (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2009).

reading, writing, speaking in English be the only way to 'do' critical thinking? What are the ways in which Indian languages can be included in higher education pedagogy, without excluding English?

# Building a Center for Writing and Communication

The first step was recognizing that the Centre with its mandate of 'writing' and 'communication' is in the unique position of engaging with all the stakeholders in the university. This is because every activity in the

6For instance, Maryanne Wolf argues that humans' dependence on digital technology alters the functioning of the brain, affecting our capacity to think critically and reflect and even to empathize. See Wolf, *Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World* (New York: HarperCollins, 2018).

human world, particularly knowledge production and higher education, is some form of 'writing' or 'communication,' and therefore, can be critically seen through the lens of 'writing' and 'communication.' Such an approach helped us recognize the CWC as a dynamic space where the skills as well as the politics of writing and communication, the questions of pedagogy, language, curriculum and inclusion could be debated and experimented with. It is with this vision that the CWC has worked since the year 2017.

The most crucial aspect of creating such a Center is the composition of its team. We made a conscious effort to create a team where its members came from diverse backgrounds—disciplinary, linguistic and with the experience of writing in different contexts (academic, journalistic, popular, fiction and non-fiction). We particularly value educators with experience in creating learning materials for different kinds of audiences. Some of our team members have experience working with school children and neo-literates, creating learning material in distance mode, and as language teachers for English and other Indian languages.  The CWC team includes anthropologists working on humor, music and food, a lawyer researching on manual scavengers, students of English literature and composition, a scholar and writer of children's books, artists, journalists, translators, and a historian researching with textual, visual, ethnographic material. These scholars and professionals have worked with different kinds of writing and communication practices which when put together in a university setting, introduces a range of ways of thinking about the world—a factor, that is in keeping with Ashoka's model of a liberal arts education. The diversity of expertise in the team, I believe, is instrumental to the CWC's vision. It is only when a group of scholars and professionals with their diverse experience, work closely with each other through the year to discuss reading, writing, communication and pedagogy, can we truly begin thinking about critical thinking and inclusivity.

# CWC and Introduction to Critical Thinking

CWC's close association with the Introduction to Critical Thinking course (ICT) continues to be one of its main areas of activity. And now, this association is no longer limited to one-on-one student consultation sessions but incorporates workshops and programs by the CWC, within the ICT syllabus. These workshops are designed in discussion with the instructors and keeping in mind the needs of the syllabus and the class. They address the most fundamental aspects of critical thinking required for writing and communication. Some of the workshops which were designed and conducted by the CWC for ICT classes include *How to write using multiple sources*; *Writing around numbers*; *Planning a historiographical essay*; *What is an argument*; *How to write conclusions*; *Plagiarism and citation.* These workshops are particularly designed to be a combination of lecture, discussion, and in-class exercises in reading and writing, which can be individual or done in small groups and peer review. The workshops are supplemented by one-on-one sessions. As they are part of the ICT syllabus, all undergraduates participate in these sessions which constitute the building blocks of their academic work in Ashoka.

This was the first time that these workshops were being conducted by the CWC for the ICT sections using a mixed-method approach. The feedback was tremendously encouraging. Here's an excerpt from the feedback given on a *Plagiarism and Citation* workshop by an ICT instructor7:

X's approach to the overall MLA format is very calming – X shows, without overstating it, that there is a clear logic to why any kind of formatting is useful! I liked that Y kept prompting the students to complete the citations that X would begin to explain on the white board. And I loved their hand out, with the cover and inside page of different books, with different numbers of authors, editors, translators, publishers, and then broke those down into citations. I learned stuff, too! Of course, citations can be boring to hear about, but almost every student was taking notes – even the ones hiding behind laptop screens! They must be so relieved to have someone tell them how on earth these citations work, when to use brackets, how to properly cite, and so on.8

While such a pedagogical model is useful in providing learning support to large numbers of students and at the very beginning of their academic careers, we also recognize that just one writing course over a semester is not quite enough training in reading, writing and critical thinking. This is true both for students who have fluency in English and those who lack it. At the same time, it must be recognized that all the courses in

7The two tutors who conducted the workshop are referred to as X and Y.

8Aditi Sriram, email to author, September 27, 2017.

the university may not be writing-based or may not have in-built writing mechanisms. What could be the ways in which CWC could continue to provide reading, writing, learning support to the students and faculty? There were two major initiatives taken by the CWC to address this need:

# CWC's English Language Support Program

At Ashoka, the language of instruction is English, and even informal communication is overwhelmingly English. All instructors are fluent in English and readings/study material is exclusively in English. This poses serious problems for those students at Ashoka who may not be fluent in English.9

Within this section too, there was a great diversity in backgrounds and levels of proficiency in English language. There could be several reasons for their lack of fluency in English: they could be first-generation learners, or they may have had limited exposure to English in their school education, and that too is likely to have been poorly taught.10 In our initial interaction with the students, we were able to identify some common problems. The students often tended to reproduce their assigned readings (which were in English) verbatim and lacked individual expression, both in spoken and written exercises. They found the texts difficult to comprehend and hesitated speaking or participating in class preferring to remain silent. There was also reluctance in writing assignments—they frequently avoided writing them, eventually submitting poor quality, plagiarized content to the instructor, much after the deadline, thereby affecting their overall academic performance. Additionally, some of them were more interested and indeed more comfortable in disciplines where fluency

9At present, this number is rather small, but it continues to grow. There were five out of 935 undergraduate students in 2017–2018, and sixteen out of 1163 undergraduate students in 2018–2019, who were offered year-round, close mentoring for English language support.

10 See Advani, *Schooling the National Imagination*, 149–169, on limitations of English language teaching in Indian schools.

and expression in English mattered less, such as mathematics, physics and computer science.

We were conscious that for successful knowledge acquisition, our emphasis cannot merely be on grammatically correct English or correcting the accent. Rather, it must be on enabling the student to use the language both in everyday communication and to critically think and communicate in an academic setting. English language programs in Indian schools typically offer a text-based approach where the success of instruction is evaluated by the students' ability to correctly present the content from the reading or the book.11 As shown by Advani, '…the assumption [in English teaching is] that the text is an artefact which has to be learnt. Knowing English becomes a matter of knowing the content of the chapter, not of learning to communicate in English.'12 Moreover, language teaching is commonly advanced through content, which focuses on teaching morals and building character. Advani gives examples of how the texts are full of dialogues that are unrealistic and improbable in a real life situation.13 As she points out, 'If students and teachers are shaped into believing that the English syllabus is essentially fact-based, that the important aspects are contained in memorization and rote learning, and also that the important lessons are moral ones, the acquisition of language seems secondary. …there is little possibility of creating communicative competence here; students may pick up specific structures but they will find it difficult to apply them in other situations or learn appropriate structure.'14

CWC's English language teaching consciously moves away from such an approach. Our emphasis is to enable the students to transition from rote learning or mechanically reproducing the texts to critical thinking. The English language support is designed in a manner that enables students to acquire and improve on skills which they can apply to other courses, and indeed, outside the university, as well. A year-long English language support program has been set up, led by two Senior Writing Tutors at the CWC: Anurima Chanda and Anderson Glashan. We begin with a short two-week bridge program before the academic semester

11Advani, *Schooling the National Imagination*, 152, 156.

12Advani, *Schooling the National Imagination*, 156.

13Advani, *Schooling the National Imagination*, 153.

14Advani, *Schooling the National Imagination*, 164.

starts. During the academic year, two credited-courses are offered by the CWC: *English Communication* in the Monsoon semester and *Intermediate English Communication* in the Spring semester. These involve classroom teaching and one-on-one sessions. Regular follow up and contact is maintained over the holiday period by the CWC tutors. In addition, the students are encouraged to schedule individual weekly sessions to support other course-related work.

Through the year, the students are frequently made to work in pairs and in small groups. Initially, our strategy for the English communication classes was to give students multiple assignments (for the purposes of assessment) which however did not prove to be very successful. We have now switched to a single assignment, allowing students to spend more time on it and to break it up into parts, working on each element separately. Further, the learning material used in class was sourced from different disciplines and themes so that the students' varied interests could be accommodated. For grammar and vocabulary, the CWC tutors were involved in designing worksheets that the students attempted and received feedback on through individual appointments every week. Both the courses incorporate exercises addressing different components of language learning which a student is expected to use in their academic life: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Some of the most popular and successful activities included the game of Taboo, working together on jigsaw puzzles and passing secrets (a game also sometimes referred to as Telephone). Taboo is a game involving word association where each player tries to explain the word on their card without using the word itself or any of the five words listed on the card. The game of jigsaw puzzles involved dividing the class into groups. One member of a team is required to arrange the jigsaw pieces by following instructions (in English) from the other team members. Passing secrets (or Telephone) is useful as a listening and speaking exercise where it became easy for students to identify changes and errors in grammar and content. Another activity required the students to write dialogues for a real-life situation (such as reporting a theft or ordering food) and enacting it in class. These exercises are designed to encourage fluency in the use of the language in everyday informal and formal communication as opposed to highly improbable dialogues typically included in English textbooks.15 Many of these activities have involved conscious awareness of pedagogical methods and theories along with elements of trial and error. An anecdote shared with me by my colleague, Anurima Chanda, illustrates this well. She used a translation exercise which especially resonated both with her and the students. The students were asked to translate a song from their mother tongue into English. Her observation was that the students enjoyed the activity and were even trying to sing the English version. Later, while doing research for writing a book on Dr. B. R. Ambedkar,16 for children, Chanda discovered, to her surprise and pleasure, that Ambedkar's father had used the same strategy to teach his son English!17

Equipping students to transfer their language learning to critical thinking applicable to other aspects of their academic work is an important element of English language support program offered by the CWC. This aspect of learning at Ashoka has to be addressed simultaneously as the students were already doing other reading-heavy courses in different disciplines at Ashoka. In the first instance, we tried to identify and use existing and open access learning material, such as videos on the internet which explain and illustrate concepts like 'capitalism,' 'materialism' in a simple, story-form. However, we soon realized their limitations: the students had difficulty following the accent and the examples and analogies offered as these were very specific to the cultural background of the makers of the videos (most of the videos were made in the USA).

