A campaign initiated by A. Wojnar, B. Hartmann, A. Pachol, J. Contreras, M. Tórtola, E. Apostol. June 10, 2026

Many women and members of underrepresented and marginalized groups in academia can recall moments that left a lasting mark on their feeling of belonging in academia: a supervisor who crossed professional boundaries, a senior colleague who misused their authority, a conference interaction that felt unsafe, a hiring process that seemed unfair, or years of subtle exclusion disguised as “normal academic culture”. Often, these experiences are dismissed as isolated incidents. As a result, these experiences are internalized as personal shortcomings, and the targeted academics believe that they alone have failed, that they are somehow not good enough, and that what happened to them is merely their own unfortunate exception rather than part of a broader pattern. They are encouraged to move on, adapt, become more resilient, or simply remain silent. Many of us have done exactly that. Over the past months, however, a growing number of academics have begun sharing their experiences with one another. What emerged was not a collection of isolated stories, but a striking pattern. Across institutions, countries, disciplines, and career stages, women and other underrepresented groups repeatedly describe similar experiences of bullying, harassment, discrimination, and misuse of power. While many universities and research institutions have introduced policies and reporting procedures, these mechanisms frequently fail to provide meaningful protection. Formal regulations alone do not change academic culture. Too often, those affected continue to carry the professional and personal consequences, while existing power structures remain intact.

In response, we have launched a grassroots initiative bringing together researchers who believe that these experiences should not remain invisible. As part of this effort, we are currently preparing an article built around the academic trajectory of a fictional female scientist whose experiences are drawn from real events shared by researchers across the academic community. Our goal is not to highlight individual cases, but to reveal broader systemic patterns that continue to affect careers, well-being, and participation in academia. While this character is female, we acknowledge that similar stories exist for other underrepresented groups and that intersectionality is important. We understand this initiative as being all-inclusive. Those interested are invited to contribute as follows:

• Join our mailing list. Joining does not imply any commitment. It simply allows you to stay informed about the initiative, future actions, and opportunities to contribute. We hope to build a broad network of researchers who share the conviction that academic environments should be safe, respectful, and equitable,
  and/or
• Anonymously share your experiences. Include your stories related to bullying, harassment, discrimination, abuse of power, retaliation, unsafe working environments, and other forms of misconduct encountered during academic careers. Anonymous contributions will help us better understand recurring patterns and ensure that the diversity of experiences is represented. We would like to ask you to submit your story until July, 17, 2026. This is not a strict deadline and the stories will still be collected, serving in future as a growing evidence.

In both cases, data will be treated with utmost confidentiality and participants can – at any moment – remove their name from the mailing list and/or ask shared stories to be deleted. No individual story will be used per se and anonymity will be respected.

Those that experience any form of inappropriate behaviour believe they are alone. Our experience suggests otherwise. We believe that change begins when individual stories become visible as part of a collective reality.

Together, we hope to transform silence into evidence, evidence into awareness, and awareness into action building a better academic future for all of us. So, please feel free to circulate this also among your colleagues.