‘I once rang up a random woman at an institute where I planned to apply for a job to ask if it was a safe place’, says Carina*, a researcher at the Faculty of Science.
*Fictitious name. Six of the seven young researchers onlywanted to share their stories anonymously because they fear repercussions. Their real names are known to the editors.
‘I didn’t say who I was, just that I might be coming to work there. We discussed whether the manager had a history of misconduct and whether people were given a hard time about maternity leave. I hung up without having to further explain anything. I also make sure my own phone number is easy to find, so that others can contact me with similar anonymous questions. And they do.’
In recent years, several cases of misconduct by academics have come to light in Leiden and at other universities. Action was taken in some cases, but often only after a years-long reign of terror.
However, much still flies under the radar. This has to do with the victims: it is often young researchers who are targeted, and they are usually in such a vulnerable position that they do not dare to lodge a complaint. They also have little confidence in the procedures and fear that their complaints will not lead to any change.
Who to avoid
Therefore, they are largely dependent on one another and warn each other about professors who bully, intimidate, have outbursts of anger, are sexist or exhibit other inappropriate behaviour. This way, a sort of informal network has emerged of young researchers who keep each other informed.
Mare spoke to seven academics who rely on discreet messages to ensure a safe working environment, or try to protect newcomers themselves by alerting them to dangerous colleagues.
After obtaining her PhD, Nicole* wants to leave the world of academia as soon as possible. ‘As a new PhD candidate, you don’t yet know what professors are really like; you hear about that from other PhD candidates who’ve been working there longer. They tell you how to deal with certain professors, but also who to watch out for and who you’re best off avoiding as much as possible. Those are things I warn my students about.’
‘I used to be a student at my institute’, says Lianne*, a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Science. ‘I’ve heard far too many stories about inappropriate behaviour, often by men towards women. As a student, I was warned about this by PhD candidates, and now when I supervise a female student, I sit down with her to discuss it. Make sure you don’t linger in their office too long. Get out quickly. It’s usually common knowledge within the department who the perpetrators are. Jokes are made about it. The misconduct is an open secret.’
Emma*, who recently obtained her PhD, has seen this too. ‘As a student, I’d already heard stories about what some lecturers got up to during fieldwork. People just laugh it off. You quickly learn that this is simply how it is in academia and that you just have to put up with it.
‘You often don’t have the luxury of choosing where to do your PhD. If an opportunity presents itself in a department you’ve heard stories about, you might ignore them if you want to get ahead in academia. Still, you should always check what a research group is like and whether it’s a pleasant working environment. I know plenty of people who, despite hearing negative reports, still decided to work with someone and came to regret it: a professor who doesn’t honour agreements and barely supervises, yet exploits PhD candidates by making them continue working after their contract has expired.’
Cornered or groped
Robin*, a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, cannot even remember when she was first warned. ‘It’s happened to me so many times. Sometimes you have a strange experience with someone first and then you get a warning later, and suddenly all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place. It’s often true for multiple people. For example, you find out at a drinks party that you’ve all had a similar unpleasant experience with the same person.’
She wants to clarify, however, that it is not ‘always about old men in their offices’. ‘As it turned out, my field also has many women in senior positions who specifically target other women. You expect them to be on your side, but then it turns out they’re not. Perhaps that’s precisely why they’ve landed those senior positions.’
‘At universities, you often hear about bad experiences at informal gatherings that are attended by lots of women’, agrees historian Anna-Luna Post. ‘About someone being cornered or groped, for example. Then people exchange tips: keep your distance from that person, because they might get too close or send strange messages. I hear that quite frequently. It’s painful that people aren’t always surprised by this.’
Post herself has not had any unpleasant experiences within her institute, which is why she is the only one willing to use her real name. But she knows that conferences can be risky. ‘A colleague said: if that particular professor wants to sit next to you at dinner, it’s not just out of academic interest. That PhD candidate then moved to sit on the other side of me so that I could kick him under the table if anything happened.’
