Regular followers of this blog will interested to see that the Daily Telegraph has published an article about Professor Neil Wyn Evans about bullying in UK universities, with particular reference to his own experiences during a long-running dispute at the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge.
If you would rather not click through to the Torygraph, here is the most remarkable revelation (amongst many). It is about an investigation by an independent barrister that took over eighteen months to do complete. When Prof. blew the whistle on what he saw as bullying, he ended up being himself investigated, though the investigation dismissed all the claims made against him:
In his independent report into Prof Evans’ whistleblowing claims, the external barrister appointed by Cambridge University said he regretted the length of time that the investigation took and “the effect this will undoubtedly have had on all those involved”. The barrister also raised concerns that several staff members pulled out of providing testimony “over fears they would face retaliation.
It is a sorry state of affairs when members of staff refuse to provide testimony to an investigation for for fear of retaliation, and an even sorrier state when you realize that the feared retaliation would come from the University’s own Human Resources Department!
This is not only a problem at Cambridge, of course. Universities generally are terrible at dealing with this sort of thing. At least there’s at least a chance of doing something about it in Cambridge, however, as Neil Wyn Evans is standing for the Chancellorship of Cambridge University. He’s got my vote.
Here’s an important piece by Professor Wyn Evans of Cambridge University relating to the theme of harassment and bullying which I’ve returned to several times on this blog. I strongly support the creation of the 21 Group and agree with the recommendations made in the post below. Indeed, I have myself made a similar suggestion in the context of sexual harassment that the people involved in investigations of such cases…
…should not be employees of the university in question, as they would come under pressure to hush things up – which clearly happens now. It seems to me that far too many institutions prioritize limiting reputational damage over doing the right thing for their staff and students.
Whistleblowing is ineffective in the UK Universities. There is no protection for whistleblowers. Any whistleblowing investigation is run by the university without properly independent scrutiny.
Self-directed investigations make no sense in an organisation in which poor behaviour has been tolerated for a long time. We have seen this in the scandals in the Post Office, in the NHS and in the Metropolitan Police.
The Universities are no exception. Organisations that investigate themselves exonerate themselves. They look for rugs enormous enough to sweep everything under.
Universities need an independent Ombudsman to look into serious complaints.
This already exists for complaints by undergraduates. It is the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education.
If a student or a former student is dissatisfied with the handling of a matter by a University, then they can appeal to the independent adjudicator.
Postgraduate students and university staff do not have any such rights. We are regarded as ‘service providers’ rather than ‘paying customers’ in the monetized world of higher education.
Vice chancellors and senior managers from Cambridge to Maynooth pontificate that world-class universities are about ‘the people’. That’s where it ends. Senior management are indifferent as to whether the people in universities do actually work in an environment that promotes respect, dignity, safety and equality.
Pressure groups are needed to drive organisational and cultural change in the UK Universities.
So, we have founded the 21 Group
Our name derives from the fact that in a staff survey, 21% of employees at the University of Cambridge reported that they had been subjected to bullying or harassment in the workplace.
The 21 Group operates nationally and offers support for staff in UK universities who are experiencing bullying, victimisation and harassment in the workplace. Amongst other things, we are running a national survey of bullying in the UK Universities.
Sadly, we have nothing to be proud of in astronomy. The only systematic survey of UK astronomy was carried out by the Royal Astronomical Society in 2020-2021. They obtained responses from over 650 people.
44% of respondents had suffered bullying and harassment in the workplace within the last year.
A figure of 44% is grotesque. It is almost a half of all respondents.
The Royal Astronomical Society deserves full credit for conducting the survey and publishing the results. What is sad is that the UK astronomical community has not made any discernible efforts to improve matters since its publication in 2021.
The views presented here are personal and not necessarily those of my employer (or anyone else for that matter).
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In the Dark 