Academic harassers are protected with public resources

Bullying, discrimination and harassment are epidemic in academia, and scholars belonging to minorities/underrepresented groups are more often the targets of such behaviors than other groups. If members of groups who often experience intersectional disadvantage perform excellently, they are at an even greater risk of being targeted. Though anti-harassment and non-discrimination policies have existed for decades, they have had little and too often no discernible effect.

It has become increasingly clear that universities’ zero-tolerance statements and complaint procedures often do not work adequately. Scholars reporting misconduct either as targets or bystanders often find their institution siding with the perpetrator rather than protecting them. Some of the reasons for this include: i) guarding the institutional reputation, ii) the vulnerability of targets, and iii) the huge costs associated with losing well-funded employees. Despite many internal resources and guidelines, institutions do not have robust plan in actions (and, as we contend, even too often reluctant) to resolve academic harassment.

Source : www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(22)00318-2/fulltext

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2022.101588

PDF : here