An alternative approach used by the CWC has been more successful in this objective. It combines exercises for English language with critical learning. Again, the students are made to work in pairs. The first step in the exercise requires each student to collect biographical information about their partners. This is to encourage formulation of questions, careful listening, understanding and taking notes. In the second step, each student verbally presents a biographical note on their partners. This is an exercise in selecting information, creating a narrative and then speaking. In the third and final step, the students are required to write a paper connecting information from their partner's bio-note, to the larger world. For instance, one of the students drew upon a Tibetan student's life and

16B. R. Ambedkar (1891–1956) was a social reformer, politician and a lawyer. He was the Chairman of the committee which drafted the Constitution of independent India. He was a strong critic of the caste system and in modern India, he is particularly recognized as a champion of Dalit struggles.

17Anurima Chanda, email to author, May 21, 2019.

particular aspects of it were used to comment upon the life in exile and government policies in India, Tibet and China. Another approach that has been successful in enabling this transition has been the extra-curricular creative programs designed by the CWC team which I discuss the following section.

The pedagogy of the English language support is designed in a way that discourages rote learning and verbatim reproduction of the content by the students. Rather, they are encouraged to discuss their ideas, express their opinions, debate and work with peers. So, this is not merely a class in correcting English grammar and pronunciation; it has significant contributions in the way students who initially lacked proficiency in English are able to engage with what appears to them as a difficult, alien and often hostile academic environment.

There are many possibilities for improvement in this teaching program. We are especially interested in exploring greater use of multilingual strategies in English language teaching. At the same time, the existing support system has made a significant difference in the work and confidence levels of the participating students. A first-year undergraduate student, who started learning English only two years before joining Ashoka, had this to say about their *English Communication* class:

In terms of the class timing and mode of learning, English communication was by far, the most reliable class this semester for me. I have learned a quite interesting things from the class over a period of 3 months, that I am going to remember for the next four years. … X and Y have been the mentors of this class. … The class was not just about assignments, but it also consisted of fun activities. I still remember the class where we were divided into groups and X made us compete against each other in three rounds. The class included of games and activities such as puzzle, finding the error in the picture and giving our opinion on one of the topics. There were classes where we were even taught the basics of reading and writing. Throughout this class, I have learned this one thing that we should never think about what others would think while we raise up and ask questions. The tips and tricks, as well as the way in which we have started analyzing our paper is the one thing that Y has helped us with. There was a class, where we were taught on how to maintain the continuity between paragraphs. In one of the classes we were divided into teams and given topics to debate on, that was one of the classes that made us quite comfortable while expressing our opinion. It also worked as a great exercise to improve our communication skills in terms of raising questions and giving sleek answers.18

Yet another student pointed out that this class helped her tackle the courses she was taking in her first year at Ashoka. A faculty member who teaches writing courses at Ashoka shared her feedback on one of the students (identified as A) who had spent a year working closely with the CWC:

I'd just like to share with you [CWC tutors] the introduction that A wrote for his final paper in my class. I assumed he had taken your help with it, because of how well it's written, but he told me he did this completely by himself. He read it out loud in front of the class and listened to feedback from his classmates on how to improve his paragraph (which you can see in the comments). It was one of the stronger introductions we reviewed in class today, along with a clear thesis statement, and I was very happy. Thanks to both of you [CWC tutors] for working with him over the past 2 semesters, and building him up to be someone who can write such a great opening paragraph!19

# Creative Programs

To further promote its pedagogical vision, CWC introduced extracurricular, creative programs open to all members of the university and the public. These events innovatively draw upon and analyze a diverse range of activities and media which are part of our daily lives: news, email, music, internet, media, board games, photographs, food and jokes, to name a few. These programs are designed and executed by CWC team members and invited experts. In the last two years the CWC team organized more than twenty such events. In this section, I write about some of the most popular ones and how they engage with some of the questions raised initially in this paper.

A workshop on writing recipes was designed by Mohini Mehta, an anthropologist working on food cultures, and a Writing Tutor at the CWC. Through this two-hour workshop, Mehta was able to demonstrate recipe-writing as a literary form and skill and simultaneously a highly

18Anonymous student feedback to course instructors.

19Aditi Sriram, email to CWC, April 17, 2018.

political act. The participants included Ashoka's undergraduate students some of whom were members of the university's Baking Society, a staff member who was interested in the theme and a graduate student researching food histories. The participants worked in pairs to write recipes on a dish of their choice and in any format and literary style. The language used was English but the use of vernacular terms was encouraged. The writing exercise was followed by a discussion on the craft of writing and the politics of writing about food. One of the participants chose to write a recipe for sandwiches giving precise quantities and the exact process illustrated with a diagram. In contrast, another participant wrote a personal narrative about making *khichdi*, 20 when and why they felt the urge to make it, the memories it invoked, how they went about procuring the utensils and the ingredients, and finally how it was savored. In another narrativestyle recipe written in this workshop, the participant used a number of vernacular words to refer to particular spices and their flavors and the emotions they generate. Mehta then used these writing samples to provoke a discussion about the language of writing about food, the genderroles assumed by the participants, the stereotypes they carried, and the slangs and insults couched in one's writing especially when writing about food. She also used the discussion as an entry point into feminist and subaltern theories which consider memory and personal accounts are valid narratives. The discussion examined the celebration of food as heritage, social groups whose food was represented as cuisine, and if food could be associated with painful memories. Mehta used popular cookbooks,21 films (Marathi film, *Gulabjam*), and works of Dalit writers to highlight these issues.

Organizing an activity like this has many pedagogical benefits. First, and perhaps most importantly, it is fun! It interests people, makes them curious and willing to experiment and explore. Second, our creative programs are open to everyone and follow a participatory format (rather than being lecture-based). Having a teacher, a student and a staff member participate in the same activity breaks down many power relations that operate in the classroom. Barriers like English language proficiency which affect confidence and hinder participation can be reduced to a great

20Khichdi is an easy-to-cook plain dish of rice and lentils cooked together; considered a poor man's fare; often eaten while fasting, or in convalescence.

21 S. Meenakshi Ammal, *The Best of Samaithu Par: The Classical Guide to Tamil Cuisine* (Virginia: Viking, 2001).

extent. Third, all our creative programs follow a similar model where the resource person leading the workshop can weave a topic or activity with critical thinking, the craft of writing and communication and its politics and draw connections between multiple sources. Mehta too was successful in doing this using sources like media, film, literature and personal experience. The fourth and a very significant element of these programs is that they facilitate transfer of learning outside the classroom and outside the curriculum. While they are pitched as standalone activities, they simultaneously provide a link to the interdisciplinary academic work the students do at Ashoka. In fact, students often write back to the CWC sharing how an event they attended was useful for a course they were doing at Ashoka or their life outside the university.

Another workshop which was successful in achieving this was the one on writing feghoots—short, pun-inspired stories. The workshop was led by Karandeep Mehra, Writing Tutor at CWC, and a sociologist whose research examines humor. Mehra explains the model of these stories and the format of the workshop, 'It starts from a basic facet of language –punning. One considers the possibility that one word may have more than one meaning, or may sound like another but have different meanings, or be spelt like another word but again have different meanings. A feghootwriting workshop takes the alternate meanings and uses of a pun, finds a way to connect them by crafting them into a story such that it can end the story with the original pun.'22 In the workshop Mehra encouraged students to identify puns, their alternative meanings, and demonstrated how this play with language can be used by advertisers, politicians and critics. A few sample feghoots were discussed and the final exercise involved students choosing a pun and weaving a feghoot around it. The success of the workshop can be gaged from the fact that days after the event some the participants continued writing to Mehra with examples of puns they identified elsewhere. Mehra plans to further explore the use of multilingual puns in CWC's work—finding similar sounds across languages, for instance, 'I laughed yesterday' in Hindi is 'Michael Hussey' (*main kal hasi*)!

While much of our pedagogical work in the university involves grappling with textual sources, we also explored how intangible sources like

22Karandeep Mehra, email to author, May 23, 2019.

music could be critically analyzed and what lessons could such an exercise offer for our academic work. CWC invited Varun Kishore, a Delhibased composer and producer to create a program around active listening in music. Using a score of instrumental music, Kishore presented an analysis of the different component of this single score, introduced the participants to listening exercises identifying and isolating arrangement, rhythm and instrumentation, and concluded with a discussion of 'sampling' in music and its implications for plagiarism and citation in academic writing. Sharanya Dutta, a Writing Tutor who participated in the event remarked that the comparison of sampling with citation worked well in driving home the point about good practices in academic integrity; how existing ideas may be used by people across the world while acknowledging the source. Dutta also found the listening bias exercise effective in demonstrating that non-verbal clues can be utilized to convey context.23

In the year 2018, CWC introduced *Writing Geographies*, a series which explores the questions of form and politics of writing about a place and by authors located in a place. The main inspiration to initiate this series was to engage with the vast linguistic diversity of India and it is one of the initial attempts by CWC to explore the questions of language and its implications for the ideals of critical thinking and inclusive pedagogy. In the first year of its existence, we highlighted three regions within India, and the languages, writing and expression, including fiction, non-fiction, oral, visual and textual, that emerge from that region. The format of the series was flexible, some events were designed as performances, others were dialogues and discussion. Scholars, professionals, activists whose work was informed by their respective geography and language were invited to discuss their work at Ashoka.

