Opening remarks from Frazier Benya, speaking about moving beyond legal compliance to tackle culture/climate. Says that academic culture (e.g. policies) claims we do not tolerate harassment, but the climate (how people actually experience academia) says the opposite #AcademiaToo
Dr Frazier Benya: "We need to treat sexual harassment as the public health crisis that it is" #AcademiaToo
@TIMESUPHC The incredible Brenda Tracy: "If women alone could stop sexual harassment and sexual violence, we already would have". @brendatracy24#AcademiaToo
@TIMESUPHC@brendatracy24 On the panel 'brainstorming ways to support targets and prevent retaliation', Cari Simon: "retaliation is the grease that allows sexual harassment to thrive". #AcademiaToo
Dr Jennifer Freyd: retaliation and institutional betrayal associated with higher odds of victims attempting suicide #AcademiaToo
@TIMESUPHC@brendatracy24 Dr Jennifer Freyd: "Cherish the truth tellers/ cherish the whistleblowers". Yes! Whistleblowers are heroes, doing service to institutions that aren't doing the work to prevent sexual violence themselves #AcademiaToo
@TIMESUPHC@brendatracy24 Emily Myers bringing up a very important point: if you are an international student, and your advisor/PI is in charge of your visa, how likely are you to report? Diffusing power is vital #AcademiaToo
@TIMESUPHC@brendatracy24 Brenda Tracy speaking about the importance of institutional courage as apologies for harm done. Apologies that are said from one human to another, and acknowledging the pain caused. I can't say how important something like that would be for me. #AcademiaToo
Brenda Tracy: 'Victims just want someone to say to them "What happened to you was not okay. We failed. And we are sorry"'. Important to be followed by real instiutional change, including polcies & procedures #AcademiaToo
Jennifer Gómez: "Trace the money: if institutions say they care about these issues, but the money doesn't follow, that says a lot". #AcademiaToo
More insightful & powerful words from Jennifer Gómez: "Oppression is already on the side of the perpetrator, because it already exists within our institution" #AcademiaToo
NiCole Buchanan: if you add up the tuition fees of all the students who have been harassed, colleges are making millions off of the experiences of these victims. And yet, they can't find the funding for trauma counsellors #AcademiaToo
Rewatching some of the panels from yesterday, and one amazing quote from @KateClancy I managed to miss the first time round:
“If you’re willing to speak up, institutions are willing to wring you dry”
@KateClancy Reshma Jagsi presenting on academic medicine as a 'unique ecosystem in HE' where sexual harassment occurs: Female medical students 220% more likely to experience sexual harassment from faculty/staff than non-STEM students
@KateClancy Jerika Heinze speaking about fieldwork, and the pilot study she carried out, which revealed that 93% of participants said they had received no pre-fieldwork training.
Training is vital, especially when SH is so common in fieldwork.
@KateClancy Jerika Heinze: Institutions treat harassment in the field as a 'personal issue' to the student, as if they are on vacation and not as if they are researching and collecting data the university will benefit from.
Jerika Heinze: The vast majority of transgender women students drop their degrees because they are at significant risk of murder in the field. #AcademiaToo
@KateClancy In the final session of the summit, on building bridges between academic institutions and professional societies to tackle sexual harassment. Billy Williams talking about @theAGU re-defining sexual harassment as scientific misconduct - great step #AcademiaToo
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As cases start to rise in student populations remember:
They were promised “COVID secure” & safe campuses.
They were promised an “authentic” university experience.
They were promised F2F teaching & socialising.
So they move across the country, between countries, pay thousands of pounds with expectations that can’t be safely meet.
And as soon as they arrive they find out they have a couple hours of contact with staff per week and F2F social events are often being cancelled.
They start to miss their 1hr of F2F bc they have to isolate.
They find out they might not be able to go home at Christmas and instead have to spend it in cramped halls with people they met a couple months ago, and for some this will the first time they’ve lived away from home.
This week our amazing staff are on campus helping students settle in & feel welcome in these uncertain times. Throughout the year we signpost students to support when needed, & represent their academic interests & wellbeing to the University. #LoveSUs@hertssu@UniofHerts@nusuk
Student loneliness is a national issue - 4/10 students feel lonely on a daily or weekly basis. Disabled and LGBT students are more likely to feel lonely. SUs help provide community and a sense of belonging. #LoveSUs@hertssu@UniofHerts@nusuk
Students that report a feeling of belonging at uni are more likely to report feeling confident in completing their degree.
Students that are satisfied w/ their SU are more confident about their degree. They are also more likely to be confident about their career. #LoveSUs
I'm so glad that students have received the U-Turn they deserve, after such a stressful and upsetting time for many. I am, however, concerned at how Universities will manage this in practice. #ALevelsResults
For example, if a Uni genuinely cannot give places to everyone who now will have the required grades (because of accommodation, number of teaching staff, need to social distance etc) will this be a breach of contract? Grounds for denied students to take legal action?
Or do Unis have clauses to protect them from this? Can they force deferrals?
Will Unis go over "capacity" w/out increasing staff numbers or pay, and further worsen the current workload crisis and number of insecure staff?
Will there be enough support services for students?
I’ve been going back and forth in my head for months about whether to address this publicly or not, and if so when. But after receiving so much unexpected kindness & support over the last few weeks I want to do so now.
Around March this year I had to make the decision to withdraw my legal case against my former university for discrimination, a case which I took after reporting sexual misconduct from my former supervisor during my time at university.
The case went on for nearly 2 years. But come the new year I was unemployed, with no income & no financial cushion, but not entitled to legal aid. I couldn’t financially continue the case, & was left in debt as a result.
I’ve been trying to make the perfect toad in the hole for months now. Today I decided that tonight was the night. I even measured out each ingredient into individual cups so they were perfect.
And then accidentally poured my wine glass into the batter rather than milk.
Still going to cook it though, obviously. Who would waste a perfectly good glass of wine?
Stay tuned for updates.
On first inspection (before tasting, with the offending glass of wine for reference): arguably a bit on the burnt side, but the fork I stuck in it came out clean so at least it’s not a pool of wine inside...