'University staff feel unsafe'
Four out of ten university employees suffer from bullying, gossip, exclusion or abuse of power, according to research by the trade unions FNV and VAWO. The National Network of Women Professors is also ringing the bell today.
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Trade unions FNV Education and Research and VAWO asked 1.110 university staff, both support and academic staff, based on their experiences in the workplace. Almost half indicated that there was (or has been) a socially unsafe situation in their ward in which gossip is carried out and information is deliberately withheld.
Bullying
Four out of ten employees have (had) problems with social insecurity at some point. Women more often than men: 44 percent versus 35 percent. This mainly concerns withholding information (44 percent), abuse of power (35 percent) and intimidation (34 percent) by a professor or manager. For example, one respondent says: 'My work was plagiarized by a prominent professor. I was told to keep quiet or fear for my job.'
My work was plagiarized by a prominent professor. I was told to keep quiet or fear for my job
Almost half of them still do not feel safe in their department. 'A male colleague makes comments about my body. I ignore him as much as possible,' said one respondent. Employees whose situation has improved say that this is mainly due to intervention from above, the arrival of a new manager or a different contract. For example, someone writes: 'I am now in permanent employment and with that a large part of the power inequality has disappeared.'
Bad leadership
Poor leadership (73 percent) is the most frequently cited reason for a socially unsafe work situation. Older employees in particular find this a problem. The hierarchical culture (49 percent) and the high workload (43 percent) also play a major role, according to the respondents.
Trade unions FNV and VAWO find the results 'shocking'
Trade unions FNV and VAWO find the results “shocking”. They call on universities to set up an external, independent complaints committee and to hire an ombudsman / woman. FNV director Jan Boersma: “At the moment there are only internal complaints committees within universities and the existing national complaints committee for education does not apply to universities. The results of our research show that an external, independent committee is desperately needed. ”
Awkward truth
The National Network of Women Professors today also published an investigation into misconduct and intimidation. The LNVH calls it an “inconvenient truth” that this also occurs in Dutch science. It is caused by cultural and structural factors and can have disastrous consequences.
The research is based on twenty in-depth interviews with female academics and on 33 written testimonials about experiences with harassment. The researchers distinguish between obstruction of scientific practice, sexual harassment, physical and verbal threat, insult, exclusion and the problematization of special needs.
The highly hierarchical nature of the academy, the highly competitive and individualistic culture, the inadequate response to cases of Harassment and the silence - whether or not forced - of the victims ensures that misconduct and intimidation can easily arise and are not or hardly addressed.
Starting shot
The report is expressly intended as a starting shot for a broader investigation. The LNHV explicitly calls on universities and other research institutions zero-tolerancepolicies and procedures for raising Harassment accessible, transparent and effective. All in all, this should lead to a cultural change within science.
The LNHV explicitly calls on universities and other research institutions zero-tolerancepolicy
Universities association VSNU takes the signals and recommendations “very seriously”, says chairman Pieter Duisenberg. “The university must be a safe environment for employees, where any form of undesirable behavior is unacceptable.”