The first in the series was a critical examination of the term 'Northeast,' officially used to identify the seven states in the eastern-most part India, and the hierarchy and power relations embedded in its usage. These questions were explored through the writings of the political scientist, Sanjib Baruah who discussed the issues of writing about the Northeast with the journalist Sangeeta Baroorah Pisharoty. Another event in the series was a conversation with a team of women reporting from the region of Bundelkhand in central India. Their initiative is called *Khabar Lahariya*, a

23 Sharanya Dutta, email to author, May 28, 2019.

media platform run and managed by women of Bundelkhand. They primarily use digital media, report on local issues and in local dialects of Hindi. The representatives of the *Khabar Lahariya* team, Kavita Devi (Digital Head) and Pooja Pande (Partnerships Head) interacted with Awadhesh Tripathi (Assistant Professor of Hindi, Ambedkar University Delhi) on issues of gender, caste, class and language and the local context informing their practice of journalism. In another event, CWC invited Shalim M. Hussain, a graduate student at Jamia Millia Islamia to perform a form of protest poetry referred to as *Miya* poetry, being created by Muslims in the state of Assam. Miya is a derogatory slang for the Bengali-origin Muslim community in the state of Assam in northeast India. In the session, Hussain presented *Miya* poetry to demonstrate how an expletive has been reappropriated by the Muslim community to protest its exclusion and explored questions of the language of protest, the act of translation from local dialects to English and its relevance for the affected community.

# Conclusion

The examples shared above convey the guiding principles and tangible implementation of CWC's work in fostering a fundamentally inclusive writing support program appropriate to an Indian liberal arts context. These programs make the teaching practices in Ashoka more democratic and actively contribute to developing a critical engagement with the world. Within the university, the CWC has carved a unique space for itself by designing learning support and offering programs within the curriculum, while simultaneously going beyond the syllabus. As a result, the CWC has emerged as a platform where all members of Ashoka and even the wider academic community in India participate, debate, and critically engage with texts, languages, materialities, pedagogy and inclusion.

Going forward, the CWC and indeed, similar writing centers that have recently been established in other universities in India, have tremendous scope for contributing to the landscape of higher education in India and Asia. The CWC intends to develop its work to create an open access knowledge bank that shares the teaching material created by its tutors and instructors. This resource can be further developed by educators to cater to their specific contexts, and even for teacher training. The next step would be making it available in at least a few major Indian languages, besides English. There are many studies that highlight the benefits of multilingual education at school level in the Indian context, and its relationship to development and inclusion.24 It would be useful to explore its benefits in higher education. The writing center as an institution (in Ashoka and elsewhere) has the potential to emerge as a pioneering space to research and experiment with multilinguism, interdisciplinarity, pedagogy and inclusion in higher education.

**Acknowledgement** I am grateful to Shivani Nag of Ambedkar University Delhi for discussing this theme with me and offering valuable suggestions for this paper. I would like to thank all my colleagues at the CWC who have contributed to the team's work. I would especially like to acknowledge the colleagues whose work I have discussed here: Anurima Chanda, Anderson Glashan, Mohini Mehta, Karandeep Mehra, Sharanya Dutta, Jyotirmoy Talukar, Mayuri Patankar, Varun Kishore and Aditi Sriram.

# Bibliography

24Tove Skutnabb-Kangar, Robert Phillipson, Ajik K. Mohanty, and Minati Panda, eds., *Social Justice Through Multilingual Education* (Bristol: Multilingual Matters, 2009); Hywel Coleman, ed., *Multilingualism's and Development: Selected Proceedings on the 11th Language and Development Conference, New Delhi, India, 2015* (New Delhi: British Council, 2017).

**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# Supporting Historically Marginalized Populations

# Gender and Sexual Diversity in Asian Universities

*Khoo Hoon Eng and Daryl W. J. Yang*

# Introduction

In January 2016, Indonesia's Technology, Research and Higher Education Minister Muhammad Nasir called for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) students to be banned from university campuses in the country.1 He was responding to reports that an informal group known as the Support Group and Resource Center on Sexuality Studies (SGRC) at the University of Indonesia (UI) had been allowed to provide counselling for LGBTQ students and advocate for the LGBTQ

1"LGBT Not Welcome at University: Minister," *The Jakarta Post*, January 25, 2016, https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/01/25/lgbt-not-welcomeuniversity-minister.html.

K. H. Eng · D. W. J. Yang (B) Yale-NUS College, Singapore, Singapore e-mail<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
K. H. Eng e-mail<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
© The Author(s) 2020 C. S. Sanger and N. W. Gleason (eds.), *Diversity and Inclusion in Global Higher Education*, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1628-3\_9

231

community. In response, the university's Rector clarified that SGRC was not an official group recognized by the university.

Elsewhere, in Japan, a male graduate student from the law faculty at Hitotsubashi University committed suicide after his sexual orientation was made public against his will in August 2015.2 A year after his death, two students from the same university started a student group to foster a safe space for LGBTQ students on campus; the group was officially recognized by the university in May 2017.3

These two examples from Indonesia and Japan demonstrate firstly, the serious challenges that continue to face LGBTQ university students across Asia and secondly, the different institutional approaches toward LGBTQ diversity and inclusion in the region that largely ranges from hostility to ambivalence. Often, affirming institutions are either found in societies that have never criminalized same-sex sexual acts, such as Taiwan, Thailand, and the Philippines, or have some Anglo-American affiliation as in the case of New York University's satellite campuses in Shanghai and Abu Dhabi or Yale-NUS College, the product of a collaboration between Yale University and the National University of Singapore. In rare instances, universities in more hostile environments, such as the Jakarta Theological Seminary in the capital city of Indonesia, have sought to adopt an affirming approach toward LGBTQ diversity despite public and political opposition.4

It is unsurprising that most Asian universities are not affirming of LGBTQ diversity. A significant proportion of countries that still criminalize consensual same-sex sexual acts are located in Asia and most Asian countries still have yet to introduce any legislative or policy measure to

2Nagayasu Shibun, "Sexual Minorities in Japan: The Myth of Tolerance," *Nippon.com*, October 21, 2016, https://www.nippon.com/en/currents/d00253/.

4Eduard Merigo, "In Indonesia, LGBT Communities Viewed as Moral Threat— Condemned by Religion, and Increasingly, by Law," *South China Morning Post*, April 7, 2019, https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/ 3004634/indonesia-lgbt-community-viewed-moral-threat.

3 "2 Students form Social Group for Sexual Minorities at Hitotsubashi Univ. After Suicide," *The Mainichi*, February 28, 2019, https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/ 20190228/p2a/00m/0na/004000c.

protect LGBTQ persons from discrimination or violence.5 This is exacerbated by the stigma and prejudice against LGBTQ individuals that permeate some Asian societies because gender and sexual diversity are viewed negatively for historical, religious, and political reasons. This contributes to an unwelcoming and sometimes hostile environment that LGBTQ students find themselves contending with in their universities.

While existing literature on LGBTQ diversity and inclusion in higher education has identified the key challenges facing LGBTQ students, it has largely failed to engage with the specific experiences of Asian universities. We attempt to address this lacuna in the scholarship. This is important for three reasons. Firstly, as higher education expands in Asia, there needs to be a greater focus not only on the quality of education but also the experiences of students. Without a safe and affirming environment for all students, effective learning cannot take place. Secondly, LGBTQ issues are often viewed as undesirable foreign, specifically Western, practices in many Asian societies that are at odds with "Asian values." This poses a challenge to educators and university administrators navigating this complex socio-political landscape. Thirdly, LGBTQ students in Asia may experience their gender and sexual identities differently from their peers in Anglo-American settings as a result of how social institutions such as family and adulthood are culturally conceived.

Before we proceed and as others in this volume have emphasized, it is both difficult and disingenuous to speak about Asia as if it were a coherent conceptual or geographical category. The sheer diversity in history, culture, geography and politics not merely across the entire region but even between two neighboring countries makes it nearly impossible to generate any useful generalization about the whole continent. In particular, the socio-legal landscape relating to LGBTQ issues is especially diverse; while Taiwan has achieved marriage equality and India and Bhutan have repealed laws that criminalize same-sex intimacy, more than twenty other Asian countries still criminalize it.6 Nevertheless, in exploring Asian perspectives on the issues facing LGBTQ students in higher

5Lucas Ramon Mendos, *State-Sponsored Homophobia Report 2019* (Geneva: ILGA, 2019).

6 "Taiwan Legalises Same-Sex Marriage in First for Asia," *The Straits Times*, May 18, 2019; "India's Top Court Lifts Ban on Gay Sex in Landmark Ruling," *The Straits Times*, September 6, 2018; and "Bhutan LGBT Community Celebrates After Homosexuality Is Decriminalised," *The Straits Times*, June 8, 2019.

education, we believe that there are some common issues and themes that affect the regions which are worth examining. More fundamentally, we hope that this chapter demonstrates to educators that context is critical in approaching something as politically controversial and culturally sensitive as LGBTQ issues in the university setting.

As we will briefly outline later in this chapter, in countries where extensive research has been conducted, the challenges that LGBTQ students face are well-documented in terms of the relative invisibility of sexual and gender diversity on campus and the lack of targeted support resources.7 This chapter builds on existing scholarship by examining how these challenges manifest themselves in Asian universities where particular cultural and historical factors may exacerbate negative and potentially hostile attitudes toward LGBTQ identities and expressions. Unlike universities in North America and Europe, which are often already committed to LGBTQ inclusion in principle, most universities in Asia can either be described as hostile or ambivalent toward LGBTQ students. The strategies that may work in the former contexts may therefore either be impossible or extremely unfeasible in Asia. In this chapter, we use various case studies to develop a theoretical framework for understanding how universities in Asia, especially in countries with restrictive laws and unaccepting cultural attitudes, can become more affirming institutions for LGBTQ students as a result of factors such as student activism and globalization.

