Honorary degree given to man who called feminism the ‘biggest factor’ in social mobility

He’s responsible for the tuition fee increase too


A man who called feminism the “single biggest factor” in social mobility has been given an honorary degree at Leicester University.

The Lord Willetts, also the man who caused university degrees to cost £9,000, is due to receive one for free on 15th August.

He also directly oversaw the increase in tuition fees

He was quoted in 2011 saying feminism was the “single biggest factor” affecting social mobility in Britain. He blamed the opening up of the education system to women in the 1960s for ambitious working-class males being unable to attend university or access top jobs.

Rather than choosing to address the issues surrounding social mobility, Willetts decided to baselessly blame women, saying: “This transformation of opportunities for women ended up magnifying social divides”.

The awarding of this honorary degree seems like an unusual choice from the university, and is bad news for women everywhere.

Apart from giving a speech last summer, he has little connection to Leicester whatsoever. He was born and privately educated in Birmingham, read PPE at Oxford, and currently employed by King’s College London, earning £30k a year for one day a week of teaching.