Astronomy has a bullying and intimidation problem: ‘The results in this report are dismal’

from high above a flat grey expanse, a single silhoutted figure stands in the center, on the bottom half of the image, dozens of other small silhouetted figures face the central one. Their shadows fall downward.

After surveying 661 employees working in astronomy and geophysics, the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) has highlighted the “urgent” need to tackle bullying and harassment in the fields.

In short, 44% of respondents reported suffering in the workplace during the two years prior to the survey, and 65% of those respondents said their reported concerns were either “ignored” or their reports were handled unsatisfactorily. To be clear, the survey was conducted in 2020 and the data was soft-launched in 2021. However, a full-fledged analysis of the results with recommendations on how to move forward with the glaring issues, called Bullying and Harassment Report 2023, has just been published on May 17.

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