Fortunately, nothing happened during dinner, says Post. ‘But afterwards, the professor did ask whether I wanted to walk back to his hotel with him. Under different circumstances, I might have interpreted that as an innocent request. I was glad I’d been warned and that I could immediately say I was heading in the opposite direction.’
Dangerous conferences
The other academics also agree that conferences, in particular, can be unsafe. ‘Among colleagues at the institute, there’s still some sense of collegiality despite the misconduct’, says Lianne. ‘But at a conference, people really cross the line and you get a lot of unwanted attention. There are men – in my experience, often fellow PhD candidates – who suddenly want a great deal from you. You can only hope that it’s just in an academic sense.’
‘Never attend a conference on a ship; there’s nowhere to run’, says Carina. And the danger goes beyond unwanted physical contact; it also includes, for example, having your ideas stolen. ‘When certain researchers ask about your research results at a conference, it sounds like genuine interest, but meanwhile they’re running off with your idea and publishing it before you can.’
Nicole experienced sexual harassment from a colleague. She lodged a complaint, but is extremely dissatisfied with the way it was handled. ‘I had the support of my supervisor and a number of colleagues, but the system as a whole doesn’t work. I was the complainant, but he was the one crying during the meeting. Afterwards, his psychologist even asked me if I could help him process what had happened. He was mollycoddled. I only got through it because I’m quite confident and because I have a network I can rely on. But I’ve lost all faith in the complaints procedure.’
Complaining doesn’t help
The fact that she is not alone in this recently became clear when the University Council discussed what staff members who lodge complaints can expect. Although they hope that misconduct is addressed or conflicts are resolved, the Executive Board maintains that this does not fall within the remit of confidential counsellors and ombudspersons. Their role is merely to provide guidance, advice and refer people elsewhere.
‘The people higher up the ladder have more capital and an extensive network’, says Carina. ‘They can exert pressure by threatening to leave and take their money with them. For the university, that is far more dangerous than a young researcher lodging a complaint. If you become the target of sexual misconduct by someone higher up, it often spells the end of your career; many women are aware of that.’
Jasper* also experienced how misconduct is more often ignored than addressed. ‘As a student, I had already heard from a PhD candidate that his supervisor had had an enormous outburst of anger. He had shouted, kicked doors and thrown things. It had shocked him so deeply that he urged us to never get involved with him.’
As a PhD candidate himself, Jasper became the target of the head of department’s rage. The professor belittled and insulted Jasper and ridiculed his academic work in a furious tirade. ‘Afterwards, I spent weeks recording audio on my phone whenever I walked through the corridors. That’s how frightened I was. If it happened again, I’d have evidence.’
To Jasper’s astonishment, his supervisor was not at all shocked by the intimidation. ‘He said I was already the umpteenth person to come forward with a similar story, even though I’m part of a small research group. The solution offered was to make sure nobody ever met that professor alone again, rather than addressing his behaviour.
‘Since then, I’ve been trying to warn others myself. People often only see his friendly side, but I know now that he has two faces. I’d imagined the world of academia to be a much brighter place.’
Survival strategy
Lianne: ‘I’ve always been supportive of speaking out against misconduct, but not out of any confidence that it would lead to a solution. I’ve also experienced sexism from a colleague myself, and I wasn’t the first to have run into problems with this person, but nobody had reported it before. I’m a Dutch woman at a Dutch university, so I know I can speak out, but not everyone is in a position where they feel confident enough to complain.’
Robin: ‘The complaints procedure is extremely taxing for complainants. It takes a long time and you have to keep reliving all the unpleasant things that have happened to you. As a victim, you’re the one who has to put in the effort to get justice.
‘Sexist and other inappropriate comments have been made to me, but working on a PhD already takes so much time and energy that I had to choose between lodging a complaint and obtaining my degree. If you complain, there’s a good chance you won’t be able to complete your PhD. You might improve things for those who come after you, but you won’t benefit from it yourself. The informal networks through which people warn one another are the only way of protecting each other that doesn’t take such a heavy toll. It’s a survival strategy.’
