An Indian PhD student has alleged that the University of Oxford forced her to switch to a master's programme against her wishes, and she calls the situation a “betrayal.”
Lakshmi Balakrishnan, originally from Tamil Nadu, has invested nearly £100,000 (approximately Rs 1.09 crore) in her education and living costs at the university, where she intended to pursue her doctoral studies in English Literature, according to a report by the BBC.
She claims that the university did not act in good faith, initially accepting her thesis proposal but later, rejecting it in her fourth year.
Balakrishnan, who already possesses a dual master's degree, was told by her supervisors that her research on Shakespeare was not suitable for PhD level, resulting in her failing the fourth year.
Bereft of any support at Oxford
Balakrishnan also provided a statement from Queen's College, Oxford, which requested a review of the Proctors' decision to deny her stage 2 appeal related to the outcome of her second confirmation viva.
According to the statement, Lakshmi was bereft of any support as her supervisor told her explicitly that he would not be able to advise her, leaving her without any support at the college or the faculty level.
Furthermore, Balakrishnan later conferred with several academicians on her specialist area of the history of emotions and economics in early modern literature and received supportive testimonies about the quality and significance of her work.
Way to Oxford ain't that easy
Speaking to the BBC, she stated that she was the first person in her family to study abroad and that she came from an underprivileged background, having made immense sacrifices to attend Oxford.
In a statement, the University of Oxford explained that to achieve Confirmation of Status, students must show a strong likelihood of successfully completing a doctoral thesis but also noted that not all students can fulfil this requirement.
The university added that students who disagree with the outcome of an assessment have the right to appeal under the university’s appeal procedure, which ensures fairness and transparency.