Addressing harassment and sexual misconduct experienced by postgraduate researchers
From August 1st 2025, higher education institutions in England will be required by the regulator, the Office for Students, to comply with a set of conditions around tackling harassment and sexual misconduct.
The specific experiences of postgraduate researchers (PGRs) can be overlooked in discussions about harassment and sexual misconduct within higher education. At the same time, PGRs can be more vulnerable to harassment and sexual misconduct because of power imbalances in hierarchical relationships with supervisors, a lack of shared understandings of appropriate professional boundaries at conferences and on fieldwork, for example, and academic isolation, which can make it harder for PGRs to report these kinds of negative events and find appropriate support. Exposing harassment or misconduct can also have significant career consequences for PGRs.
The introduction of new regulatory requirements by the Office for Students and the Worker Protection Act marks a pivotal moment for higher education institutions in England. These regulations mandate that HEIs take significant steps to prevent and respond to harassment and sexual misconduct.
This toolkit, developed by The 1752 Group in collaboration with the UK Council for Graduate Education, addresses an important potential implementation gap in regulatory and legal requirements by providing comprehensive guidance tailored specifically for the doctoral community.
Work in this area can be seen as part of an ongoing – and, we hope, rapidly changing – movement for preventing and responding to harassment and sexual misconduct in higher education.Dr Anna Bull and Dr Kelly Prince, Co-authors.
