iREACCH: Difficult Conversations

Harassment happens in universities, at every level of study, and for many students it has become so normal that they don't call it harassment at all.

In the first episode of Difficult Conversations, Dr Kike Ladipo and Dr Gez Williams talk to Dr Amy Clarke, Deputy Director of the Centre for Hate Studies at the University of Leicester. Amy is Co-Investigator on A Catalyst for Change, an ESRC-funded study that surveyed more than 1,300 students across five English universities and interviewed 100 of them about their experiences. She explains why postgraduate researchers, who are often students and staff at the same time, find it so hard to report harassment, why international PGRs can be especially exposed, and why researchers whose work is labelled controversial are facing growing hostility from outside the university. She also sets out the financial case for protecting researchers at a time when budgets are under pressure.

Amy's research shows that many of the changes students asked for are practical, achievable and not expensive. If you've ever wondered whether someone in your research team would know where to turn, and feel safe doing so, this conversation is a good place to start.

Show notes, links and resources: https://difficultconversationspodcast.com/episode-1-tackling-harassment-in-research/

Difficult Conversations is coming. This trailer introduces the podcast about the parts of research culture people experience but rarely discuss openly, hosted by Dr Kike Ladipo and Dr Gez Williams. The first series features Prof Kate Williams, Dr Patrick Highton, Dr Diane Levine, Dr Ruoying Zhou, Dr Lynne Howells, Dr Amy Clarke and Dr Cleo White, on subjects from harassment and EDI to allyship, publishing pressure and the CIRCLE Toolkit. Made for the University of Leicester's I-REACCH project, funded by the Wellcome Trust. Episode one out Thursday 1 October: difficultconversationspodcast.com.