This post is the fifth post in a series of stories that, taken together, might help explain why I decided to take early retirement from UCI. My point in posting these stories is to say "This happened. It shouldn't have. Can you learn something from it, so you can prevent such things from happening where you are (or at least not be complicit)?"
Don't punish people for doing their jobs
Quietly in the hallway, when no one else could hear, my colleague Y told me that he doesn't like it that I disagree with him at faculty meetings.
Y was a senior colleague who served on a committee that could block my promotions and "merit reviews". It didn't sound as if he were just making a statement of fact about his feelings. It sounded to my ears like an implicit threat to retaliate if I express at a faculty meeting a view opposed to a position he has taken.
Later, other female faculty told me that Y said similar things to them, and they also felt threatened.
People who I believe have my best interests at heart have told me, "Just don't go to faculty meetings. It'll be better for your health." I had told them about my stress-related health problems that were caused by the way I was being treated at UCI.
I thought that giving thoughtful input at meetings and committees, and helping my department and university do the right thing, were part of my job. I didn't think I had a choice.
Doing our jobs sometimes means respectfully disagreeing with colleagues. I don't think people should be retaliated against for doing their jobs.