http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuros...3nYgn4naS4
EXCERPT: . . . Each of these researchers are (or were) at the top of their fields, recipients of huge amounts of funding. They are accused of abuses of power, bullying and abuse of their subordinates and creating a climate of fear in their institutions. It would be easy to look to the personal characteristics of these three scientists to understand what’s going on. For instance, all three are women, and two (Singer and Kauffmann) are directors of Max Planck Institutes (MPIs), highly prestigious research organizations which offer directors a greater degree of independence compared to a traditional university post.
However, in this post, I’m going to suggest that to understand how cases such as these come about, we might need to look to the nature of academic science as a whole. While stories involving mega-scientists and MPI directors are the ones that make the headlines, the problem goes deeper. I’ve seen it myself and heard plenty of stories. I don’t have all of the answers by any means, but here are some thoughts on three factors that, in my opinion, can create conditions favorable for bullying in science.
Idealism. Most people working in science are highly motivated to be there, and not for financial reasons. [...] I suspect that it can make scientists, who are victims of abuse, less likely to protest [...]
Promotion. I have often heard it said that senior scientists tend to lack management skills because “they’re not promoted for their management ability”. [...]
Prestige. [...] senior figures also have enormous prestige [...] This makes them powerful indeed and makes blowing the whistle on them doubly daunting [...]
MORE: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuros...3nYgn4naS4
EXCERPT: . . . Each of these researchers are (or were) at the top of their fields, recipients of huge amounts of funding. They are accused of abuses of power, bullying and abuse of their subordinates and creating a climate of fear in their institutions. It would be easy to look to the personal characteristics of these three scientists to understand what’s going on. For instance, all three are women, and two (Singer and Kauffmann) are directors of Max Planck Institutes (MPIs), highly prestigious research organizations which offer directors a greater degree of independence compared to a traditional university post.
However, in this post, I’m going to suggest that to understand how cases such as these come about, we might need to look to the nature of academic science as a whole. While stories involving mega-scientists and MPI directors are the ones that make the headlines, the problem goes deeper. I’ve seen it myself and heard plenty of stories. I don’t have all of the answers by any means, but here are some thoughts on three factors that, in my opinion, can create conditions favorable for bullying in science.
Idealism. Most people working in science are highly motivated to be there, and not for financial reasons. [...] I suspect that it can make scientists, who are victims of abuse, less likely to protest [...]
Promotion. I have often heard it said that senior scientists tend to lack management skills because “they’re not promoted for their management ability”. [...]
Prestige. [...] senior figures also have enormous prestige [...] This makes them powerful indeed and makes blowing the whistle on them doubly daunting [...]
MORE: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuros...3nYgn4naS4