I thought I’d post a quick follow-up to this post about the campaign by Prof. Wyn Evans to be the next Chancellor of Cambridge University. When I posted that item, Wyn was seeking enough nominations to stand for election. I’m very glad to pass on the news that he got over 100 nominations, more than twice the number required to stand for election. He is therefore an official candidate for the election that will take place in July. I am a graduate of Cambridge University and have registered to vote in the forthcoming election.
P.S. This all reminds me that a mere 40 years ago I was preparing for my finals at Cambridge. I still have the papers I sat then and will share them on the anniversary for old times’ sake. The first papers were on Wednesday 22nd May 1985.
Following on from yesterday’s post, I thought I’d pass on information about the campaign by Prof. Wyn Evans to be the next Chancellor of Cambridge University. You can find some of this information in the comment here and a longer version here. Here’s the gist of the campaign:
I am a graduate of Cambridge University and have just registered to vote in the forthcoming election. I shall of course be backing Wyn Evans, but in order to stand he needs to get 50 nominations. If you are a Cambridge graduate and wish to nominate Wyn Evans then please follow the instructions here or here.
Note the greater prevalence of bullying and harassment directed towards LGBT astronomers.
The recommendations include the introduction of more effective bullying and harassment policies, procedures and safeguards to protect all colleagues, to support students, and to ensure that everyone can achieve their potential and work in a safe and satisfying environment, regardless of their background.
Noble sentiments, but the Royal Astronomical Society can do little itself to change policies, as it is not in the position of employer (except for its own staff in Burlington House) and there is no incentive for the universities and research institutions who employ most astronomers to comply. That will only happen if serious sanctions are imposed for mishandling bullying and harassment cases.
My view – born out by experience – is that it can’t be left to individual institutions to deal with this problem. In case after case, instead of dealing properly with bullying and harassment, senior managers have protected the perpetrators and silenced the victims. Reputation management, they call it. What is needed to start with is a system of independent adjudication, as recommended, for example, by the 21 Group.
This problem is neither confined to astronomy nor to the United Kingdom, and at least part of it is due to the ever-increasing cult of managerialism that places institutional branding ahead of positive workplace culture, paying at most lip-service to the latter.
I have been asked to pass on, via the medium of this blog, the news that this Friday (17th May) the Royal Astronomical Society will launch its report on bullying and harassment in Astronomy. Sorry for the late notice, but no longer being a Fellow of the RAS I didn’t get the announcement directly. Anyway, it’s not too late to sign up to attend Friday’s meeting, either in person or via the live stream, which you can do here:
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In the Dark 