We develop this framework to categorize the different types of Asian universities in terms of their institutional approaches toward LGBTQ inclusion. We identify three types of approaches: affirmation, ambivalence, and hostility. This framework allows educators and administrators to better strategize their advocacy for LGBTQ inclusion as well as the implementation of culturally appropriate programs that best support LGBTQ students in their campuses. We focus especially on institutional approaches toward LGBTQ inclusion because the institution itself is often the key

7 See, for instance, Sue Rankin, Genevieve Weber, Warren Blumenfeld, and Somjen Frazer, *2010 State of Higher Education for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender People* (Charlotte: Campus Pride, 2010); Susan B. Marine and D. Chase J. Catalano, "Engaging Transgender Students on College and University Campuses," in *Student Engagement in Higher Education: Theoretical Perspectives and Practical Approaches for Diverse Populations*, edited by Stephen J. Quaye and Shaun R. Harper (New York: Routledge, 2014), 135– 148; and Dafina-Lazarus Stewart and Mary F. Howard-Hamilton, "Engaging Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Students on College Campuses," in *Student Engagement in Higher Education*, 121–134.

obstacle to fostering a more diverse university community in the Asian context as a result of social and political factors. Consequently, while individual educators may attempt to incorporate inclusive strategies in their pedagogy, they may face significant challenges in doing so. It is therefore crucial for those concerned with the well-being and learning of LGBTQ students to focus not only on specific teaching or student engagement strategies but also consider how they can effectively advocate for LGBTQ inclusion at an institutional level. In addition, while we focus largely on LGBTQ students, the institutional approach of a university also affects the experiences of LGBTQ staff and faculty in terms of whether they may face violence or discrimination or come out as LGBTQ on campus; a case involving the suicide of a librarian working at the Myanmar Imperial University illustrates the real impact that a hostile university environment can have on LGBTQ staff as well.8

The rest of this chapter proceeds as follows. Section "Challenges Facing LGBTQ Students in Asia" provides a brief context on the challenges facing LGBTQ students in Asia both within the university setting and more broadly in Asian societies. Section "Three Types of Institutional Approaches Toward LGBTQ Inclusion in Asia" outlines three types of institutional approaches toward LGBTQ students that can be found in Asia: hostility, ambivalence, and affirmation. Section "Engendering Affirmation Toward LGBTQ Students in Asian Universities" considers the factors that influence how universities can move from hostility to affirmation and the role that students, faculty, and administrators can play in engendering this institutional shift. Section "Pedagogical Strategies for Educators Working with LGBTQ Students or LGBTQ-Related Issues in the Classroom" discusses some strategies that educators may adopt in their pedagogy or curriculum design to better engage with LGBTQ students and LGBTQ-related subjects in the classroom. We conclude in Section "Conclusion and Future Directions" with a brief discussion on the broader impact that LGBTQ inclusion in higher education can have on Asian societies.

8 "Gay Myanmar Man Posts Facebook Bullying Note Before Taking Life," *New Straits Times*, June 25, 2019, https://www.nst.com.my/world/2019/06/499097/gaymyanmar-man-posts-facebook-bullying-note-taking-life.

### Challenges Facing LGBTQ Students in Asia

The challenges that LGBTQ students face in Asia are not dissimilar to those that LGBTQ students face elsewhere. According to Schueler, Hoffman, and Peterson, the four main challenges that LGBTQ students face are invisibility, conflicting social identities, homophobia, and a dominant heteronormative culture.9 These issues are not unique to the university environment but particularly affect LGBTQ students' identity formation, personal development, and academic engagement as young adults.

#### *Invisibility and the Silence of Sex*

Invisibility is defined as the absence of positive and visible role models for LGBTQ students among faculty, staff, and administrators as well as a lack of support resources that cater to these students. In Asian societies, this is worsened by *strong cultural taboos* surrounding sex and intimacy where it is considered unprofessional and unacceptable for faculty, staff, and administrators to discuss or share their personal lives, whether heterosexual or otherwise.10 Institutionally, because there are also often little to no support resources relating to sexual or reproductive health generally, it may be even harder to advocate for support resources targeted specifically at LGBTQ students. This is troubling because a survey conducted among over 3000 university students in five Southeast Asian countries highlighted the need to prioritize LGBTQ students who were disproportionately affected by mental health issues.11

9 Schueler, Hoffman, and Peterson, "Fostering Safe, Engaging Campuses for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Students," in *Student Engagement in Higher Education: Theoretical Perspectives and Practical Approaches for Diverse Populations*, edited by Shaun R. Harper and Stephen J. Quaye (New York: Routledge, 2010), 61–80.

10Marwaan Macan-Markar, "Asian Cultural Taboos Hide Links Between Sex and HIV/AIDS," *Malaysiakini*, July 11, 2002, https://www.malaysiakini.com/opinions/ 21679. See also Zhang Liying, Li Xiaoming, and Iqbal H. Shah, "Where Do Chinese Adolescents Obtain Knowledge of Sex? Implications for Sex Education in China," *Health Education* 107, no. 4 (2007): 351; Shantha Sankaranarayan, Eknath Naik, P. S. N. Reddy, G. Gurunani, Karuna Ganesh, Kailas Gandewar, K. P. Singh, and S. H. Vermund, "Impact of School-Based HIV and AIDS Education for Adolescents in Bombay, India," *Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health* 27, no. 4 (1996): 692.

11Karl Peltzer and Supa Pengpid, "Minority Stress Among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) University Students in ASEAN Countries: Associations with Poor Mental Health and Addictive Behaviour," *Gender and Behaviour* 14, no. 3 (2016): 7806.

#### *Recognizing Different Dimensions of LGBTQ Students' Identities*

Just as students of color or faith in the West may struggle with conflicting identity dimensions, LGBTQ students in Asia similarly struggle with the cultural and religious rejection of their sexual or gender identities. This "double oppression"—in terms of being from a minority ethnic or religious group and being LGBTQ—however may transform into a "triple oppression" in the Asian context, where LGBTQ identities are often derided as a *foreign, Western invention*. LGBTQ students thus have to grapple not only with cultural and religious tensions but also historical and political ones, where their identities are perceived to be a neo-imperial import that are at odds with traditional "Asian values" and the postcolonial struggle.12 Because of these factors, it is unsurprising that homophobia and heteronormativity are particularly thorny issues in many Asian societies. This is especially the case in many Muslim-majority countries, where there are rising trends of Islamic fundamentalism and Islamization. This has led to the troubling trend of criminalization of or enhanced punishments for same-sex intimacy in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei.13 Even when there is no explicit threat of violence or discrimination such as in parts of East Asia, parental and social expectations of conformity continue to marginalize LGBTQ students who face prejudice and rejection for being different.

#### *Understanding Different Needs of LGB and TNB Students*

At this point, it is important to note that though they are often combined, the challenges facing transgender and non-binary (TNB) students are often very different from those that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) students face. This is especially salient in some Asian societies, where attitudes toward non-normative gender identities and expressions may sometimes be more affirming than attitudes toward non-normative sexual orientations and practices. An example is Pakistan, where consensual samesex sexual conduct may attract the death penalty under shariah law but where the historical and cultural role of hijras, who are recognized as

12For a deeper discussion of the "Asian values" debate in the context of LGBTQ rights, see Po-Han Lee, "LGBT Rights Versus Asian Values: De/Re-constructing the Universality of Human Rights," *The International Journal of Human Rights* 20, no. 7 (2016): 978.

13Mendos, *State-Sponsored Homophobia Report 2019*, 127.

belonging to a third gender, has led to growing social acceptance and legal protection.14 Conversely, in Japan, while many parts of the country have legalized same-sex marriage,15 transgender people continue to be forcibly sterilized as part of the policy requirements to correct their legal gender.16 It is therefore important to recognize that though they are often spoken of in the same breath, the experiences and needs of LGB students are often significantly different from those of TNB students.

#### *Appropriate Language and Terminology in Context*

Furthermore, within each identity category, there is significant diversity as well. As Stewart and Howard-Hamilton observed, "LGB people are not a monolithic group and the impact of other systems of oppression has prompted the development of communities within communities."17 This has led to different identificatory labels that vary across diverse groups. Though terms like *lesbian* and *gay* are globally recognizable, they may not be the most appropriate or familiar terms in certain contexts.18 The *hijra* comes to mind; though it is often (mis)translated as transgender or intersex, the cultural meanings attached to *hijra* cannot be represented by those other terms. In some cases, similar vocabulary may be utilized but with their own specific meanings and connotations; for instance, Boellstorff described how LGBTQ Indonesians referred to themselves as *lesbi, gay* or *waria*, terms which may appear similar to but are distinct from the Western conceptions of lesbian, gay, and transgender identity.19 It is therefore crucial that educators familiarize themselves with the relevant

14Mendos, *State-Sponsored Homophobia Report 2019*, 136.

15Mendos, *State-Sponsored Homophobia Report 2019*, 286.

16Graeme Reid, Kanae Doi, and Michael Bochenekh, *'A Really High Hurdle': Japan's Abusive Transgender Legal Recognition Process* (New York: Human Rights Watch, 2019).

17 Stewart and Hamilton, "Engaging Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Students on College Campuses," 122.

18 See, for instance, William Leap and Tom Boellstorff, eds., *Speaking in Queer Tongues: Globalization and Gay Language* (Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2004).

19Tom Boellstorff, "*Gay* and *Lesbi* Subjectivities, National Belonging and the New Indonesia," in *Women in Indonesia: Gender, Equity and Development*, edited by Kathryn Robinson and Sharon Bessell (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2002), 92–99.

language that LGBTQ students may use in their particular communities to better relate to and engage with them.

#### *Diverse Cultural Conceptions of Gender and Sexuality*

It is also important to note that while LGBTQ identities may have become the dominant paradigm by which same-sex desire and practices are understood, this may not be the case in some Asian societies.  This should not be misapprehended as internalized homophobia or suppression of one's homosexual desires. As Massad emphasizes, traditional Arab sexualities are not founded on the hetero-homo binary that prevails in contemporary imaginations.20 Educators should therefore be careful of relying on preconceived or non-native understandings of gender and sexuality that may not resonate with their students.

Given the potential violence and discrimination that LGBTQ students may face in many Asian universities, it is crucial for educators to carefully navigate classroom dynamics to support these students without potentially putting them at risk. Furthermore, educators who teach LGBTQ-related subjects need to contend with the different cultural contexts in Asia where some students may be less comfortable or familiar with these concepts. These issues will be discussed further in Section "Pedagogical Strategies for Educators Working with LGBTQ Students or LGBTQ-Related Issues in the Classroom".

