21percent.org. The 21 Group

A staff group founded at Cambridge in 2023, supporting members facing institutional retaliation.

Recent posts

185
Blog · 12 Oct 2024

Bullying and Cancer Research

Compared to some other areas of science, cancer research is well-funded. Institutes are supported by large grants of public money, derived from charities such as Cancer Research UK or the Wellcome Trust, or from government bodies…

186
Blog · 29 Sep 2024

Care-washing in the Universities

Green-washing is the pretence of concern about the environment, whilst pursuing policies that are unsustainable or destructive. Cynical marketing ploys, PR stunts, false claims, insincere mission statements are all part of the corporate game. It creates a…

187
Blog · 18 Sep 2024

The Theft of Ideas from Young Researchers

The story of plagiarism at UK Universities is a familiar one. Senior scholars are protected, regardless of the consequences for junior scholars whose work is stolen. This is not a victimless crime. Real and lasting harm…

188
Blog · 8 Sep 2024

The Human Resources ‘Death Spiral’

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…

189
Blog · 25 Aug 2024

Bullying and the British Academy

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.…

190
Blog · 21 Jul 2024

Secrets and the Freedom of Information Act

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!) …

191
Blog · 7 Jul 2024

The Curious Disappearance of Professor G

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…

192
Blog · 18 Jun 2024

Two Professors Dismissed

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…

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