Decolonizing the Workforce, Part 1: Theorizing the Necessity of Diversity and Decolonization of the University’s Workforce (with Dr. Sibo Kanobana)

In these two episodes of the podcast “Decolonizing the University”, Fien Pauwels (National Politics student at Ghent University) talks to Dr. Sibo Rugwiza Kanobana, Prof. Dr. Sami Zemni and Prof. Dr. Jan Orbie on their views on the decolonization of the university’s workforce.

They were asked to give insights on the necessity of diversity within Ghent University and how this can be achieved through a decolonized workforce. We discuss the lack of diversity within universities and which effects this might have on the students and society. In addition, we talked more about the tools currently at hand to try and decolonize the university’s workforce. Lastly, the perverse effects of some of these tools were explored.

In the first part, we interview Dr. Sibo Rugwiza Kanobana, a lecturer in sociolinguistics and postcolonial studies at Ghent University and the Open University of the Netherlands. He reflects on his own experiences and the theory behind diversity and the decolonization of the hiring process.