Science magazine told a student to 'put up with' adviser looking down her shirt
Science magazine's career site fielded a troubling message Monday from a post-doc student joining a new lab, with a new adviser.
"Whenever we meet in his office, I catch him trying to look down my shirt," the student, presumably a woman, wrote to advice columnist and scientist Alice Huang.
Huang responded by saying the unwelcome advance probably wouldn't qualify as unlawful sexual harassment, and that she should just, well, deal with it.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"As long as your adviser does not move on to other advances, I suggest you put up with it, with good humor if you can," Huang wrote. "Just make sure that he is listening to you and your ideas, taking in the results you are presenting, and taking your science seriously."
After people expressed outrage, Science took down the article and posted the following retraction note:
So, why don't more women pursue careers in science?
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.
-
Senegal's Bassirou Diomaye Faye: from prison to Africa's youngest elected leader
Why everyone's talking about The 44-year-old has resonated with young people by promising to shake up the establishment and enact economic reforms
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
How social media is limiting political content
The Explainer Critics say Meta's 'extraordinary move' to have less politics in users' feeds could be 'actively muzzling civic action'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
'Unthinkable tragedy'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
An amphibian that produces milk?
speed read Caecilians, worm-like amphibians that live underground, produce a milk-like substance for their hatchlings
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Jupiter's Europa has less oxygen than hoped
speed read Scientists say this makes it less likely that Jupiter's moon harbors life
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Why February 29 is a leap day
Speed Read It all started with Julius Caesar
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US spacecraft nearing first private lunar landing
Speed Read If touchdown is successful, it will be the first U.S. mission to the moon since 1972
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Scientists create 'meaty' rice for eco-friendly protein
Speed Read Korean scientists have invented a new hybrid food, consisting of beef muscle and fat cells grown inside grains of rice
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New images reveal Neptune and Uranus in different colours than originally thought
Speed Read Voyager 2 images from the 1980s led to 'modern misconception'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Lift-off in Shetland Islands for UK's first vertical spaceport
Speed reads SaxaVord Spaceport aims to begin rocket launches next summer
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Scotland bids farewell to giant pandas
Speed Read Animals soon to begin journey back to China as loan agreement comes to an end
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published