“A bit like unconscious bias, we can be guilty of perpetrating [bullying] without even knowing we are,” says Professor Mike Lockwood, President of the Royal Astronomical Society in London.
“Everyone listening today will want our workplaces to be a safe area.”
Professor Lockwood was speaking at an investigation into insidious and systemic workplace bullying of scientists in the fields of astronomy and geophysics.
More than 600 people took part in a survey which found bullying present in many areas of the workforce, and at its worst against women, black and minority ethnic scientists, those with disabilities and those from the LGBTQ+ community.
Professor Lockwood said the survey was a “useful start to solving the problem” and that “the first step to solving any problem is to admit the problem is there”.
The RAS has published a list of recommendations to protect colleagues and inform managers including more effective bullying and harassment policies, procedures and safeguards to prevent bullying, improve reporting methods and achieve greater accountability.
Dr Sheila Kanani MBE is the Education, Outreach and Diversity Officer at the RAS. She led the research and personally manned the telephone support line she set up after hearing the negative experiences of her colleagues and other scientists working in her field, some of whom left their jobs because of bullying.
She acknowledged the difference between bullying and sexual harassment, and called for cultural change. “The Royal Astronomical Society realises there is a lot more work to be done.
“Some of the jokes or microaggressions we hear on a daily basis are not acceptable. We want to show people they are not alone. Bullying affects mental health and staff retention.
“We needed the data from the survey because we want to understand the experiences of our community for the future of the sector.
“There’s no point doing outreach work if it isn’t a safe environment.
“We hope our results will influence senior leadership teams to shape a better workplace environment for everybody.”
For the first time, data was captured to indicate the extent of bullying and harassment among astronomers and geophysicists. The results found:
- Disabled, and black and minority ethnic astronomers and geophysicists are 40 per cent more likely to be bullied than their non-disabled and white colleagues.
- Women and non-binary people in the field are 50 per cent more likely than men to be bullied and harassed.
- 50 per cent of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer astronomers and geophysicists were bullied in the 24 months preceding the survey, and 12 per cent of bisexual astronomers reported being bullied at least once a week.
Two-thirds (65 per cent) of respondents who reported complaints felt their concerns had been handled inadequately.
For the full report see: https://ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/news/urgent-change-needed-tackle-bullying-astronomy-and-geophysics
