Durham University Reviews

Despite its academic strengths, Durham University faces persistent structural issues that hinder genuine gender equality. Power remains concentrated within closed circles that are resistant to change and often exclude others from meaningful participation. This lack of inclusivity not only limits the impact of equality initiatives but also causes real harm, to individuals, families, and especially women, who face barriers to progression, recognition, and belonging within the institution. the differences of payment are just ridiculous colous.

I worked at the university for a number of years, but this review focuses on a 6 month stint I did in a role a couple of years ago. The fake ‘this is an amazing team to work in’ recruitment marketing I keep seeing has prompted me to write this review. I was fortunate to be offered a role in the Marketing and Communications Team, in a role that was sure to set me up for my career. I was barely 20, and I was the youngest in the office by about 8 years. They didn’t know how to treat me/speak to me/relate to me. I was the young, commoner from a low income family not too far from Durham. I wasn’t an ex-BBC journo or a Durham graduate, so I didn’t fit in, in the social sense. This was difficult for me as younger me was not used to the painfully corporate and serious environment. My own manager had worked her way up at the uni, and was clearly not from a middle class/educated background, so this was of some comfort to me. At the time, the internal communication platform used was Skype for Business. We all worked from 2 monitors, so it was common for people to have this open on one screen while working on the other. There was an occasion where I was sat at my colleague’s desk, while he was showing me the absolute basics of coding - something I had NEVER seen before, and had only just started working on. The previous day I had made an error with something within the coding of the backend of the uni website, so caused a webpage to look a bit funny - nothing too serious though. Therefore, I was spending some more time with my colleague getting the hang of it. While I was at at his desk, I could see his Skype conversation between him and my MANAGER. My manager had messaged him the day before saying ‘ffs what has Sideshow done now?’. I was the only one in the office who had large curly hair, and was the only one in the office who most closely resembled The Simpsons character Sideshow Bob - because of said hair. I felt sick.…. I felt so silly and embarrassed that my own manager was talking about me in that way, because of my hair, something I was relentlessly bullied throughout my school career for, and was only just starting to feel more confident about. Shame on you! I know for a fact she and the others in the office looked down on me and really thought they were better than me… so goodness knows what else was said in my absence. Luckily my time there came to and end soon after this - and 4 years later I’m in a role I love, earning about £15k more than I was at the uni - so I guess everything works out in the end.