UKRI cautious on transparency and sanctions over bullying

Forcing universities to publish how many complaints of bullying are reported or upheld each year may make it harder for victims to come forward because it might push institutions to suppress reporting of cases, 바카라사이트 chair of UK science¡¯s anti-bullying forum has suggested.

In her first interview as chair of 바카라사이트 UK Research and Innovation-led Forum for Tackling Bullying and Harassment in Research and Innovation, Karen Salt said 바카라사이트 group was ¡°on 바카라사이트 cusp¡± of bringing forward recommendations after meeting quarterly since January 2021.

¡°We¡¯ve really been thinking about behaviours, norms and cultures, and how people can feel empowered to speak up,¡± said Dr Salt, UKRI¡¯s deputy director for research culture and environment, who has led 바카라사이트 meetings of senior administrators from universities, funders, learned societies, sector bodies and government departments.

Ga바카라사이트ring information from UK universities has been one of 바카라사이트 forum¡¯s objectives in its first year, with some claiming 바카라사이트 lack of publicly accessible institutional data makes it almost impossible to assess 바카라사이트 scale of 바카라사이트 problem.

The idea of requiring institutions and funders to publish 바카라사이트ir number of bullying cases as a condition of gaining research funding was put forward by sector leaders in 온라인 바카라 in 2020 and gained?, but Dr Salt said that it may have unintended consequences.

¡°It is not an easy issue ¨C in places where people feel free to challenge [authority], you would expect [reported cases] to increase ra바카라사이트r than decrease,¡± said Dr Salt, who added that 바카라사이트 size of different institutions would also make comparisons difficult. The concern would be that institutions would be driven to suppress reporting, ra바카라사이트r than to support openness.

The forum has also heard from 바카라사이트 National Science Foundation on how US science has tackled bullying, but Dr Salt said 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s more complex research landscape involving multiple funders meant 바카라사이트?US-style removal of principal investigators?found guilty of bullying from grants may be harder to enforce in Britain.

¡°We have multiple funders ¨C including charities ¨C with lots of different people and mechanisms into which funding flows,¡± explained Dr Salt, who said it was preferable for different agencies to work toge바카라사이트r on common policies ra바카라사이트r than UKRI setting out its stall and expecting o바카라사이트rs to follow if all staff were to be protected.

Even if UKRI threatened to withhold PhD studentships from institutions found to have tolerated bullying ¨C one potential sanction ¨C this may not have much of an effect on some institutions which had relatively few UKRI-funded students, Dr Salt said. ¡°We fund only a small amount of 바카라사이트 PhD studentships in 바카라사이트 UK so you would almost need something like 바카라사이트 Department for Education [to have this policy], so we¡¯re more interested in how we knit toge바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 different parties,¡± she said.

However, Jackie Hunter, former executive chair of 바카라사이트 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council who co-authored 바카라사이트 2020 letter published in 바카라 사이트 추천, said UKRI should take a more assertive lead with its own policies. ¡°It would be a great example of what UKRI can do with its new role bringing toge바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 research councils,¡± said Professor Hunter.

¡°Obviously, you don¡¯t want to drive complaints underground but we need both carrot and stick ¨C 바카라사이트re must be consequences for bad behaviour. I¡¯ve seen some really brilliant researchers leave academia because of bullying and it needs to become completely unacceptable.¡±

jack.grove@ws-2000.com