# Three Types of Institutional Approaches Toward LGBTQ Inclusion in Asia

Having discussed the challenges that LGBTQ students in Asia face, this section turns toward the institution of the Asian university. While it is perhaps generally accepted in European or North American universities that LGBTQ inclusion is desirable and beneficial, this is not the case in most Asian universities. We describe three types of institutional approaches toward LGBTQ inclusion. Firstly, the archetypal European or

20 Joseph A. Massad, *Desiring Arabs* (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008).

North American university may be described as an *affirming* institution that values LGBTQ inclusion. Secondly, most Asian universities may be best characterized as *ambivalent* toward LGBTQ students in that administrators and their policies do not acknowledge the existence of such diversity and ignore or condone any discrimination that LGBTQ students may face on campus. Finally, at the other end of the spectrum are *hostile* universities that not only condones discrimination against LGBTQ students but also actively perpetuates violence and discrimination through its faculty, administrators, and policies. Such universities are generally found in societies where harsh laws criminalizing same-sex intimacy exist and attitudes toward LGBTQ persons are extremely negative.

This framework is useful in several ways. Importantly, it situates the three university archetypes along a linear axis, where a hostile university may gradually shift from first being ambivalent to finally being affirming toward LGBTQ students. This institutional shift does not occur in a vacuum; since universities are embedded in the societies that they are located; they are acutely influenced by the prevailing socio-legal landscape. The next section discusses the factors that may engender this institutional shift.

Different strategies may be effective based on the institutional context that educators and administrators are operating in. For instance, an educator operating within a hostile institutional environment may adopt a less overt and resource-intensive strategy to engage with LGBTQ students: organizing a networking event for these students may not be feasible but a small, informal support group meeting might be. This framework thus allows educators and administrators to reflect on and better strategize how they may best support and advocate for LGBTQ students.

This framework thus allows for greater conceptual clarity when discussing Asian universities. The climate at a university in Beijing, China may be very different from one in Dhaka, Bangladesh. By distinguishing between different stages that Asian universities may be at, this framework provides theoretical nuance to the study of LGBTQ inclusion in Asia. Notwithstanding, the descriptions that follow and the table outlining each institutional approach appended at the end of this section are neither exhaustive nor definitive and would benefit from further clarification and development in future scholarship.

#### *The Affirming University*

The terminal and desired institutional approach toward LGBTQ students, the affirming university is one that recognizes and, as its name suggests, affirms the gender and sexual diversity in the university community. This affirmation manifests itself in both university policy and programming as well as the wider campus culture. In some cases, such affirmation may be mandated by law through the actual implementation on the ground often falls short. For instance, in Taiwan, the Gender Equity Education Act requires schools to "provide a gender-fair learning environment, respect and give due consideration to students, faculty, and staff with different gender, gender temperaments, gender identity, and sexual orientation."21 It also prohibits schools from discriminating against prospective and current students on the basis of their "gender, gender temperaments, gender identity or sexual orientation."22 However, a recent study reported gaps in realizing these legal obligations due to various cultural and administrative challenges.23

Primarily, an affirming university would have an anti-discrimination policy in place that LGBTQ students—and other students from marginalized communities—can turn to should they experience bullying or discrimination from other students, faculty or administrators. This means that the policy is not only on the books but also actively enforced to protect LGBTQ students from any and all forms of discrimination. Furthermore, the university's housing, healthcare and other policies are LGBTQinclusive and the corresponding departments actively ensure that LGBTQ students feel comfortable seeking support from them. Policies also do not differentiate students based on their sexual orientation; for instance, if housing is available to students who are coupled, it would be available to both heterosexual and same-sex couples. Gender-neutral housing is available to students and they may change their gender markers without having to have amended their legal gender. Policy language is also written using inclusive language that does not perpetuate the gender binary or heteronormativity.

21The Republic of China (Taiwan), Article 12, *Gender Equity Education Act*, 2004. 22Articles 13 and 14, *Gender Equity Education Act*.

23Ada L. Sinacore, Shu-chu Cha, and Jennifer Ho, "Gender Equity Education Act in Taiwan: Influences on the School Community," *International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance* 19, no. 2 (2019): 293–312.

Besides that, there are activities and events that are either about or targeted at LGBTQ students. This may include support group meetings, networking events and talks or lectures about LGBTQ-related issues. LGBTQ students are visible in the university community, either through the establishment of official student groups or campus committees focusing on LGBTQ inclusion, and there are openly LGBTQ or LGBTQaffirming faculty or administrators to whom students can turn for support and mentorship.

Together, such policies and programming foster an affirming campus environment. LGBTQ students generally feel comfortable about disclosing their gender or sexual identities if they so choose and can seek support from various channels. Educators are free to teach about LGBTQ-related issues in the classroom as well because students are comfortable and familiar with them.

Examples that approximate this archetype include Yale-NUS College in Singapore and New York University (NYU) Shanghai. Both these institutions have established policies like those discussed above that are like their affiliated American universities which are known for their strong affirmation of LGBTQ diversity. Bangkok University has also put in place affirming policies such as a trans-inclusive uniform policy and Thammasat University has included discussions on gender identity led by a transgender lecturer in a mandatory course for all incoming first-year students.24 Hong Kong University (HKU) introduced gender-neutral bathrooms in 2016 and runs a Sexual Diversity Network that aims to increase awareness of "the needs of people from varied sexual orientations" and advocate sexual diversity on campus.25

24 Jonathan Head, "Bangkok University Transgender Students Get New Uniform Rules," *BBC News*, June 9, 2015, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33060185; "Thai University Introduces Mandatory Class on Transgender Issues," *TEAK Trans Empowerment*, October 10, 2017, https://teak.site/thai-university-introduces-mandatoryclass-on-transgender-issues/.

25Cannix Yau, "University of Hong Kong Accused of Trying to Brainwash Campus with Unisex, LGBT-Friendly Toilets," *South China Morning Post*, September 2, 2016, https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/ 2013151/university-hong-kong-accused-trying-brainwash; "Diversity and Social Inclusion," CEDARS-CoPE, accessed June 4, 2019, https://wp.cedars.hku.hk/web/cope/? p=849.

#### *The Ambivalent University*

The ambivalent university is characterized by the absence of any effective policies or programming that affirm LGBTQ diversity on its campus. There is therefore little to no specialized services supporting LGBTQ students because the university does not explicitly recognize the existence of gender and sexual diversity. For instance, according to one article, in Hong Kong, counselling services that are provided in universities do not actively reach out to LGBTQ students and counsellors often lack experience and expertise in dealing with LGBTQ students.26

In some cases, administrators are willing to provide support to LGBTQ students on a discretionary basis though this is not usually made known publicly. For instance, according to research conducted by the Inter-University LGBT Network in Singapore, the two main public universities that provide on-campus housing can offer transgender students housing in a mixed-gender arrangement if students make a special request on the basis of their gender identity.27 However, this may not be entirely appropriate as it places the burden on transgender students to disclose their identities to university administrators.

At an ambivalent university, though discrimination may be prohibited in the university's code of conduct, there is no clear process for aggrieved students to seek recourse. Most cases of discrimination thus often go unreported. Where a case is reported, perpetrators of discrimination are often let off with a slap on the wrist, signaling to LGBTQ students that their safety and wellbeing are not of utmost priority to the university.

For instance, in 2014, a Malay Studies professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS) published a Facebook post referring to lesbianism as "cancers" and "social diseases."28 In response, the University Provost sent a circular to all members of the university, stating that the

26 Stuart Heaver, "LGBT Students Face so Much Prejudice in Hong Kong They're Afraid to Reveal Their Sexuality," *South China Morning Post*, November 29, 2018, https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-relationships/article/2175396/lgbtstudents-face-so-much-prejudice-hong-kong-theyre.

27Rachel Yeo, "Trans\* In College: A Handbook for Transgender Students in Singapore's Universities," *Inter-University LGBT Network*, https://interunilgbt.wixsite.com/ interunilgbt/books-resources.

28Pearl Lee, "NUS Prof's Comments on Lesbians Spark Protests from Past and Present Students," *The Straits Times*, February 28, 2014, https://www.straitstimes.com/ singapore/nus-profs-comments-on-lesbians-spark-protests-from-past-and-present-students.

university "embraces faculty, staff and students regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion, nationality, political beliefs or sexual orientation."29 He added that he had counselled the faculty member in question, who merely acknowledged that his posts reflected "poor judgment in the tone and choice of words"; there was no acknowledgement that his views were discriminatory nor were any measures taken to ensure LGBTQ students can feel safe should they decide to take this professor's classes in the future.

Additionally, while LGBTQ students may informally organize themselves to provide peer support or advocate for themselves, they are not funded by or recognized by the ambivalent university. An example is UP Babaylan which is the first Filipino student LGBT group at the University of the Philippines, Diliman campus in Quezon City, Philippines. Similarly, though students in various Taiwanese universities have established LGBTQ groups since the 1990s, with the first being NTU GayChat at the National Taiwan University (NTU) in 1993, student activists report facing significant challenges registering and operating their groups at institutions that are funded by or affiliated with religious groups such as the Fu Jen Catholic University.30

#### *The Hostile University*

At the other end of the spectrum are the hostile universities, which are openly antipathetic toward LGBTQ students. Students who are perceived to be LGBTQ experience bullying and discrimination, that are often sanctioned by the university. An example is the "Back to Fitrah" event at the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), a contest organized by the USM Muslim Students Association to assist students with "disorders in sexual orientation return to their natural instincts."31 Similarly, at Indonesia's Andalas University in Padang, West Sumatra, students were required to

29 June Yang, "NUS Professor Acknowledges 'Poor Judgment' in Posts on Sexuality," *Today Singapore*, March 5, 2014, https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/nus-professoracknowledges-poor-judgement-posts-sexuality.

30Eddy Chang, "Taipei Watcher: LGBT Clubs Should Be Allowed to Come Out of the Closet," *Taipei Times*, September 27, 2015, http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/ archives/2015/09/27/2003628678/1.

