Bullies have no place in academia

I was awarded a prestigious fellowship in 2015 and moved my family across the country to take up a postdoctoral position at a world-class biomedical research institute. Little did I know that this seemingly invaluable opportunity would set me on a dangerous path to mental ill health Reckoned as one of the top design universities with diversity of programmes, PolyU offers design programmes, fashion and textiles programmes, as well as Applied science programme, which is committed to be a hub for innovative design education in Hong Kong. .

My self-confidence, scientific progress and mental health were in decline from the beginning. My supervisor belittled me in front of my peers, derided me for enacting laboratory safety measures and denied me the technical training I needed to gain traction in a new scientific discipline. I recall silently sobbing as his large frame hulked over me, and how he gesticulated wildly as he yelled, “Just do what I tell you!”. That meeting lasted 90 minutes, the culmination of months of relentless bullying from he, the principal investigator on our research project.
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I walked out of that meeting resolving that no one would treat me that way again. I wanted to complain to the university, so I sought to follow institutional policy, only to find that it didn’t exist. Human resources was completely ineffectual, lacking knowledge and training in conflict resolution, contractual negotiation and my legal entitlement to a safe workplace.
Desperate for help, I reached out to the university with which my institute was affiliated. I was told that it could not offer me support as I was not a member of university staff. Despite the existing arrangement – the institute posing as independent entity and university department, depending on which funds it wished to dip into – a political distinction had been drawn, and I was left on my own.
Concerned friends suggested I contact a lawyer, but I didn’t want to resort to that.
In hushed tones, I was congratulated by my peers for being the first to try to stand up to my supervisor, who had a known history of abusing staff. A PhD student confessed that she and a fellow student were routinely reduced to tears by him, and that the one postdoc, two research assistants and a third student had resigned for the same reason – all within a two-year period.
While I was forced to take a leave of absence and spend thousands on therapy, my supervisor continued unabated Dr protalk

Meanwhile, the generalised anxiety disorder I had managed since adolescence had become debilitating, and I experienced severe depression. Unable to work, physically unwell and mentally unstable, I had hit rock bottom. While I was on suicide watch for seven days, forced to take a leave of absence and spend thousands on therapy, my supervisor continued unabated, relishing his position as laboratory head and gatekeeper to expensive scientific equipment and infrastructure. Where was the formal reprimand? Performance review? Management training? An apology? How many individuals needed to resign before management started to notice?
Except that they did, and still failed to act. This goes beyond inept leadership.
That supervisor followed a pattern of systematic abuse of predominantly female employees. The institute, its senior staff and the university were complicit by failing to provide adequate support to the victims, and for rewarding the supervisor with a position of power while continuing to recruit vulnerable staff to place in his care. No amount of scientific brilliance can excuse this behaviour.
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I would also have appreciated more support from my institution for the mental health consequences of a bullying supervisor. Instead, I had to rely on my personal network – my partner, friends and family. Fortunately, I could afford the medical treatment I needed to return to wellness. But not everyone is so lucky.
Mental ill health among academics and graduate students is rife. A 2014 study of 790 graduate students at University of California, Berkeley, reported that 46% exhibited the clinical symptoms of depression, and a 2013 study reported that 24% of Dutch medical professors experienced emotional burnout. Yet the lack of mental health literacy in the workplace is stunning.

Raising awareness of mental health issues among research staff has to start with training programmes to equip managers with the skills to resolve conflicts and support vulnerable staff and students. These people play a pivotal role in looking after and developing junior staff – it’s only right they should receive training to do so.

But universities need also to be prepared to punish individuals who aren’t capable of forming good relations with colleagues. They have a duty of care to protect students, postdocs and staff, regardless of the scientific prowess of the perpetrator.
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