Imperial College London accused of 'ingrained misogyny' after female students 'humiliated' by sports staff

An investigation launched by Imperial College London into a series of sexist incidents has revealed a culture of “ingrained misogyny” and bullying on campus.

Imperial College women’s rugby team said drunken male students had “humiliated” them with sexist comments when they played at a Varsity tournament.

During the match, the team said they were made to feel like “second-class citizens” and were not treated equally to their male counterparts.

Buses were arranged to take Imperial students back from Twickenham before the women’s final had started, meaning that the women’s teams had to arrange their own transport following the game.

Several members also claim they heard a member of Imperial’s sport staff say: “I don’t care how those fat girls get home” when arranging transport for the teams.

Imperial College said that no evidence was found regarding the comment.

Following the complaints, Imperial's president Alice Gast wrote a letter of apology to the club, saying: “It is unacceptable that talented women in our community have been made to feel like second-class citizens.”

Dr Alison Phipps from the Centre of Gender Studies at Sussex University was brought in to lead a year-long inquiry, the first of its kind to be launched by a higher education establishment.

The investigation was later widened by Imperial, “to get a full and honest account of the college’s culture”.

Dr Phipps found that participants believed the university’s focus on finance and academic achievement was “to the detriment of staff wellbeing or student welfare”.

While the report said that there were a few examples of females being involved, one participant said the “ingrained misogyny” at Imperial was “so deep that it had become normal”.

It also said that, despite the university’s “no tolerance” stance on bullying, “people did not speak up” because they either thought nothing would be done, that it would make the matter worse or that they could lose their job by speaking out.

Collecting data from 249 students and members of staff through interviews, surveys and an anonymous blog, reseachers said there were many examples of “bullying and discrimination behaviour”.

The accounts of bullying “also intersected with categories such as class, gender (and gender identity), race, disability and sexual orientation”.

The report recommended that Imperial should create a partnership with a university with a strong social science and humanities record and also appoint a vice-provost for student and staff equality and wellbeing.

Dr Phipps said: "Imperial College has shown tremendous courage in not just ticking the boxes, but appointing a feminist team to do in-depth research on its institutional culture. We feel confident that positive changes will take place because of our study."

Imperial's provost, Professor James Stirling, said: 'We strongly believe that Imperial is only a world-class institution because of our talented, diverse community.

"We want everyone at the College to feel supported, respected, and able to excel. That is why we are committed to ensuring gender equality and eradicating sexist behaviour wherever we can, at all levels. These findings remind us that we cannot stand still. We must do better."

A spokesman for Imperial student union told MailOnline: "Since the report was published our leaders have met with senior members of the college to understand the implications and next steps arising from the report. We look forward to working in partnership with the college to make sure that sexist attitudes and behaviour are uprooted across the entire institution."