Survey of OIST Employees: 58% Suffered Harassment, but Only 19% Reported it for Fear of Retaliation

[Onna Village, 28 March, 2019] An opinion poll was conducted anonymously by employees of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) last year. 58% of the respondents said that they had been subjected to power harassment, while 85% indicated that they know someone who had been. Seventy-eight current and previous employees and faculty members responded to the survey.

When asked about sexual harassment, 11% of the respondents reported that they had been subjected to sexual harassment and 41% said that they know someone who had.

On the other hand, only 19% reported the harassment to university authorities. When asked why they did not (multiple response question), 69% thought that nothing would change, 51% were afraid of retaliation, and 51% said that no grievance procedures function at OIST.

When asked to comment, respondents opined that “the powerful will override the system and get their way for themselves and their friends” and a researcher said, “I was almost removed from author’s list, but I made pro-forma apology.”

The survey also asked “Is there any mechanism by which you can make your opinions known without risking your career”, and 90% answered, “No.”. Comments from the respondents included “…it’s an autocratic dictatorship.... that's why I had no option other than leaving.”

The survey started when Dr. Steven Aird and others anonymously informed faculty members, employees, and students about the survey created on an external website, last November. Dr. Aird later identified himself as the sender of the online survey, and sent the survey results to OIST’s executive administrators.

The survey was one of the factors behind the decision by Dr. Aird to organize the OIST Faculty and Staff Association and to become its first President. He said “OIST has developed a culture of power harassment, and the survey results are a stinging indictment of the executive management. However, the survey results are not surprising to those who know what is going on at OIST.”

OIST responded to our inquiries by claiming that “survey respondents are very few” and “it is not clear if the harassment complained about in the survey are actually considered as harassment by definition,” but that “the University is open to reports sent from various places.” Furthermore, OIST said “we will not tolerate any form of harassment” and explained that they have reporting mechanisms, including a hotline and reporting system to the Vice-President(s).

Strong criticism of “corruption of the executive leadership”

This survey of OIST employees, faculty members, and students includes many strong criticisms of the corruption of the executive leadership. In addition to frequent harassment, what makes it more serious is that many employees have given up reporting abuse, and that a relationship of distrust may not have been established between employees and the executive leadership.

Many of employees and faculty members have short-term contracts, creating an environment in which harassment occurs easily.

Only 78 people responded to the survey, accounting for less than 10% of current university employees, who number over 1,000. While the University administration pointed out that survey respondents were very few, one of the reasons for this low participation was because the University executives instructed the entire university not to respond to the survey, warning that the email with its link to the survey was a “phishing email.”

Since more complete responses were not obtained, the overall picture of harassment remains unknown. However, written comments of all the respondents are urgent, regardless of their numbers. It is essential that University executives deal with these problems sincerely, which could help build a good relationship (between the administration and employees) and identify unrevealed harassment and abuses, and prevent those issues.

For the new fiscal year, ¥19.6 Billion of public money will be injected into OIST, with expectations that it is to be a world-class institution. So far, because of its research being highly technical and because its official language is English, OIST has rarely been exposed to public scrutiny. However, it is necessary to focus on problems in the University, as well as research outcomes and contributions to the development of Okinawa.

Editor's Note

This story has been picked up by the digital edition of the mainland newspaper, Asahi Shimbun. You can find it at: https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASM3Z643WM3ZUEHF004.html