dagblog - Comments for "Harassing the Professor"

albib — Thu, 14 Sep 2017 21:42:26 +0000

I have taught in several countries. Now I am teaching in an Arab country, UAE, at Bachelor level. I have been harassed by female students in the classroom. In this cultural context, this situation is extremely difficult to handle. A female professor that is harassed by a male student will be protected and the student dishonored and expelled by the university, facing extreme consequences. A male professor harassed by a female student here, will have no support. Yes, male professors are also harassed, yes, in the western world and in the Arab world. It is frustrating listening about how easy is for a male to ignore these behaviors. Please, don’t speak with so much self-sufficiency about what happens to both genders on the same situation. Talk about what you know and listen about what you don’t know.

"The real scandal isn't that students treat male and female faculty differently; that is just an ugly reflection of our wider society's values. But when the people overseeing a university and upholding its values allow female faculty to be treated in a way that male faculty would never be asked to tolerate, it's a scandal and a shame."

A shame is to talk about what you can not relate to. Stick to what you know, not what you believe it happens to other genders in the same situation.

This is a very insightful and

Anon female faculty — Sun, 21 Dec 2014 17:47:23 +0000

In reply to Harassing the Professor

This is a very insightful and helpful post. I had not realized that I had done many of the things you describe throughout my career.

One thing I had noticed is that my male colleagues do not hesitate to slap students (male and female) on the back, joke with them, etc. When I have witnessed this, the students smile broadly and seem to view it as warm and friendly. I would never dare to touch students for fear of "sending the wrong signal" or appearing "creepy". I think this is exacerbated by a strong pro-marriage bias in that I am divorced while the colleagues in my male dominated dept almost exclusively are in traditional marriages. Thus they are "normal" and this is a "great guy" gesture from them, but would raise all kinds of questions about a single woman's motives.

Gives me a lot more to think about.

I have been teaching college

CCotton — Sun, 10 Aug 2014 00:54:57 +0000

In reply to Harassing the Professor

I have been teaching college for 20 years. In general the attitude students often have toward BOTH male and female faculty has become increasingly too personal, too easily manipulated via social networks, and expresses an underlying hostility and willingness to vent it. I think that some of the ways it comes out is different for male and female faculty and it depends on whether the student who is being inappropriate is male or female. Some of this shows up as it did for the unfortunate woman in the scenario. All kinds of harassment are coming to the surface depending on administration's willingness to protect faculty from that version of bullying that no one wants to talk about. And honestly, "talking to your administrator" often just gets the faculty member branded as a problem. Perhaps that too varies depending on the faculty member's gender.

Thanks very much. They likely

Doctor Cleveland — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 01:55:43 +0000

In reply to A great analysis of the

Thanks very much. They likely imagined that she needed "protection" against complaints by the student and his (potentially litigious parents). Of course, the department doesn't understand that they might be making themselves liable by creating an egregiously hostile work environment.

To be cynical, I think this will really change when a female instructor, maybe a grad instructor, sues a school that's enabled a favored student or students over a long period of time, and an attorney points pout that the elements of workplace harassment are there. Institutions tend to be cautious and self-protective, and that sometimes constrains people inisde those institutions from acting sensibly. Of course, after such a lawsuit schools will react clumsily and ham-handedly; that's the ugly part of the process.

A great analysis of the

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 23:31:28 +0000

In reply to Harassing the Professor

A great analysis of the dynamics and one that is appreciated. Your comment about the woman who was forced to keep a recognized harrasser in class reminded me of a story that is (likewise) not mine to tell but I know of one case where the instructor was not only compelled to do the same but her grading was "reviewed" on the grounds that if there was a complaint later that she was "sub-consciously biased" by the events that the department would be covered. She was also assured that it was for "her protection too!"

I hate it when one person

Donal — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 01:20:40 +0000

In reply to Didn't mean to let the thread

I hate it when one person offends and they lecture everyone instead of talking to the offender directly. It diffuses the message.

Didn't mean to let the thread

Doctor Cleveland — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 00:37:28 +0000

In reply to Harassing the Professor

Didn't mean to let the thread die, Stardust.

Again, I have heard some ugly stories, but those stories are not for me to publish. I can think of at least one example where a student who quite possibly had mental health problems and who persisted in inappropriate communications to his professor got left in her classroom. That faculty member doesn't work for that university any more.

What to do? I think that the key is giving female faculty members the support they need to win these fights themselves. The only way to teach a young man to respect a woman's authority is to have a woman make him accept her authority. And if a student absolutely won't do that, he's

I wouldn't be a fan of trying to prevent the behavior with warnings in student orientation. Student orientation also tells students not to abuse alcohol. I'd be more afraid, in fact, of suggesting this particular kind of misbehavior in the act of forbidding it, since as it is only a tiny minority of male students cause these problems. And in general, I don't think this is behavior to be prevented. The point isn't making sure that students never behave inappropriately; it is in the nature of undergraduates that they don't all know what is appropriate or not yet. The point is that the inappropriate behavior gets an appropriate response form the university: that it gets treated as a problem, and that it gets fixed. Students are going to cross lines of various kinds. The goal is to show them where the line is and make them step back across it. When women have the same power to make that happen that their male colleagues have, I'll be happy.

Oh I must stop you and tell

Richard Day — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 03:02:38 +0000

In reply to "Oh Teacher, I need you,Like

Oh I must stop you and tell you that this is delightful!!!! hahahahaha

Life is so humdrumm, but this, this is delightful. ahhahaahah

You have done a great job of

Elusive Trope — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 02:03:40 +0000

In reply to Harassing the Professor

You have done a great job of outlining the dynamics at play in this situation. In the wider picture as you point out, what is happening in the classrooms of our universities is merely a reflection of the gender roles in the society as a whole. The issue here, however, seems really about how the administration of those universities respond to the situation. The student / teacher dynamic has changed over time, especially since many institutions have put student evaluations into the mix of professor evaluations. I saw in my time the slow erosion of respect for the professor back in the eighties and nineties. Towards the end it seemed the inmates had taken control of the situation. But in the end, it is how the administration on an institution by institution basis decides to deal with issues as they arise, just like a corporation when issues of sexul harrassment arise.

Of course, that we are still dealing with the same gender dynamics as we have always dealt with says we have a long way to go.

Wow; some thread-killer I

we are stardust — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 20:11:47 +0000

In reply to Shorter version of your diary

Wow; some thread-killer I appear to be. I hoped we could have a conversation on this great topic of Doctor C's.