31 "Forum Not to Change LGBTs but to Foster Goodwill, Says USM Student Body," *The Sun Daily*, April 5, 2018, https://www.thesundaily.my/archive/forum-not-changelgbts-foster-goodwill-says-usm-student-body-HUARCH537814.

sign a form declaring that they were not openly LGBTQ. The university's chancellor defended such a policy on the basis that the institution had the right to discriminate because of religious teachings.32 He added that if an enrolled student is found to be LGBTQ, the university would "rehabilitate" them before expelling them.

For transgender and gender non-conforming students, many universities also have strict uniform or hair policies. In both Thailand and the Philippines, university students are expected to dress and present themselves according to specific requirements. For instance, Human Rights Watch found that many transgender students in the Philippines were suspended or even expelled for "cross-dressing."33 There have also been multiple reports of transgender students being denied the ability to dress according to their gender identity and forced to wear the uniform or graduation gown of the sex they are assigned at birth.34

Based on the Table 9.1 outlined below, we compare two universities the National University of Singapore and Hong Kong University—to consider their institutional approaches toward LGBTQ inclusion.

#### **Case Study 1: Ambivalent University**

#### *National University of Singapore*

There is no anti-discrimination policy protecting LGBTQ students. The official university policy refers to "Singapore nondiscrimination laws and the relevant Singapore government policies," which do not explicitly address sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.35 Though the Student Code of Conduct states that "students should avoid… the purveying or dissemination of pejorative viewpoints along sectarian lines (including but not limited to issues on race, language, religion, gender, sexuality,

32 "Indonesian University Refuses to Accept LGBT Students, Citing Protection of Their 'Rights'," *Coconuts Jakarta*, May 3, 2017, https://coconuts.co/jakarta/lifestyle/ indonesian-university-refuses-accept-lgbt-students-citing-protection-rights/.

33Human Rights Watch, *'Just Let Us Be': Discrimination Against LGBT Students in the Philippines* (New York: Human Rights Watch, 2017).

34 "University denies trans Student's Right to Wear Female Uniform; Reflects Discrimination Faced by Thailand's LGBT Community," *Prachatai*, January 22, 2019, https://prachatai.com/english/node/7887; Melalin Mahvongtrakul, "Uniform Justice," *Bangkok Post*, February 6, 2017, https://www.bangkokpost.com/lifestyle/social-andlifestyle/1193641/uniform-justice/feed/.

age, nationality)," it does not provide for any form of sanction against students who do so.36

There are also no LGBTQ-specific training programs for staff or faculty. Though a university administrator has expressed a willingness to accommodate transgender students with respect to housing, it remains on a discretionary basis and there is no medical support for transgender students.37 There are no specific guidelines addressing LGBTQ inclusion for university events or programs.

There is no university-wide LGBTQ student group, though some groups have been set up in residential colleges. While there are some openly LGBTQ faculty or staff, they generally do not discuss or disclose their LGBTQ identities to students.

#### **Case Study 2: Affirming University**

*Hong Kong University*

The Equal Opportunity Unit of the university explicitly forbids sex discrimination and harassment on the grounds of sexual orientation.38 It also provides an online form and a set of formal procedures for the investigation of complaints.39

Though there does not appear to be LGBTQ-specific trainings, the Equal Opportunity Unit and the Centre of Development and Resources for Students (CEDARS) both provide some education resources on fostering an LGBTQ-inclusive campus environment.40 The Counselling and Person Enrichment Section (CoPE) of CEDARS also explicitly affirms LGBTQ students on its website and runs a Sexual Diversity Network, which focuses on increasing awareness on the needs of people from varied sexual orientations and promoting a sensitive counselling service and support network.41 The university has also introduced gender-neutral bathrooms.42

The university also recognizes the Queer Straight Alliance, which is a network of LGBTQ students, staff and allies across campuses in Hong

35 "Legal Information & Notices," National University of Singapore, http://www.nus. edu.sg//legal-information-notices#nondiscrimination.

36 "Code of Student Conduct," NUS Office of Student Affairs, http://www.nus.edu. sg/osa/resources/code-of-student-conduct.

37Yeo, "Trans\* In College."

Kong.43 There is also at least one openly LGBTQ faculty, lecturer Brenda Alegre who joined the university to teach a course on gender and sexuality.44

# Engendering Affirmation Toward LGBTQ Students in Asian Universities

The previous section demonstrates that many Asian universities remain either ambivalent or hostile toward LGBTQ students. Such approaches are unsurprising as they mirror the wider socio-legal environment that the universities are embedded in. In countries where same-sex intimacy remains criminalized, it is difficult for any university to adopt an affirming approach toward LGBTQ students without exposing itself to potential backlash for condoning or encouraging illegal activities. Even in societies without such laws, hostile socio-cultural attitudes similarly inhibit the ability of universities to address this issue. In some cases, administrators themselves may be prejudiced against LGBTQ students.

How then can educators support their institutions in adopting a more affirming approach toward LGBTQ students? We suggest that there are

38 "Policy Statement," Equal Opportunity Unit, http://www.eounit.hku.hk/en/aboutus/policy-statement.

39 "Online Form," Equal Opportunity Unit, http://www.eounit.hku.hk/en/ complaints-enquiries/online-form; "Procedures," Equal Opportunity Unit, http://www. eounit.hku.hk/en/complaints-enquiries/procedures.

40 "Student Orientation Guidelines," Equal Opportunity Unit, http://www.eounit.hku. hk/en/guidelines/student-orientation-guidelines; "How Can I Contribute in Promoting a LGBT-Friendly Environment on Campus?," CEDARS-CoPE, https://dmp.cedars.hku. hk/watch\_video.php?v=RAXRKW1931YW.

41CEDARS-CoPE, "Diversity and Social Inclusion."

42Yau, "University of Hong Kong Accused of Trying to Brainwash Campus with Unisex, LGBT-Friendly Toilets."

43CEDARS-CoPE, "Diversity and Social Inclusion."

44Kylie Knott, "Transgender Lecturer in Hong Kong on Her Fight to Be Accepted by a Conservative Society, and Her Fear of the Police," *South China Morning Post*, January 20, 2018.

three main factors that can influence the institutional shift toward affirmation: an affirming socio-legal landscape, the globalization of higher education, and student activism.

#### *Affirming Socio-Legal Landscape*

As noted earlier, the wider socio-legal environment that universities operate in have a significant impact on the campus climate. Regardless of how much educators may try to foster an inclusive classroom environment, the lived realities of LGBTQ students outside of the classrooms will invariably affect the latter's learning and academic performance. It is therefore crucial for educators to consider how they can support LGBTQ students beyond the classroom.

An example is the active role of prominent academics in campaigning for the decriminalization of male same-sex intimacy in Singapore. Many professors and university administrators came out publicly as lead signatories to a petition calling for the repeal of Section 377A of the Penal Code, which punishes gay and bisexual men with up to two years' imprisonment for "acts of gross indecency."45

Such public support for legal change however should be approached carefully. There are different ways by which educators can advocate for safer and more inclusive laws for their LGBTQ students. In some cases, if an educator is non-native and comes from the Global North, being overly vocal about these topics may reinforce the notion that LGBTQ issues are "Western" or "foreign." Instead, they should consider playing a more supportive role, by assisting or encouraging colleagues or university leaders who are native or from the region to speak up, which would be especially powerful in fostering attitudinal change within the community. Educators should thus strategically consider whether they are likely to be more effective in fostering a more LGBTQ inclusive campus by being on the frontline of advocacy or in working behind the scenes with other faculty, staff or students.

45 "Who We Are," Ready4Repeal, accessed June 6, 2019, from https://ready4repeal. com/who.

#### *Globalization of Higher Education*

The international movement of people, institutions and ideas in the industry of higher education may encourage universities to adopt a more affirming approach toward LGBTQ students. Increasingly, more international universities are setting up satellite campuses in Asia and there is also an increasing number of collaborations with Asian universities to develop new academic programs or research centres. This presents an opportunity for academics and administrators to share affirming policies and approaches from their parents or previous institutions through these collaborations. Furthermore, it is in the interests of universities to become more LGBTQ-affirming to avoid the potential brain drain of talented students who are becoming increasingly mobile as well.

Nevertheless, the impact of the globalization of higher education may be limited due to the perception that such policies are "Western" and not applicable to the Asian context. It is therefore crucial that educators looking to propose the adoption of affirming policies do so in a strategic manner that will not invoke the specter of Western neo-imperialism. For instance, they should collaborate with local colleagues or students to increase the acceptability of such policies among the larger university community.

#### *Student Activism*

Finally, a major factor influencing the institutional shift toward affirmation comes from LGBTQ and allied students themselves who advocate for more affirming policies and programs. In several countries, students have set up groups to facilitate collective organizing and mutual support. This includes groups such as the Inter-University LGBT Network in Singapore, Action-Q in Hong Kong and UP Babaylan in The Philippines. There are however several risks and challenges that student activists may face in the course of their advocacy.

Clearly, many LGBTQ student groups have faced significant challenges in registering their groups with their university. This is usually the first step toward gaining recognition and resources, without which groups would struggle to recruit members and organize activities. Furthermore, there may be additional challenges in recruitment as students who are not open about their identities may fear the risk of being outed to other students, administrators or their families. As a result, groups find it doubly difficult to organize and strategize effectively as they lack the members to operate efficiently.

Moreover, the advocacy of LGBTQ student groups may provoke backlash from other student groups or the public. This may severely impede any progress on policy change and increase the risk of violence and discrimination against LGBTQ students. Thirdly, because of the risks that advocacy may pose, internal disagreements may arise among LGBTQ students in these groups as to whether they should focus on support and networking or advocacy. Some student organizers may prefer to focus on providing support to other LGBTQ students by creating a safe and affirming space that does not otherwise exist. However, conducting advocacy threatens the safety of that space due to the increased visibility and attention on the group and this may deter more vulnerable students from seeking support. Thus, the fracturing of these already-small communities may further hamper the effectiveness of any advocacy efforts.

