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The administrator to faculty ratio speaks volumes about the priorities of modern academia. Since 2000, bureaucratic growth has outpaced academic growth in all UK universities. In particular, the last two decades have seen very rapid expansion of Human Resources (HR) departments. Even as the number of academic jobs has stagnated Read more…
Learned societies (such as the British Academy or the Royal Society) seem to face difficulties when one of their distinguished members is found guilty of bullying or unethical behaviour, though it is hard to see why. Eradicating harassment in academia surely requires attention and action by everyone, especially those at Read more…
Total number of complaints (left) and complaints normalised by staff size (right) made to the Information Commissioner’s Office between 01/2020 to 09/2023. (St Mary’s has been omitted from rightmost plot as it is off the scale!) The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act gives anyone the right to request information Read more…
The main difficulty faced in reforming Universities is the culture of silence around bullying and harassment. Universities are abuser-centred. The abusers are usually senior academics, Heads of Department, Heads of School and Directors. They are routinely protected by University Human Resources (HR). Remember HR does not exist to protect you. Read more…
Over the last 2 years, two Professors have been dismissed at Leiden University because of serious bullying or coercive behaviour. They are Prof Tim de Zeeuw (astronomy) and Prof Corinne Hofman (archaeology) In the case of Prof Hofman, Leiden University itself broke the news that ‘a professor and their partner had engaged Read more…
It has been a riveting watch. The three days of Paula Vennell’s testimony have demolished forever the idea that those at the top of institutions like the Post Office are hugely skilled people worth gigantic salaries. “I am not a legal expert”, Paula said. “I am not technically minded”. “I Read more…
There have been a series of high-profile bullying scandals in astronomy in recent years. These include : These scandals have affected European & American universities. What about the UK? The Royal Astronomical Society has just carried out a survey of bullying and harassment. There were 661 respondents, working in the Read more…
There is a need for more statistics on bullying, discrimination, harassment & victimisation in academia. Existing surveys are either restricted to certain subject areas (eg astronomy & geophysics) and/or curiously unavailable (eg EPSRC’s Report on “Understanding the status of underrepresented groups in the Information and Communication Technologies” which examined computer Read more…
If you raise a formal allegation of bullying or misconduct, your University will have to investigate. Studies show that bullying is endemic in Universities. A few examples among many will suffice. In one of the largest studies (14,677 participants), carried out in 2014 by University and College Union (UCU), almost Read more…
The London School of Economics (LSE) have just provided another classic example of failure to deal with harassment. The outcome has been — predictably enough — the demoralization of the victims and the exoneration of the aggressor, who is now free to exact revenge. The story is a familiar one, Read more…