Is Astronomy the worst for Bullying and Harassment?
I don’t mind admitting that I’m deeply depressed about all these stories of bullying and sexual harassment in Astronomy that have surfaced recently, and I’m sure there are many more that haven’t yet come to light. I’ve experienced some toxic behaviour in my time but nothing on the scale of what has emerged recently.
I wonder whether all this means that Astronomy is worse than other areas of academia or whether everywhere else is just as bad?
I put up a totally unscientific Twitter poll to see what my readers think. Please feel free to let me know your opinion:
Share this:
- Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
- Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
- Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
- Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
- Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
Related
This entry was posted on November 3, 2022 at 6:29 pm and is filed under Harassment Bullying etc. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
In the Dark 
November 3, 2022 at 10:24 pm
[…] Source_link […]
November 4, 2022 at 9:26 am
It seems to me that the worst episode of sustained bullying and harassment recently on a UK campus was that directed at Kathleen Stock at Sussex, in the years leading up to her resignation. Remarkably, much of this was entirely in the open, yet the university authorities did nothing.
November 4, 2022 at 10:15 am
In Astronomy, I think the RAS could do much more.
We really need action from an organisation that is outside the Universities.
The RAS has carried out a survey of the prevalence of bullying & harassment by an anonymous online reporting tool. This goes some way to help answer the question Peter has posed.
https://ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/news/survey-finds-bullying-and-harassment-systemic-astronomy-and-geophysics
The results are incredibly bleak (but pretty unsurprising in the light of the de Zeeuw & the Hannelore cases)
However, the RAS could do much more. It could hold a one-day Ordinary Meeting on harassment & bullying, concentrating on resources, best practice and the ways to support those who are or have been bullied/harassed.
The RAS could set some some guidelines & standards as to how bullying & harassment should be dealt with by Universities. Whilst it can’t penalise Universities who don’t follow best practice, it can name & shame them. Then, PDRAs and grad students know exactly which Universities are the leper organisations to avoid.
It is the duty of a professional organisation to ensure the good health of its profession. I think the RAS is failing in this regard.
The IoP seems to me to be much more active than the RAS in this regard. The IoP’s Juno scheme is good (though it’s unfortunately too easy for dishonest Universities to game). For example, I know one University that has recently had its Juno application suspended … though they hushed it up and even told the Staff that everyone’s Juno application had been suspended …
November 4, 2022 at 12:08 pm
Joining a union seems to me to be the best solution, and any unions covering Higher Ed ought to offer discounted membership to research students.
November 4, 2022 at 12:12 pm
UCU offers free or discounted membership for research students but they are limited in what services they can offer unless the student is actually an employee, e.g. for research students who are employed on part-time teaching contracts.
November 4, 2022 at 10:59 am
In cases I have seen, some people were aware of the problems but did not do anything about it. This was justified with ‘it seems harmless’. That leads to a culture of silent denial, and people even begin to protect the perpetrator. The problem is then addressed only when it becomes common knowledge.
November 5, 2022 at 11:00 am
After reading the comments on this case on this blog and elsewhere, it’s incredibly saddening to hear this. I know from my own experience, and the experience of many others around me, just how hard life can get in these kind of situations.
Halfway through my PhD, I was removed as an author on a paper I had done work for, then accused of plagiarism when I asked to be an author again. I won the plagiarism case (it took many months if not a year) and was reinstated on the paper, but I changed project entirely and basically started my PhD again. This is not mentioning the mental health toll it took on me and my family.
I had joined UCU but it was seemingly not very targeted to anyone who wasn’t a proper staff member. The Students Union didn’t have any help for me either, I was stuck in a weird middle ground.
I am so lucky to have had a support network around me of incredibly nice people that picked me up and got me through. However, it should be remembered that the power structures/dynamics have not really changed, and they need to change so people with less power are protected.
I truly believe it’s the responsibility of everyone in the department, and the whole wider university, to change the culture and deal with this properly. It can be done – I have seen it! 🙂 It’s not easy and it takes a lot of time, but I am hopeful because I have actually seen departmental culture change for the better. It’s not perfect, but there is hope 🙂