I spent a fascinating (and grueling) two days at UJ a colloquium, entitled “Breaking the Chains of Corruption: Whistleblowing as a Catalyst for Social Development in South Africa.”(18 – 19th July 2024) The event was dedicated to the very complex topic of “whistleblowing” and how the state and corporations have responded to corruption and capture.
Firstly, I was very grateful to Dr Ugljesa Radulovic and Dr Anthony Kaziboni for inviting me to attend. They put together an incredibly rich and diverse programme that had participants and presenters from all over the world (Canada, Greece, Ireland, Serbia, Netherlands, Portugal, Uganda, UK, USA and Zimbabwe). The range of perspectives was eye-opening. Many people who were there either supported whistleblowers, were whistleblowers themselves or were researching the whistle-blowing phenomenon.
I heard presentations of corruption in government (state capture), large-scale corporate graft (corporate crime) and environmental exploitation. I also recognized many of the themes and patterns. An individual recognizes that a line manager or boss is involved in llegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent activity and (naively) reports this information or allegation to a manager. However, instead of receiving support for this act, the individual who reports the misdemeanour soon faces retaliation from colleagues for their disclosure. They are then blackballed, their career is interrupted. Through a management procedure, they are suspended, sanctioned and dismissed.
I saw the importance of granting “whistleblowers” recognition (as opposed to expecting the whistleblower to exhibit resilience). I also realized the importance of giving Whistleblowers a voice. Whilst I enjoyed the proceedings enormously, I confess that I felt profoundly uncomfortable and unsafe in the academic space. Yes, this was perception on my part. There was an elephant in the room that wasn’t being addressed. This was “corruption” in higher education. While there were many other whistleblowers at the conference, there have not been many “academic whistleblowers” in attendance. Or none that identified themselves as such.
If you follow me on Twitter (or now X) and read my blog, you will see that I am both critical of tech’s place in education and also complimentary. I “call out” when individuals or groups experience harm due to ed tech. I also call in, but that’s not always visible. I am particularly concerned when externally funded groups use technology to initiate enclosure, perpetuate bias, discrimination and deficit thinking , or adverse inclusion. I do think that the extractive use of ed tech is responsible for schooling and higher education becoming a service or product.
In my nativity, I once saw Higher education is a “common good”. The digital doors of culture and learning could open. I sincerely believed that the internet made education accessible to more people. I thought that policies and devices could reduce inequalities and barriers to access (Boyadjieva, 2019). However, the current expanded access to higher education has led public higher education institutions to enter into public-private partnerships that have adverse effects. Whistleblowers allow higher education to turn their gaze on themselves. Whistleblowing researchers need to scrutinise the academy and management.
I left, resolving to have challenging conversations, to begin looking at the topic again. I thought I’d start by exploring whether whistleblowers were welcome in higher education?There have been very brave people and stood up to corruption in government and corporate. If higher education is serious about addressing corruption, then they need to protect whistleblowers. The question for me is, what are they doing to look after whistleblowers? I’m not pointing any fingers. Below are three Whistleblowing policies.
- UCT whistleblowing policy
- UP Whistleblowing and anti fraud policy
- UJ University whistleblowing policy and staff grievance procedure
I also wrote a Wikipedia article about Universities South Africa (USAf), an association of Vice Chancellors, in which I called out some of senior management’s harmful behaviours. I’d be happy to have a “courageous conversation” with those who are open to having a conversation with me.
References
Boyadjieva, P., Ilieva-Trichkova, P. (2019) From conceptualisation to measurement of higher education as a common good: challenges and possibilities. High Educ 77, 1047–1063. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-018-0319-1
Harvard University (ND) Calling In and Calling Out Guide. Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging https://edib.harvard.edu/files/dib/files/calling_in_and_calling_out_guide_v4.pdf