The main difficulty faced in reforming Universities is the culture of silence around bullying and harassment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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. It exists to protect the University from you.<\/strong> So, any interaction with University HR is always abuser-centered. The starting assumption is that the abuser is innocent and the victim is hysterical or mistaken. An extremely high burden of proof is needed for any conviction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Suppose now that the evidence against an abuser actually is overwhelming. Even University HR cannot deny it. What then happens? Misconduct investigations are shrouded in secrecy, so nothing is ever made public. The University shushes everything down, but — if matters are very bad — the abuser may have to leave. Of course, this only happens if the abuser is not holding down a lot of grants. Money usually trumps abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This brings us to the mysterious disappearance of Professor G.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Professor G has had to leave two previous universities because of inappropriate staff-student relationships. He’s an oddball — charismatic, outspoken, sexually aggressive and flirty, yet married with a family. (His wife is his former graduate student). His unsavoury reputation is very well-known in the subject. There are a number of known victims, but they are unable to speak out publicly given the climate in modern Universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Female students are routinely advised not to apply to work with him. Female postdocs are routinely warned away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Nonetheless, Professor G was appointed to his most recent position as Chair, Head of Department and Director of an important research institute at a UK University a few years ago. This is the well-known phenomenon of ‘pass the abuser’. A University may sometimes think it is better to see an abuser promoted and move elsewhere than become a public embarrassment at an existing institution. So, serial abuse actually can help a career and lead to swift promotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Very recently, Professor G has disappeared from the University. He is no longer Director. He is no longer a Professor. He is not employed by the University at all. Despite having a high public profile, he is not mentioned anywhere on the University’s websites. He has been made to vanish. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The problem of inappropriate staff-student relationships has recurred. This is unsurprising — serial abusers do it again and again. And so ‘passing the abuser’ simply creates more and more victims. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This time, however, the world famous Professor G has not moved to another University. Interestingly, the hiring of Professor G by a new University was announced as a grand coup with fanfare in the press some months ago. It has not happened. Professor G now describes himself on social media as retired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Forcibly retired. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are good reasons for closed & independent investigations, including privacy, due process and compliance with employment law protections. Those accused might want to defend their case without being tried in the court of public opinion first. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, once an investigation has been conducted and an abuser has been found guilty, then the report should be made public (if necessary with redaction of victim’s names). There should be no more hushing up by Universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Only then can the culture of silence around bullying and harassment be broken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (The 21 Group is already involved in legal action elsewhere and cannot afford to name Professor G. Please do not name him in any blog postings.)<\/em><\/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":" 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. 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