You can generally do the same thing in the US for emails to/from public university addresses with a FOIA request.
This seems kind of wild to me, but apparently it works.
I thought I was being ‘blacklisted’, so I demanded to see colleagues’ emails
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Re: I thought I was being ‘blacklisted’, so I demanded to see colleagues’ emails
#22>Where my personality was called into question perhaps my working-class background, my northern accent, and my Aspergers could be a reasonable explanation. Easier to resort to such hypotheses than be self critical, I guess. Do we really fall in the category where one student with apparently decent thesis results gets ostarcized by her advisor AND the examiners, where no one in the faculty or comittee would stand for…
> I mean, we're all old enough to have met people that despite competence are hard to work (or be) with and would rather not have to deal with.
I agree. It's not a black-and-white thing. Some people _might_ add value under some easy metric like "published works", but be impossible to work with under other metrics that are hard to measure but still important like agreeableness[1].
When someone is failing without a clear line on a workplace environment, more often than not it's because of that one specific trait (or lack thereof). I've certainly seen people that look great "on paper" and that never cross a line, but that still make me want to quit work just so I don't need to be around them.
1: https://www.psychologistworld.com/personality/agreeableness-...
Re: I thought I was being ‘blacklisted’, so I demanded to see colleagues’ emails
#23>Where my personality was called into question perhaps my working-class background, my northern accent, and my Aspergers could be a reasonable explanation. Easier to resort to such hypotheses than be self critical, I guess. Do we really fall in the category where one student with apparently decent thesis results gets ostarcized by her advisor AND the examiners, where no one in the faculty or comittee would stand for…
One way or another, we can't really know. But I believe people have an unalienable right to tell their version of a story. As far as these story go, this is one is very civil (and doesn't name the people that are accused of destroying a career and a life). What I don't really understand is what this comment brings to the table. Why try to cast aspersions on an otherwise mild testimony, the truth of which is pretty mu…
Well, what's the point of the article in the first place anyways ? Yeah stuff like that happen, have and will, and sometime verbally so good luck fighting that. Self-improvement seems the most efficient way of fighting that for oneself.
I just wanted to remind that the other side of the story was way more probable. Because outcasting her for her accent, despite all the good it brings a team to sprout successful academics (we're talking a field full of educated people, so able to forecast consequences of their decisions, although pride and ego sometimes makes them do bad stuff), is really not the most plausible outcome. But now I feel like such explanations are becoming default ones.
Re: I thought I was being ‘blacklisted’, so I demanded to see colleagues’ emails
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
For libel and slander, calling him stupid when he passed the exams set by the very examiner himself. Loss of earnings, etc. Also against the universities for breach of the blacklisting prohibitions in the employment act. Their lack of checks and balances against this informal blacklist has left them wide open to be sued.
There's a wide gap between a blacklisting system and someone getting a bad recommendation from an advisor. I've met plenty of stupid people who can pass exams.
Exams are the formal yardstick here, and a serious institution should not subject itself to such a powerful and informal system that is completely unchallengeable and opaque as "your supervisor's secret opinion of you".
If "stupid people" are passing these exams, maybe these are not good exams either.
Finally, thinking in terms of "stupid people" also incorrectly frames intelligence as a scalar, is unhelpful and lacks descriptive power of how one's mental capacity falls short: Are they socially clueless? Are they forgetful? Are they not able to put in the mental work when it comes to answering questions?
Re: I thought I was being ‘blacklisted’, so I demanded to see colleagues’ emails
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
For what? Someone's negative opinion of them?
The UK has famously strict libel laws, and notably the burden of proof is on the defendant to prove the truth of their defamatory speech. https://www.burnetts.co.uk/publications/blogs/libel-and-slan... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_defamation_law
I think there needs to be an act of publication for defamation law to be engaged though. It might be rather hard to argue that private emails reach that bar.
Re: I thought I was being ‘blacklisted’, so I demanded to see colleagues’ emails
#26You can generally do the same thing in the US for emails to/from public university addresses with a FOIA request. This seems kind of wild to me, but apparently it works.
Would this work in the way the article described? Any email between other people containing your name in it?
Re: I thought I was being ‘blacklisted’, so I demanded to see colleagues’ emails
#27An interesting outcome of the GPDR! Does the author have any recourse? Can they sue?
Yes, I’m interested in the legal status of the remarks made about the author. Nothing seems outright discriminatory or illegal; there’s no law against calling people stupid and unpleasant, presumably. And since your PhD supervisor and examiner aren’t your employers, what laws would apply even regarding obviously discriminatory stuff said about you? Do they actually have any legal obligations to bring disciplinary action against someone who is just “unpleasant” before openly calling them unpleasant?
Re: I thought I was being ‘blacklisted’, so I demanded to see colleagues’ emails
#28You can generally do the same thing in the US for emails to/from public university addresses with a FOIA request. This seems kind of wild to me, but apparently it works.
Would this work in the way the article described? Any email between other people containing your name in it?
Yes.
Re: I thought I was being ‘blacklisted’, so I demanded to see colleagues’ emails
#29The world of high academics is a social network that operates on control and nepotism. People want to continue enriching these elitist crooks by ensuring the state pays for everyone's 'higher education.' We need to outlaw job and licensing degree requirements. It should suffice to pass an industry examination at this point.