University Members Discuss Abuse of Power

Prof. Daniel Leising explained that power is abused when it is put in service of other goals – for personal advantage and at others’ expense. Forms of power abuse such as exploitation of subordinates, embezzlement of funds, mobbing, or sexual harassment can occur in all companies and institutions. At universities, academic misconduct in the form of appropriation of intellectual property, incitement to data manipulation, or false attribution of authorship may additionally occur.

Prosecution is often difficult, explained Prof. Leising, who has been researching the topic for over ten years. One problem is determining when an abusive exercise of power exists and how great the damage is. Additionally, legal recourse is often lacking. Furthermore, institutions sometimes have an interest in protecting perpetrators. However, by far the most common reason why perpetrators are not held accountable is that those affected remain silent out of fear.

The dilemma of anonymity

This issue was also one of the central topics in the subsequent panel discussion with Prof. Daniel Leising, Prof. Petra Wiederkehr (Vice President Diversity), Prof. Manfred Bayer (President), Laura Marklewitz (Autonomous Organization for Students with Disabilities and Social Affairs Officer of the General Student Committee AStA), Melanie Kozub (Chair of the Staff Council of the Non-scientific Employees), and Dr. Anja Szypulski (Chair of the Staff Council of the Scientific and Artistic Employees). Fearing negative consequences, those affected often don’t dare to come forward by name and document their allegations. This was also evident in the Padlet contributions to the Forum on Abuse of Power, which was actively used as an anonymous participation format even before the event, as well as in contributions from the audience. While all university contact points respect the wish for anonymity in reported cases of power abuse, this desire regularly makes it impossible to take action against the accused or initiate legal proceedings.

New courses of action should be opened up here by an amendment to the NRW Higher Education Act. With the draft of the “Higher Education Strengthening Act,” which the cabinet passed in early October, universities should receive a comprehensive set of instruments beyond disciplinary law to take immediate action when allegations are sufficiently substantiated. This is intended to better protect those affected during ongoing proceedings. Additionally, violations of academic integrity should be appropriately sanctioned. Furthermore, the law enables the establishment of independent contact points that affected scientists, staff, and students can turn to.

TU Dortmund University has already implemented measures

The discussion revealed that TU Dortmund University has already implemented several measures and established structures: For instance, doctoral candidates are now required to establish a supervision agreement with their supervisors. Some departments are currently developing their own Code of Conduct. In addition to established contact points such as the General Student Committee for students and the two Staff Councils for Scientific and Non-scientific Employees, the university also established a central Counseling Center for Protection against Discrimination and Sexualized Violence (SchuDS) last year. The panel also reported individual conflict cases where solutions were successfully found, for example, through discussions that led to a change in thinking among the accused, or through transfers that separated perpetrators and those affected.

At the same time, the panel discussion participants agreed that there is still a need for action to counter abuse of power, and that university-wide exchanges on this topic should continue. “We want to offer all TU Dortmund University members good and fair working and study conditions and address issues like abuse of power proactively, rather than only acting when problems arise,” said President Prof. Manfred Bayer. Prof. Petra Wiederkehr, Vice President Diversity, added: “Our goal is to raise awareness and initiate processes. If you have any concerns, please feel free to contact us.”

About the Working Group on the Abuse of Power
The Working Group on the Abuse of Power was established in 2023 on the President's initiative. Here, various counseling and contact points at TU Dortmund University come together to take a broad perspective on this complex issue. The group includes: the Staff Councils, the Representative for Severely Disabled Persons, the Equal Opportunities Officer, the Equal Opportunities Office, the Staff Unit Equal Opportunities, Family, and Diversity with its Counseling Center for Protection against Discrimination and Sexualized Violence (SchuDS), the Section Personnel Development, the Complaints Office pursuant to Section 13 of the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG), the Inclusion Officer, the Central Complaint Management, the Center for Higher Education (zhb) / Division of Disability and Studies (DoBuS), the Graduate Center, and the General Student Committee.