Greetings allies and members.
This issue of our newsletter includes a selection of the latest research, media and activities related to the issue of academic bullying and harassment. Pieces in this issue highlight the systemic, racialized and gendered nature of academic abuse and discrimination and the requisite need for institutions to be proactive about their systems and cultures. Several pieces highlight the unique challenges faced by those who have stood up against abuse in academic settings.
As always, stay tuned for more information on our latest activities and thank you for your interest in and support for Academic Parity. A special thank you to those of you who have kindly sent relevant research and articles our way!
Academic bullying as a racialized phenomenon in STEM higher education (Journal of International Students, June 2024). Using semi-structured interviews, Peiwin Wang’s phenomenological study of five STEM Asian international doctoral students’ experiences of academic bullying found that racialized academic bullying was operationalized by a) legitimizing exploitation through racializing discourses; b) maintaining White supremacy across transnational contexts; and c) intersecting systems of oppression. Wang offers implications and recommendations as to what stakeholders can do collectively to address racialized academic bullying towards minoritized students and to combat systemic inequities and oppression.
A matter of time? Gender and ethnic inequality in the academic publishing careers of Dutch Ph.D.s (Quantitative Science Studies, July 2024). This study by Maaike Mulders et al uses a novel data set of a nearly complete population of doctorates from Dutch universities across all academic fields between 1990 and 2021 to explore whether efforts to increase diversity in Dutch academia have paid off and found to the contrary that (1) while women are as likely as men to start an academic publishing career after obtaining a doctorate, their careers are shorter and (2) ethnic minority scholars are less likely to start an academic career after their doctorate, and when they do, they stop sooner than ethnic majority researchers.
Report slams Dutch archaeologist couple for intimidation, abuse of power, and theft of human remains (Science News, May 2024). In this article, Martin Enserink summarizes the findings of a recent investigation by Leiden University alleging that two of its senior faculty members engaged in braces of academic integrity, abuse of power, bullying, intimidation, aggression, and discrimination over a period of 30 years, often during field research. According to the article, the “culture of fear” ensured victims remained silent. The Executive Board broke with tradition by releasing the anonymized report asserting that they believe that publishing the report would facilitate wider discussion and start the work of recovery.
Sexual harassment in science: biologists in India speak out (Nature News Feature, July 2024). In this article Gayathri Vaidyanathan shares the insights from interviews with 12 female wildlife researchers who say they were harassed while working at conservation organizations in India in an effort to better understand why the country’s sexual-harassment law sometimes fails to safeguard women.
Gender and bullying in the academic workplace (Epistimi, July 2024). In this piece, Alison E. Vogelaar, with Janet G. Hering and Patricia A. Maurice, addresses the uncomfortable reality that women sometimes engage in bullying of other female colleagues in the academic workplace.
Maxine Singer obituary: biologist who shaped genetic engineering and fought discrimination (Nature Obituaries, August 2024). This piece honors molecular biologist Maxine Singer’s contributions to genetic engineering (recombinant DNA), science administration and public dialogue and championing the cause of marginalized people in the sciences.
Whistleblowing in science: this physician faced ostracization after standing up to pharma (Nature Careers, August 2024). This article by Sara Reardon features the story of hematologist and whistleblower Nancy Olivieri, who went public in the mid-1990s when the company sponsoring her drug trial for a genetic blood disorder tried to suppress data about harmful side effects. The piece highlights the often protracted (she is still fighting legal battles), isolating and damaging consequences of whistleblowing and urges would-be whistleblowers to expect resistance and, most crucially, to gather allies.
The complainant. A historian crafts a Title IX case against her abuser (The Chronicle of Higher Education, August 2024). This article by journalist and historian Joy Neumeyer details the complicated experience of filing a formal Title IX complaint about abuse and the associated difficulties (absurdities?) of adapting interpersonal violence into bureaucratese and producing viable evidence.
Register here for the 2024 Public Summit of the Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education taking place Oct 15-16, 2024 at Michigan State University and online.
“I am an Asian student who joined a US American PhD program in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2013. In the 4th year of my PhD program, and after having co-authored several prestigious papers, my PI abruptly removed funding and animal resources for my research, stating that my research topic was irrelevant to his future lab direction. Loss of funding and resources in the 4th year of my program meant that I would either have to self-fund, start over or drop out of the program, which would be hard for any student but is made doubly hard for international students who require visas. I immediately sought help from the ECE graduate coordinator but he stated that I would have to accept my PI’s decision at whatever personal cost including paying tuition for an indeterminate IC tape-out timeline (the date when the semiconductor company accepts the design data of our lab and starts the IC manufacturing process). Having already invested 4 years in my program and research, I made the difficult decision to fund my own research so that I could stay in the program in the absence of my PI’s support and advice. After going through all of this, he then questioned why I could not finish my program in 6 years and even threatened to terminate my PhD program by giving two consecutive U (incomplete) grades to my PhD research. Unfortunately, the former ECE graduate coordinator once again agreed with my PI’s decision, accusing me of being idle, and even ridiculing me for “begging” for help and losing my F-1. Until today, I still hear stories from international graduate students who are forced to accept bullying behaviors but can’t find any channel to receive proper protections and support. If universities want to fulfill their mission of empowering students, please value its students first and at the very least quit exploiting the precariousness of international student labor.”
Until the next issue, wishing you well,
Dr. Alison E. Vogelaar
Newsletter Editor