Sex - And the Power Balance !

The Australian Council of Graduate Research has sounded a warning that we need a professional standard to apply to govern the relationship between students and their lecturers, tutors and supervisors.  These high ethical standards certainly apply with research activities but they are lacking in the general University mode.

It is suggested that a code similar to that which is standard in the medical profession needs to be applied.  The Medical Board of Australia prohibits doctors from having a sexual relationship with a patient, even when consent is provided.

A landmark Australian Human Rights Commission survey has revealed that ten percent of post-graduate students reported being sexually harassed and said that it involved their tutor or lecturer.  This compared to six percent of under-graduate students.

Universities discourage relationships between  staff and students but no hard and fast rules exist and there is an obvious power imbalance.  The people who attend university are legally adult and far beyond the age of consent, and yet attainment of that all important qualification rests in the hands of the very people who may be seeking their submission.

Such a professional standard regime would also protect staff from the reverse situation where a student initiates a sexual relationship with the intent of attaining a better marking standard.  It is important that universities ensure that staff do not mark the work of students which they have a relationship with but in most cases this is not publicly evident.

The code that applies within the medical profession is both strict and unwavering.  Even a relationship that commences years after that person ceased to be a patient would be viewed very unfavourably and could result in license cancellation.  If adopted in the university scene it would absolutely prohibit a sexual relationship between staff and a student where a direct teaching relationship exists.

Strict laws apply in the school system where pupils are of younger age and a teacher entering into a relationship with a student not only puts their job at risk but also stands a chance of serving time in a prison.  The age of consent law is no immunity in such circumstances.

We are moving into an age where sexual harassment in the workplace is getting ever closer scrutiny and it seems that until now the universities have been exempt.   Perhaps it has been reasoned that university students who very loudly voice their opinion on community matters would initiate their own action if they believed they were victims.   That simply dismisses the power vacuum that exists between lecturer and student when it comes to the granting of a qualification.

Holding teaching tenure at a University is a well paid job.  It is about time that reasonable standards of social conduct applied to its continuity !