Should I report an instance of nepotism - misconduct in favour of sexual partner? [closed]

Question

It came to my awareness a case of nepotism in my academic network.

It concerns a professor and a former female student of him. The professor and the student had relationship while she was conducting her Master thesis under his supervision. For the year she was writing her thesis, the professor intervened through an academic network he is heavily involved, to give her a scholarship although she didn't have prior outstanding performance. For her Master thesis he proposed her for some industry prize that she obviously won.

After finishing the thesis she changed city and moved to a nearby city for her PhD (also the Prof. was married with 3 children). Within the first 2.5 years of her Phd she hasn't produced any scientific output. The student and the professor visit several conferences abroad together in order to have time for their affair.

Now it came into my awareness that he is planning to involve her in a prestigious exchange program so that she will be able to work in his city. The plan involves a newly founded start-up and some of his collaborators/friends abroad. She will "collaborate" with the collaborators abroad, but from distance since the start-up claims to be flexible with location. So in essence, she will appear to be working with some other Prof. abroad to get accepted into the exchange program, but she will work remotely from the city of her boyfriend professor. Also the Professor recently broke up with his wife.

Since all this is very shady, I am thinking whether someone should inform the directors/board of the exchange program.

What do you think?

Answer 1

This could go very wrong for you. If you go around and tell people what you told us here this could be considered as defamation of the professor and I wouldn't be surprised if he outright sues you.

The questions you should ask yourself:

1. Can you prove that they indeed had a sexual relationship?
2. Are the other students of the professor indeed more skilled than the student he promoted?
3. If yes, can you prove this in any legal sense or is this just your personal opinion?

Especially if you think you are one of those more skilled students I would be very careful, this can backfire horribly. Bad performance in her PhD certainly is not enough to prove 2. There are a lot of people who don't perform well in their PhD and didn't sleep with their advisor. And even if the professor and the student are a couple now, this is in no way proof that they slept with one another during the time the professor advised the student and less so proof that he promoted her for sexual and not academic reasons.

Academia is always very concerned with integrity. Is it ethical to sleep with his students and betray ones wife? Of course not. But you shouldn't just think about some academic code of conduct the professor may or may not have broken, but about the very real legal implications you may face. You are risking a lawsuit in pursuing this further and your personal gain is absolutely zero.

If this would be taking place in Germany, then relevant for the discussion is the following paragraph:

Section 186 Malicious gossip (üble Nachrede)

Whoever asserts or disseminates a fact about another person which is suitable for degrading that person or negatively affecting public opinion about that person, unless this fact can be proved to be true, incurs a penalty of imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or a fine and, if the offence was committed publicly or by disseminating material (section 11 (3)), a penalty of imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine.

If you insist to pursue this issue, I would strongly advise you not to mention the affair. Go to the board and tell them you think there may be a conflict of interest in the award of scholarship XY. Don't accuse the student and the professor of having had an affair, you can't say this for certain. As Buffy points out it is highly likely that the board already knows about the issue anyways - Leave it up to them to make the conclusions.

Answer 2

While TheoreticalMinimum gives sufficient reasons not to act here, let me suggest a few more considerations before you do.

I think you are making assumptions here that aren't obviously correct and might be quite wrong.

You seem to assume that the professor is predatory. I don't know if that is true or not and there is no place in academia for predators, but it might be something more personal and private. Has he shown such behavior in the past? You may also be assuming that the student is, in her own way, using her body, rather than her mind, to advance her career. I doubt you have evidence of that.

You seem to assume that this relationship is responsible for the breakup of his marriage. I don't know if that is true or not, but other, longer duration, things might well be in play here. People break up for lots of reasons. This relationship might have been the result, not the cause, of the breakup.

You seem to assume that this is an infrequent thing generally. But the history, generally, of people breaking marriage vows implies otherwise. "To death do us part" seems to be recognized in the breach. And students and professors actually falling in love when working closely or academic colleagues falling in love is fairly common. Not ideal, perhaps.

You seem to assume that he has promoted her only for his personal sexual satisfaction, not for her work. I think that is overreach. His job, actually, is to promote her, as it is to promote every other student.

You seem to assume that others are disadvantaged by this relationship, offering no proof. That may or may not be the case, but if not, then his professional behavior has been correct, independent of personal behavior. Generally speaking, people's personal relationships are their own business unless others are disadvantaged. Complain, if you must, about unfair behavior if you see it, but leave the personal things to the people involved.

Finally, I suggest that you examine your own motives for wanting to complain about this. Are you disappointed in some way that you haven't advanced as quickly as you thought you should?

I won't advise you whether to complain or not, actually, as I don't have all the necessary information, but think it through deeply before you act.

Answer 3

Romantic relations between academics and students (specifically, in situations when academic is in the position of power related to a student) is forbidden for academic staff and may cost them job in many places. The underlying issue is academic fairness: academics are supposed to assess and promote the students based on their academic performance only. Being in personal relations with a student compromises this ability, and at a very least makes the process look unfair.

More broadly, academic teaching is a part of public service, and therefore Ethical standards for providers of public services should be adhered to. In the UK, the The Seven Principles of Public Life are

• Selflessness
• Integrity
• Objectivity
• Accountability
• Openness
• Honesty
• Leadership

I leave it to you to consider how many of these principles are compromised by the ongoing romantic relation which you described.

The professors' behaviour makes me doubt that academic fairness and academic standards in your Department are strongly maintained. Hence, anyone aware about this situation could doubt that all students from this Department received their degrees and prizes for their academic merits. This can compromise the value of your hard-earned degree.

Hence, I believe you have a good grounds for complaint and should consider filing it. You may want to discuss it with student union / student service representative first to identify how you can do it in the most effective but also the safest way for yourself.