researchers denounce the impunity enjoyed by some teachers

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A survey by the L’Oréal Foundation reveals that nearly one in two scientists say they have suffered some form of harassment in their workplace. For franceinfo, academics tell of the difficulty in breaking the omerta.

For many young researchers, the #Metoo movement has had no real impact on their very closed, very masculine professional environment where places are expensive. A study by the L’Oréal Foundation published on Thursday March 16 reveals that one in two female scientists has been confronted with a situation of sexual harassment.

This survey, to which franceinfo had access and the results of which will be revealed Thursday, March 16 in the evening, was carried out among 5,200 scientists, including a large number of French women. Of these, 49% say they have experienced some form of sexual harassment in their workplace, half in the past five years. In other words, after the start of the #Metoo movement.

>>> “For all these years, I have been fighting in a vacuum”: five years after #MeToo, has the consideration of testimonies of sexual and gender-based violence evolved?

Last year Alexandra * suffered cybersexual harassment from her thesis supervisor. Exchanges that we have consulted. “At first, I played dumb, she says, then I had to turn to the anti-harassment cell of my unit”. The harasser is immediately notified by his hierarchy, his email address erased by the webmaster of the faculty. Intimidation and a botched internal investigation, Alexandra believes: “The investigation comes down to an interview between the teacher concerned, the dean and the team, with a nice reminder to tell him ‘stop being nonsense, and that’s it, we’ll pass on it’. I said to myself that ‘a call to order for having literally destroyed me for six months, I thought that was a little light.

“When we see that the only help we could have had is abandoning us in favor of a kind of form of teacher protectorate, it’s really very difficult. It’s as if they were locked in a bubble of silence .”

Alexandra, researcher victim of sexual harassment

at franceinfo

Last week, young scientists from all over France – including many holders – co-signed a punchy text to put the spotlight on sex scandals and harassment in their sector. This column titled “Silences that disgust us” was broadcast on social networks. Despite our requests, none of the authors of this manifesto wished to speak.

Why despite #Metoo, is the French scientific world still the scene of this abuse of power, this harassment? On the one hand, because research remains a two-thirds male environment, with a vertical hierarchy. A lot of power is concentrated there in few hands. The environment is also marked by a great precariousness of young doctoral students, with increasingly rare positions and very tough competition for grants. This climate encourages sexual and sexist harassment.

“People tell me ‘it’s like that’…”

And contrary to popular belief, women can also take advantage of their position to try to subjugate other women. This is the case of Candice. Her thesis director has made this researcher live through hell for a year. Obviously, said Candice, “it’s because I’m the only doctoral student in the lab”. “There is a man in my lab who is also his PhD student and his attitude is completely different. People know it, people have witnessed it, but people tell me ‘it’s like that’, she despairs. And as long as she’s here and she’s my manager or she’s pressuring people, we won’t find a solution. I’ve really tried everything and it doesn’t work.”

“The only solution would be to file a complaint. And there is also the possibility that I find another job and leave, at the risk of really losing the job I have been doing for a year and a half already. .”

Candice, researcher victim of harassment

at franceinfo

If no figures exist on the subject, franceinfo has heard of several complaints with situations identical to those of Candice. Whether or not the victims decide to file a complaint, serious reports are supposed to lead to internal investigations. But most of the time, researchers who are victims of harassment do not dare to testify.

The fear of being put away

Adèle B. Combe, author of How the university grinds young researchers (editions Otherwise), conducted a vast investigation on the subject: “For the people who are victims, it is clearly, as we can see in the surveys, the fear for their career. Because the world of research is a small world with a microcosm and therefore quickly things know each other and people do not necessarily dare to speak, because they are afraid of appearing weak, she explains. They are afraid that what they say is not proven. So, in the end, let them be accused of defamation. They are also afraid that people who have a little more power will eventually put them on hold.”

“How do you prove to them that if they talk, it won’t backfire on them?”

Adele B. Combe

at franceinfo

For the victims, there is the risk of jeopardizing his career but also that of compromising the name of his laboratory. The Metoo wave does not seem to have reached the citadel of research yet.

Requested by franceinfo, the CNRS (national center for scientific research) specifies that several actions have been put in place to correct these drifts. A “reporting” unit was created in February 2022 with dedicated investigators supposed to organize administrative investigations. In addition, the CNRS has appointed a hundred referents and created psychological and social support for the victims or witnesses of these events in partnership with the association France Victimes. Training is provided to executives (directors and deputy directors of laboratories) to make them aware of these issues.

* The name has been changed


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