#MeTooPhD

Ali shared various articles regarding the #MeToo movement in academia. They highlight the importance of raising awareness and appropriately dealing with sexual harassment in academics. Following interesting points are raised,

“Graduate students—who have little job flexibility, are often trapped at the same university for years, and depend on the support of a few key professors for career success—seem to face the most harassment.”

“Academia is an extremely hierarchical field. Professors with tenure have immense power, with the ability to determine the fate of graduate students and more junior faculty. “

“Ayesha Ramachandran, a comparative literature professor at Yale University, agrees that sexual harassment in academia is pernicious and difficult to address. “Power imbalances and the tightness of the job market are contributing factors, but the main issue, I think, is the blurry boundaries between personal and professional spheres,” she writes in an email to Quartz. Faculty often drink with students or invite them to their homes to work. “It’s also worth remembering that it is fairly recent to have women in the university and (especially) in positions of power,” she adds.

Still, as she describes in the Washington Post (paywall), Ramachandran is planning a grassroots series of conversations, panels, and lunches to discuss how sexual harassment could be better addressed in academia.

“We’re talking finally! And openly,” Ramachandran told Quartz. “We have to support and move that along strongly, not shut it down because the revolution hasn’t happened already,” she adds.”

For the complete post, visit this and this.

There is support available at Warwick to prevent sexual violence, hate crime and harassment. We are attaching the resources,

https://warwick.ac.uk/services/supportservices/preventionandsupport/sexualviolence/

https://warwick.ac.uk/services/supportservices/preventionandsupport/sexualviolence/reporting/

Nishika Bhatia : 23 Apr 2019 13:14 |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem