Don’t fool yourself: it’s very likely that challenging your supervisor or institution can make you a target and risk getting you kicked out of your lab, program, or university. 

Plan for this, even if you don’t expect it. Make sure that you will be OK no matter what happens. Real activism is not precious. No hopes and dreams allowed. Challenging institutional abuse is not for the idealistic, even if you’re acting on your morals, values, and want to change the future. Don’t hope that your allies will help you: confirm that they will. Be prepared for them to fail to live up to your standards. Have enough of them that you can accept that failure with grace.

You need to have allies. Decide who they are before acting. If you don’t have anyone who can support you, you need to get those relationships in place first. Again, make sure what they can do for you is grounded in reality. You should have allies in each of the following categories, but be aware of the limits of what they can be expected to do.

Grad students: Grad students are allies in commiserating, giving “whisper network” evidence, and being passionate. They will not be good allies for being able to analyze what is being done to them since they are still within the framework of abuse. Treat them like a support group, not as people who are acting from a place of power. Grad students are easily co-opted by the system, so do not rely on them to “show up.”

Faculty members: Faculty members can help you navigate the system, vouch for you to gain access to certain institutional resources, or remind their colleagues of laws and policy. However, they are much, much more powerful than you and will absolutely not consider your needs to be relevant to their decision-making process. Treat them as “leaky” informants: helpful but just as likely to betray you on a whim.

Even if you absolutely trust a faculty member, remember that they have to work with their colleagues perhaps for the rest of their lives. Remember that they are the direct beneficiaries of the institutional abuse (even if they are not “actively” abusing people). Remember that they will never make a choice to demote themselves or get rid of powers and freedoms they currently enjoy.

Institutional support: Institutions often have departments or staff dedicated to helping out students who are in distress. They are important sources of information, and sometimes are capable of connecting you to good resources. They are often protected by strong union contracts and likely feel secure in their job, and therefore may often be surprisingly frank. However, they know where their meals come from. More often than not, their jobs are either implicitly or explicitly about reducing the number of lawsuits that the institution has to deal with. Sometimes that works in your favour. Sometimes it interferes with your needs. Be aware that they will help you to the letter of their job description and no further. And you may not be aware of what their job really is—so find out.

Student union advocates and activists: Some institutions have legally-separated student unions. Some have ad-hoc student committees. If the student union is a different legal organization, they may have the power and will to oppose the university in some manner. Some employ legal advice, law students, or advocates who can help you navigate the university from a legal standpoint. Since they are almost always students, they are also subject to the same abuse and cooptation that you have been, so they are not always reliable. Activists will have the most experience trying to change the institution, but they may or may not be realistic about their methods. It is wise to meet with them, but not especially wise to follow them.

Lawyers: A lawyer can be a powerful ally. They work for money, and have no other interest. If you are paying them, they will be your strongest advocates. People are also afraid of lawyers, so that is helpful. You may be able to get a free consultation with a lawyer through clinics where lawyers donate their time or non-profit organizations who have lawyers on staff.

 

Make a list of actions and outcomes and tie them to specific people.

Since you have now reviewed the laws and policy of your state and institution, talked with your allies, and found emotional support, you are ready to make a list of actions that you can take. Go through the laws and policy and look for dispute resolution processes. See which policies you have rights to due to your membership or citizenship. Tie the actions to particular outcomes you would like to see happen. See who can support you in each action and outcome. See who can betray you as well.

For example, you can speak to people who are bound by confidentiality agreements. If they are institutional counsellors, then they will likely not betray your confidence to the institution. But they may be asked to testify in court. Contrast to lawyers: if you are their client, lawyers will not betray your confidence. But they are not connected within your institution. Institutional lawyers will absolutely betray your confidence because you are not their client, the institution is.

Nobody else in the institution is bound by confidentiality. In fact, many have a duty to report. So, if you speak with a professor about your plans, this may produce the helpful outcome of getting connected to resources or institutional validation, but it may also expose your intentions (whatever they may be). All this means is that you should be wary of what you tell anyone.