If you raise a formal allegation of bullying or misconduct, your University will have to investigate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Studies show that bullying is endemic in Universities. A few examples among many will suffice. In one of the largest studies<\/a> (14,677 participants), carried out in 2014 by University and College Union (UCU), almost half of respondents said they experienced bullying at work. In a survey<\/a> carried out amongst astronomy & geophysics researchers, 44% of respondents had suffered bullying and harassment in the workplace within the preceding 12 months. Bullying is rampant at Universities but — mysteriously — University Human Resources departments are chronically unable to identify any bullying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A crucial role in this bizarre state of affairs is played by the investigator. If you complain about bullying, your university will carry out an investigation, with either internal or external personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Post Office Scandal, played out in front of our eyes on youtube here<\/a>, has shown us how internal investigators behave. They have been characterised as little more than ‘thugs in suits’, acting on behalf of their employer to convict the innocent sub-postmasters of theft. It is an extreme case only in its consequences. Any internal investigator is subject to pressures from his or her employer and will therefore never cause any real trouble. The bully may be found guilty of “unwise behaviour”<\/em>, but certainly nothing serious warranting disciplinary action. More likely is complete exoneration, for the reasons diagnosed by Prof Athene Donald FRS here<\/a>. “If direction from the top suggests that the complainant is more expendable than the accused, there may be a subliminal steer towards finding in favour of the latter. It is too easy to conclude that the evidence is not strong enough to prove anything definitively<\/em>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n More interesting is the role of the external investigators. They may be external, but they are rarely independent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Universities may use an external company specialising in workplace dispute resolution. One company in particular — let us call them the ‘Sherlock Junior Co<\/em>‘ — is notorious for repeatedly finding for the University in workplace disputes. Their investigators often have no suitable training other than a bland HR\/admin background. So, for example, if they are required to judge whether mental ill-health is due to bullying, they have no medical or psychiatric expertise and can gaily & straightforwardly exonerate on the basis of ignorance. The investigators are not legal experts, so they cannot assess, for example, the duty to make reasonable adjustments for disability according to the Equality Act (2010). Of course, this suits everyone. Dispute resolution companies who find employers guilty won’t get any more contracts for future work!<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the matter is very serious — perhaps a senior academic has been accused of misdemeanours — then your University may hire a barrister, say Mr Pork-Scratchings<\/em>. Universities love barristers with a double-barrelled name, as this normally ensures the correct “establishment” viewpoint. Most barristers with a busy practice are not so interested in examining disciplinary matters in a University. A barrister slumming in a University is probably doing it — shall we say — in the absence of more lucrative calls on his or her time. Despite their self-asserted reputation for integrity, plenty of barristers are able and willing to bend the rules for their clients (for example, as shown in the Post Office Scandal). They are just as malleable as an internal investigator. They routinely put clients\u2019 interests first before the interests of justice, before integrity, independence, honesty, using the law & confidentiality as a tool to take advantage of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether a dispute resolution company or a barrister is used, an investigation is carried out and a report is written. It is provided to a Responsible Person in the University (normally a senior academic). The report is advisory, so the decision to exonerate lies with the Responsible Person. This ludicrous state of affairs means that everyone now avoids any responsibility for what happens. The author of the Report — whether the Sherlock Junior Co <\/em>or Mr Pork-Scratchings<\/em> — can claim (fairly enough) that the Report was only advisory. The Responsible Person can claim (fairly enough) that he or she has no reason not to believe the “thorough and impartial<\/em>” Report. Complain to one & they blame the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And this is how we end up with a state of affairs in which surveys conclude bullying is widespread in Universities, but no bullies can ever be identified and no-one ever takes responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As always, if the culture is rotten, then an institution will cover up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The culture — whether in a public body like a university or a corporate body like the Post Office — is set by those at the top. In the Post Office Scandal, what happened was the responsibility of the Post Office senior executives, like Paula Vennells, Adam Crozier & Alan Cook. It is the Vice Chancellors and Registrars of our Universities who bear the responsibility for the rotten culture in our Universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=917"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":943,"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917\/revisions\/943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}