[lbo-talk] RE: Wolf vs Bloom

Wojtek Sokolowski sokol at jhu.edu
Mon Feb 23 14:23:26 PST 2004


Joanna:
>
> But the issue is much bigger than this. Because academia is a closed,
> inbred world, the professors have absolute power over the students. I

It works both ways, I suppose. Based on my own observations and experiences, I would say that students are not always "innocent victims" as sometimes thought. Currently I have almost no teaching duties, but in the past I was offered sexual favors in no uncertain terms for a passing grade in a course. To be certain, I refused.

I am also familiar with a much bigger scandal involving am affair between a male professor and a female graduate student that totally ruined the career of the former, when the female "went ballistic" and made formal accusations of sexual harassment. I suspected that the two had a romance and knew with reasonable certainty that no harassment was involved - poor judgment, yes, but no coercion or even a quid pro quo of any kind. The shit hit the fan when the professor decided to end the liaison, his paramour got upset and decided to fight back.

As I understand, sexual harassment and even affairs not involving harassment are easier to be uncovered in an academic setting than in a regular work environment. The chief reason is that the grieving party takes a much lower risk in the academic setting. It is easier to change the major or even the alma mater than change jobs. Transfer to another department or university may involve, in the worst case scenario, a loss of an academic year. Transfer to another job is often not possible or involves downgrading i.e. a total or partial loss of income - a very serious matter comparing to a semester or two of compulsory vacation.

Wojtek



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