Educators can offer their support and allyship to these student groups either formally or informally, depending on the context within which they are operating. This can include providing financial support or campus spaces to organize activities that students in unregistered groups may lack and organizing other faculty and administrators to support the students' advocacy efforts. For instance, in relation to the incident involving the NUS professor who had made homophobic comments about lesbian women, over eighty faculty from the same university published a forum letter in the national newspaper condemning his views.46 This public statement represented a powerful message to LGBTQ students that there were educators who were willing and ready to stand up to protect them from prejudice. At the same time, it also sent a signal to the university community at large that discriminatory behavior would not be tolerated by a sizeable proportion of educators.

46Khoo Hoon Eng, "Sending Wrong Signal on Tolerance," *The Straits Times*, March 6, 2014.

# Pedagogical Strategies for Educators Working with LGBTQ Students or LGBTQ-Related Issues in the Classroom

While institutional shifts may take years if not decades, educators may adopt strategies in the classroom to foster a more inclusive learning experience for LGBTQ students. This section outlines some of these strategies that both academic and student affairs educators may consider implementing in ambivalent or hostile institutions.

#### *Classroom Experience*

Rather than special strategies targeting LGBTQ students or LGBTQrelated issues in the classroom, common strategies that lead to being inclusive of a diverse student body can be adopted.47 Given that institutional support is likely absent, more experienced faculty should invest in the career development of other faculty by organizing workshops to share how common pedagogical principles of learning can be applied to create a LGBTQ-inclusive classroom to foster effective learning for all students.48

One of the first steps for any faculty to take is to learn the language and terms used in LGBTQ discourse in the context in which they are working so that they can be sensitive to derogatory terms or slurs. This can ensure their classrooms are safe for LGBTQ students by guiding class discussions in a healthy manner. Another strategy is to outline the importance of respect for diversity at the beginning of the course and referencing specifically diversity based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This can set the tone for class participation in general and signal to LGBTQ students specifically that they are welcome in the class. In particularly hostile environments such as in countries with high rates of violence against

47Catherine S. Sanger, "Diversity & Inclusion in Curriculum and Classroom," *Yale-NUS College Centre for Teaching & Learning*, https://teaching.yale-nus.edu.sg/wpcontent/uploads/sites/25/2019/03/Diversity-and-Inclusion-Booklet\_02.4.19-Online. pdf, 109.

48Michele DiPietro, "Applying the Seven Learning Principles to Creating LGBT-Inclusive Classrooms," *Diversity & Democracy* 15, no. 1 (2012); "LGBTQ Inclusive Curriculum and Classroom Climate," Fordham University, accessed June 4, 2019, https://www.fordham.edu/info/25663/education\_and\_research\_ethics\_resources/ 6346/lgbtq\_inclusive\_curriculum\_and\_classroom\_climate.

# *Inclusion of LGBTQ* + *Content in Curriculum*

In terms of curricular content, there should be purposeful inclusion of LGBTQ topics in various courses. By making these topics visible, LGBTQ students and others get the opportunity to engage intellectually across academic fields with topics related to their identities. Students who are part of minority groups (whether by ethnicity, social class, religion and/or sexual orientation) are motivated to learn when their identities are affirmed and included in the curriculum.

For example, an introductory course at Yale-NUS College that is taught to all first-year students invites them to consider the role of social forces in shaping their lives. Through a series of topics that include power, markets, family, social class, race, gender, religion and the state, students get a deeper understanding of how societies are organized and why.  Another example of such a course at the National University of Singapore is titled "Sexuality in Comparative Perspective" where readings, films and discussions were utilized to cover the sociological nuances of LGBTQ topics. Other ways of engaging students included inviting guest speakers of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities to the class.

While courses from the social sciences and the humanities can easily incorporate issues of identity, social norms and oppressions that include LGBTQ communities, such courses in the curriculum need not be confined to these disciplines. For example, a useful guide to the development of LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum has suggestions for inserting LGBTQ content into subjects such as English Language, Arts, Literature, History, Social Studies, Science, and Mathematics.49

Even statistics courses can incorporate LGBTQ material, thus empowering students to learn statistics effectively at the same time as exploring the nuances and complexity of LGBT issues.50 At Carnegie Mellon University, Michele DiPietro used the theme of sexual orientation to teach the

49GLSEN, "Developing LGBT-Inclusive Classroom Resources," https://www.glsen. org/sites/default/files/LGBT%20incl%20curr%20guide.pdf.

50DiPietro, "Diversity Content as a Gateway to Deeper Learning: The Statistics of Sexual Orientation," *Diversity and Democracy* 12, no. 3 (2009).

concepts normally covered in an introductory statistics course. For example, the question of how many people are LGBT introduced the concepts of sampling and estimating proportions. Since many LGBT people will not self-identify in surveys, the question also raised the problem of bias and how one can identify, reduce, or estimate it. Similarly, the "nature versus nurture" question introduced hypothesis testing. Data from specific studies then introduced the correct use of various tests (T-test, ANOVA, Chi-Square).

#### *Visibility of LGBTQ Faculty and Allies*

Where LGBTQ faculty or staff are visible in the campus community, they may pose as positive role models to LGBTQ students who may otherwise have never encounter other LGBTQ people who are working adults. Furthermore, their visibility may have an educative effect on the campus community in general which can help to foster a more inclusive environment and reduce instances of discrimination or prejudice that LGBTQ students may face. An example is Aisha Mughal, who was the first openly transgender lecturer at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, Pakistan.51 The report noted that her employment signaled to the university community as well as society at large that "transgender [persons], with proper education and enlightenment, can prove to be contributing citizens of society, just like any other individual."

In addition, faculty who conduct research on LGBTQ communities can increase the visibility of LGBTQ issues in the campus community. For example, at NUS, a professor in the Faculty of Law has published two monographs on the gay movements in Singapore and Myanmar.52 By launching these two books with panel discussions chaired by the faculty's Dean, it was a signal to LGBTQ students that the faculty and senior administrators may be willing to create safe spaces for them in academia.

51 "Aisha Mughal First Transgender University Lecturer of Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad Pakistan," *Mehran Post*, May 20, 2017, https://www.mehranpost.pk/aishamughal-first-transgender-university-lecturer/.

52Lynette J. Chua, *Mobilizing Gay Singapore: Rights and Resistance in an Authoritarian State* (Singapore: National University of Singapore Press, 2014); Lynette J. Chua, *The Politics of Love in Myanmar: LGBT Mobilization and Human Rights as a Way of Life* (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2019).

#### *Research and Career Resources for LGBTQ Students*

Educators can also foster a more inclusive environment for LGBTQ students by providing resources tailored to them. For instance, in collaboration with supportive administrators and student support staff, faculty can help to compile research and guides to graduate programs that include LGBTQ studies or employers that are LGBTQ-friendly to assist LGBTQ students in identifying suitable opportunities for further studies or employment.

LGBTQ students may also need additional support in career guidance. Educators can consider organizing workshops or consultations to help students prepare for issues that may arise as they seek employment. This can include strategies on how to respond to potentially intrusive interview questions that may force them to disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity, how gender non-conforming students should present themselves in a professional but authentic way as well as how to deal with potentially discriminatory or harassing comments or questions.

In sum, it should be clarified that these strategies are not exhaustive and should be adapted as necessary to the context of one's own institution and its social environment. Furthermore, educators may need to use discretion to avoid exposing any student, staff or faculty to hostile responses outside the classroom or campus. Mutual support is particularly crucial where the institutional environment may be hostile toward gender and sexual diversity and educators should seek out other like-minded colleagues to build solidarity and share their strategies and experiences.

# Conclusion and Future Directions

This chapter has sought to explore how educators can foster more inclusive campuses for LGBTQ students at both the institutional and individual levels. We developed a theoretical framework to characterize three types of Asian universities in terms of their institutional approaches toward LGBTQ diversity. In hostile and ambivalent universities, both students and educators face various challenges in promoting LGBTQ inclusion and we have outlined a few strategies by which educators can advocate for safer campuses for LGBTQ students.

Further research should be conducted to better inform educators on how they can best support LGBTQ students in these different contexts. We will briefly discuss two issues that deserve attention in future scholarship.

Many hostile institutions are in deeply conservative societies in Asia. While the conflict between LGBTQ rights and religious freedom is playing out in the courts and legislatures across the Atlantic Ocean, this issue has not yet been studied adequately in Asia. Of relevance in the context of higher education is how educators should negotiate and manage differences between students of faith and LGBTQ students in the classroom and on campus generally. This is especially important when the power dynamics between the two groups of students may be significantly skewed in Asian universities compared to European or North American universities, due to differences in both the degree of secularism and the concept of secularity itself.53 At the same time, educators cannot appear biased to avoid alienating any particular student or group of students. This raises difficult but important questions that deserve further discussion in the literature. In addition, it may be worth exploring how communities of faith can support and advocate for LGBTQ inclusion; for instance, Catholic student groups in the Philippines have publicly supported a legislation to protect LGBTQ persons from discrimination.54

Furthermore, while we have discussed strategies generally, the experiences of transgender and gender-diverse students are likely to differ significantly from lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) students. This is especially because their marginalized identities may be more visible than LGB students. Those who choose to transition during university may also require additional support, especially since this is often a period when they live independently from their families. The challenges that these students may face in Asian universities should be examined to better inform educators on how they can best support them during their transition.

In conclusion, while openly hostile administrators in certain universities make it difficult to promote diversity and inclusion for LGBTQ students, it is possible to strategize to encourage ambivalent instructions to become more supportive. We hope that more faculty will be able to implement

53 See, for instance, Kenneth Dean and Peter van der Veer, eds., *The Secular in South, East, and Southeast Asia* (London: Palgrave, 2019).

54Leonel Abasola, "Catholic Student Councils Back Philippine Gay Rights Bill," *UCA News*, August 13, 2018, https://www.ucanews.com/news/catholic-student-councils-backphilippine-gay-rights-bill/83043.

some of the suggested strategies within their own institutions to make them safer and more inclusive spaces for their LGBTQ students.

