Is there anyone else in a similar contractual situation in the department -
specifically anyone else working under B? If A can find anyone else with the
same problem, maybe they could work together with the aim of approaching B's
boss about the issue?
Best wishes,
Margo
-----Original Message-----
From: Julia Cameron <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Julia Cameron <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: research ethics
Date: Tue, 1 May 2007 08:53:11 +0100
A friend of mine is facing disability discrimination in her work for a
university department. I've pasted her description of her situation below
as I thought people on this list might have some useful advice. Before she
became disabled she also worked as a researcher in a university and is
familiar with professors taking credit for the work of junior researchers.
However, this seems different in a number of ways, and partly because my
friend is only in this situation because of the barriers she faces in
getting more suitable work. Your thoughts or suggestions on how this might
be tackled are welcome.
Many thanks
Julia Cameron
A is a disabled researcher with a PhD in a subordinate position and B is A's
boss: a senior manager who has admitted that research and academic writing
are not her forte. A is employed as an hourly paid 'consultant' and has no
contract of employment. She has an impairment that means she can only work
very part-time and works a few hours a week under the 'perrmitted work'
rules.
In theory, A and B are co-researchers and co-authors on a research project,
but in practice, A does virtually all the work, while B uses her position to
appropriate and take credit for A's work.
For example, A and B have 'co-authored' a paper, which has recently been
accepted for publication. A's contribution to the paper is as follows. She
came up with the outline and general idea; she did all the writing and
structuring of the paper; she wrote the literature review and placed the
work in a theoretical context; she came up with an original perspective on a
theoretical issue, and applied the theory to practice. B's contribution is
as follows. She read A's draft and gave feedback on it. (Another person also
gave some useful feedback on A's draft, without expecting to be listed as a
co-author).
Another problem is that although A does practically all the research,
because of her subordinate position, she has little say in what happens to
her own work, e.g. where it is going to be published, or whose name goes on
it, etc. B just assumes that whatever A produces automatically belongs to
B. For instance, at one point B informed A that somebody else, who had made
absolutely no contribution to the work, might want their name on the paper A
had written. B changed her mind about this, but the point is that B didn't
ask even what A thought about the matter.
Recently, A tried to talk to B about some of her concerns about their
co-authoring practices and her role in the project, but B dismissed A's
concerns, claiming that their working practices were normal, and if A didn't
like it, she should leave. B also said that if A felt uncomfortable about
the situation that was A's problem, and nothing do with B, and made it clear
that A was never to raise the issue again.
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