Nicole: ‘In our department, there are lots of unresolved complaints about a professor who belittles people, shouts at them and threatens them. Several PhD candidates have left after four years without obtaining their degree. And yet this professor has not been shown the door. That doesn’t inspire confidence that lodging a complaint is worthwhile. Perpetrators seem untouchable.’
Emma: ‘I know of very few success stories, which doesn’t exactly encourage people to start the procedure. You only do it if you know you’re not dependent on that person for a future in academia, or if you have enough supporters. The younger generations speak more openly about misconduct and want change, but it’s still too early to say whether that will happen.’
Post: ‘There has been a lot of focus on #MeToo cases in recent years, so students have a much better understanding of what might be going on. But it’s always good to know what’s happening within a department. That’s why we still need to warn one another.’
The university’s annual report states that in 2025, the Complaints Committee for Unacceptable Behaviour received a total of 22 complaints; this is fewer than the previous year, when 40 complaints were lodged, but roughly the same as in 2023, when there were 26.
‘The majority of these complaints did not ultimately lead to a substantive investigation by the Complaints Committee’, the report states. ‘For example, it is not uncommon for a solution to be found through other channels after a complaint has been lodged.’
‘We find it deeply distressing to hear these stories’, says Timo Kos in a statement. As Vice President of the Executive Board, he is responsible for safety at the university. ‘It is unacceptable that staff members, and in particular young researchers who find themselves in dependent positions, are subjected to inappropriate behaviour. At the same time, we believe it is important that these experiences are brought to light and that they continue to receive attention. These stories underline how important it is to keep working towards a safe and respectful working and learning environment.
‘We understand that it can be difficult to speak out about inappropriate behaviour, for example out of fear of consequences or because someone is dependent on a supervisor or manager. That is why we are working together with the faculties to lower the threshold for sharing and reporting experiences. Staff and students can turn to confidential counsellors and the ombudsperson, among others. A report does not necessarily have to be a formal complaint. However, it is important that these signals reach us, so that we can investigate situations and intervene where necessary.
‘In addition, we are investing in prevention and awareness, including through training programmes such as ‘Active Bystander’ and ‘License to Lead’ for managers. We are also working on a code of conduct. To this end, we once again call on managers and teams to regularly discuss amongst themselves what behaviour is expected in a safe and pleasant working environment, and how colleagues can hold each other to account and support one another. This way, we work together to foster a culture where inappropriate behaviour is not tolerated and where raising concerns becomes commonplace.’
Leiden professors Ineke Sluiter, Judi Mesman, Eveline Crone and Naomi Ellemers founded the Athena’s Angels action group to represent the interests of women in academia, raise awareness of inappropriate behaviour and work towards eliminating it.
‘We started more than ten years ago, well before #MeToo’, says Ellemers, now a professor of psychology in Utrecht.
‘Our goal was to use personal stories to show that not everyone is given equal opportunities in academia, and to use research results to explain how this works.
‘In recent years, attention to this issue has increased significantly, and all sorts of measures have been put in place. But we also regularly see that many people are still running into the same problems. Like nanobiologist Rachel Los, who included a “no, thank you” section in her PhD dissertation last year, detailing all kinds of undermining experiences she had been subjected to.
‘Academia is by no means the only working environment where this happens. It is, however, a working environment with additional risks. For example, due to the lack of oversight during fieldwork and conferences, the high degree of dependence on instructors and supervisors, and the limited career opportunities.
‘We still see situations where “everybody knows” that these kinds of problems occur, but still no real action is taken. We also see that these situations drag on for far too long, that it’s taxing to lodge a complaint, and that complaints are often not followed up properly.
‘It would help if more attention were paid to prevention and “course correction”. For example, by discussing more frequently and more clearly what behaviour is expected of people, and by placing greater emphasis on “behaviour” when appointing, assessing and promoting staff members. Because research data clearly shows that people who feel safe at work are not only happier, but also healthier, more creative and more productive employees.’