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**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# Higher Education for Women in Asia

*Solveig Olson-Strom and Nirmala Rao*

# Introduction

The recent rapid growth in higher education around the world is undeniable. Worldwide enrolments have increased manifold in the past two or three decades, and a large part of this is due to women entering degree programs in multitudes. In terms of attendance rates, the gender gap in tertiary education has virtually disappeared in most places. In fact, women even outnumber men in higher education in many countries around the world, including developing and industrialized countries across all regions. In Asia especially, women's enrolment has accelerated in recent years as overall demand for higher education has accelerated. But do these encouraging numbers accurately reflect the bigger picture? By other measures, gender inequality in higher education remains a significant issue. Women continue to be overrepresented in certain fields and underrepresented in others (often those that are considered more prestigious or have higher earning potential). Their experiences at higher education institutions are vastly different from those of men in terms of campus climate and leadership opportunities. Employment outcomes also

C. S. Sanger and N. W. Gleason (eds.), *Diversity and Inclusion in Global Higher Education*, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1628-3\_10

S. Olson-Strom (B) · N. Rao

Asian University for Women, Chittagong, Bangladesh e-mail<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
© The Author(s) 2020

indicate persistent inequality. How do we interpret these seemingly contradictory developments? It is essential to understand the causes behind these trends in order to effectively tackle the ongoing challenges to gender equality in higher education.

Much of the literature surrounding gender and higher education has focused on North America (primarily the United States) and Western Europe. Yet Asia, though not homogeneous by any means, presents a starkly different context in many ways to the countries that have been at the center of the dialogue on gender equality and education. As the most populous region in the world, the higher education of women in Asia has the potential to transform the global landscape and influence the trajectory of our collective future. Though it is generally accepted that gender inequality in education hinders progress in a variety of ways, the focus tends to be on primary and secondary educational attainment. The policies targeting primary education and even secondary education for girls have been tremendously successful in Asia, with many countries achieving almost complete coverage at the primary level, and significant improvement in the rates of secondary school enrolment. Women's enrollment in secondary school has increased dramatically throughout the region, and, in many countries, the traditional gender gap in secondary school enrollment is gradually disappearing. In South Korea, Thailand, and Hong Kong, secondary-school enrollment is nearly the same for both sexes, while in the Philippines it remains slightly higher for women.

However, higher education plays a unique role in creating socially engaged, civically active, and innovative individuals. As the President of Asia Society once remarked:

Whenever there is a public discussion about education and about women in Asia, the focus is generally on the need for basic literacy: that women should be able to read, write and count. It is fundamental to their wellbeing. Studies have shown that these basic skills have been instrumental in greater economic empowerment, political participation and social engagement of women at even the lower level of societies. While the value of this basic education is undeniable and it is also badly needed, one might argue that… if women are to take more leadership roles in all sections and segments of the society, it goes without saying that women must be prepared to embrace the challenges of leadership in the 21st century. Seen from this perspective, perhaps the right question is: Can we afford not to pay attention to higher education for women in Asia?1

Neoliberal arguments have emphasized the economic returns on investments in women's participation in higher education, while others stress that higher education is a human right and is essential for the creation of a moral and progressive society, as it enables an ongoing participation in a "life of the mind." The benefits at a social level are also apparent in improved productivity and greater participation in the cultural and political life of a community.

What are the unique opportunities available to women accessing higher education in Asia, the home to some of the world's biggest economies and most rapidly developing nations? What are the obstacles female students face in unlocking their own potential? How can policies, institutions, and individuals contribute toward a more equitable education system for all, regardless of gender, race, or class? In this chapter, we address these and other questions, using the Asian context as the frame for discussion. We begin by examining recent trends and ongoing challenges for women's higher education in Asia, and then focus on the role of single-sex institutions and the case of Asian University for Women. Finally, we identify opportunities for progress and offer recommendations moving forward.

# Trends and Challenges

In a rapidly changing international economy, the strong commitment of developing countries to focus principally on primary education, sometimes at the cost of higher education, has been increasingly coming under scrutiny. Today's so-called global "knowledge revolution" represents a shift in international economic systems, whereby production processes are becoming increasingly technical and science-based, increasing the importance of higher education. Much of the analyses have missed many important social and economic effects of higher education that are critical to long-term economic growth and development. To the extent that the value of these benefits outweighs the costs, higher education represents a sound investment.

1Vishakha N. Desai, quoted in *Asian University for Women Plan of Operation* (Chittagong: AUW, 2005), 20. Accessed July 3, 2019, from http://asian-university.org/wpcontent/uploads/2018/08/AUW-Plan-of-Operations.pdf.

Women today have greater access to higher education and degreegranting institutions today than at any other point in history. However, it is important to examine the reasons for this development as well as analyze the barriers that continue to keep higher education out of reach for many women. Furthermore, once women have crossed the threshold of higher education institutions, certain inequalities widen and gender norms are reinforced, even at single-sex universities. Finally, upon graduation, women are at a severe disadvantage when it comes to seeking employment. The trend of increasing privatization has the potential to address some of these issues, but only if effectively regulated.

#### *Growing Demand*

When praising the statistics showing women's increasing enrolment in higher education, many institutions and nations seem to be congratulating themselves on a job well done. While this trend is certainly to be celebrated, too rarely is the decision of women opting to pursue higher education emphasized. In this section, we address the question of why women are increasingly choosing to attend university. Gary Becker, William Hubbard, and Kevin Murphy create a model of the market for college graduates in order to analyze the costs and benefits of higher education.2 They conclude that while the benefits of attending college are no higher for women than for men, the differences in total cost can account for women overtaking men in college enrolments. Women have overall higher non-cognitive skills (such as self-motivation, self-discipline, and organization) than men, decreasing their total cost in continuing their education. Despite the fact that the authors claim to explain the global phenomenon of increased female representation in higher education, much of their evidence comes from data collected in the United States. Their evidence from other countries, when it comes to their key finding that women have higher non-cognitive abilities than men and thus a lower overall cost of entering higher education, stems from PISA test results, which do not include any South Asian countries. This kind of gap is all too common, and may lead to bias in supposedly unbiased data.

On the other hand, Mitra Shavarini approached this question by interviewing female students and faculty members in Iran about why they

2Becker, Hubbard, and Murphy, "Explaining the Worldwide Boom in Higher Education of Women," *Journal of Human Capital* 4, no. 3 (2010): 203–241.

wanted to attend university and what they gained from it.3 She found four common themes: first, many viewed university as an escape from a controlling family environment or as a means to delay marriage. Second, students anticipated that a strong educational background could help them find a more suitable (higher class) husband. Third, women saw higher education as a means to raise their social status and sense of self-worth, and fourth, most believed a degree could offer them increased economic independence. These statements show that a shift in higher education toward increasing female enrolments is a result of women claiming agency over their education and their future. Instead of praising any particular institution or policy measure for the increase in women in higher education, it is important to recognize the women themselves who are putting in the work toward receiving their degrees. The reasons they give indicate that higher education offers them independence and a path toward success in a variety of ways. Though Becker, Hubbard, and Murphy also identified some similar factors in their description of the benefits of higher education for women,4 the idea of university as an escape from a restrictive family environment or an unwanted marriage is not addressed, potentially because of the American-centric focus of their study. In more conservative societies in Asia, this issue can be a more significant factor for women deciding whether to pursue higher education.

It is important to note here another difference from the American perspective. In Asia, education is often regarded as the primary path to economic success.5 Though there remain differences in how much families invest in sons as opposed to daughters, on all levels of the socioeconomic ladder, people are likely to see education for their children as the main way to improve their situation. This attitude is most evident in East Asia. On the other hand, in the United States, it can be argued that a focus on education is concentrated in families where the parents have strong educational backgrounds. The Coleman Report famously showed that family background is a greater determinant of educational outcomes than school

3 Shavarini, "The Feminisation of Iranian Higher Education," *International Review of Education* 51, no. 4 (2005): 329–347.

4Becker, Hubbard, and Murphy, "Explaining the Worldwide Boom in Higher Education of Women."

5Melinda DP Bandalaria, "Open and Distance eLearning in Asia: Country Initiatives and Institutional Cooperation for the Transformation of Higher Education in the Region," *Journal of Learning for Development* 5, no. 2 (2018): 116–132.

quality in the United States. However, later studies found that this effect is often the opposite in developing countries.6 Because families strongly prioritize education across the board in Asia, school quality can have a more significant impact than one's parents' educational attainment.

#### *Limitations to Women's Access*

A variety of barriers, from decisions on the familial level to national policies, continue to exist and reinforce one another to limit women's access to higher education. Though women's participation in higher education is increasing, a number of Asian nations have yet to fully close the gender gap. Furthermore, in many countries, the overall rates of enrolment in higher education are still so low that even if women were to attend university at the same rates as men, the vast majority of women would still be excluded. Finally, in many cases, women in higher education represent a narrow section of women in a country. Acknowledging that the progress toward gender equity in higher education favors some women and while excluding others is an important step toward creating more inclusive institutions and societies. When mentioning Asia in a United States—or Eurocentric discussion, many people point to religious and cultural conservatism as the reason for persistent gender inequalities in the region. While these are significant factors, they do not tell the whole story and often serve to reinforce false stereotypes about inherent sexism in a particular religion or culture. It is important to acknowledge how colonialism, particularly in South Asia, has shaped today's gender landscape in the region.

Women in Asia are not a homogenous group. Gender and class often interact to impede access to education. When there is a shortage of resources, women and girls often feel the negative impacts more strongly than men and boys. Many countries in Asia are lower-income, and thus offer less state support for higher education than their resource-rich counterparts. This increases the burden on families and students to pay for their education. In some countries, girls' education is seen as a less worthwhile investment than that of boys in part because they contribute more household labor from a younger age than boys. If they continue their

6Claudia Buchmann and Emily Hannum, "Education and Stratification in Developing Countries: A Review of Theories and Research," *Annual Review of Sociology* 27 (2001): 77–102.