Medical Experiencing harassment by an individual in my research lab, but it's too late to find a new lab. What should I do?

[lord999]

I am a pre-med senior who is a research assistant at my university. First, I would like to say that I enjoy research and it has played a huge role in my development into an aspiring physician. In my recent medical school interview it was one of my strong suits. That being said, I’ve the past year I have had a lot of hard situations considering an individual above me in my lab (but not my PI). This has ranged from feeling disrespected sexually (verbal and uncomfortable closeness), ethically (insulting personal values and speaking of things that are out of place for work), in my work, in my capacity to research, and more things. I have spoken a couple times with the individual about concerns, but in most of the cases they either throw it back at me as if I am assuming things or that I cannot take criticism. I have wanted to find a different lab a few times, but I also have worked really hard and a publication is in the works that I would be included in, as well as presentations in the spring. I told myself I would not let another person ruin what I have done or control me, but it has just gotten worse with certain recent events. A medical school will not know what I have put up with if I quit this lab, and I have stayed here because I felt it was too late to join another lab and make any significant research contributions. Could I have some help navigating these thoughts and what my options may be? I do not want one person to ruin my research opportunity as an undergraduate. Also, my PI is closer to the individual and I do not believe it would be constructive to talk to them as the individual is who coordinates my research. Thank you.

Anti-Sexual Harassment

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) does not tolerate harassment of any kind, including sexual harassment, whether it is within the agency, at research organizations that receive NIH funding, or anywhere else NIH-funded activities are conducted.

www.nih.gov

First, this is probably not your first, and unfortunately, not going to be your last experience with this. Here is what may help you think about things:

1. So, you have already talked to this person a couple of times. That's good. Have you talked to him in front of others (depending on how savvy you are, making it look natural or if needed, formally?)
2. Alongside 1, have you discussed this with the laboratory supervisor (may or may not be the PI) and tried to do harm reduction techniques? Possibly have a camera turned on in the laboratory?
3. Have you tried direct harm reduction in the sense that you never work alone with this individual or try to schedule yourself in a way that you do not encounter this person?

By the way, 1-3 may be viewed as nonconfrontational to the point of making you the victim responsible for the cleanup. I sympathize, but the way you write this, either this does not resolve on its own or has a very negative escalation potential. Of course, if the situation becomes severe enough or you think it seriously can, you should be resolved to go to the school's EEO office, though you should discuss this with the PI in confidence first to see if the problem individual and you can work out your issues by NOT working together if there is no hope for behavioral correction (unfortunately, it rarely happens until a serious incident happens, and no one wants to be the victim of that).

There are some more formal ways to deal with this:
4. Discuss the matter with the PI bypassing the supervisory chain. If you do not trust the PI or you think the PI encourages the matter by their own personal behavior (it does happen too), then you will probably need to go to 5.
5. Quietly get advice from the EEO office or the Responsible Conduct of Research (not the IRB, but the enforcement group) and decide based on their counsel how to approach this.

In any event, make it a point to start resolving your commitments (and deliverables) as they are in order to get something out of the current experience as your tenure may be precarious. Until you know better, do not start anything new and finish what you have while maintaining a professional mien with all of your colleagues, especially the problem individual.

I do not usually believe in outright confrontation at this stage , it usually ends badly for the victim even if they are right unless this is something that the problem individual would be arrested for (sexual assault).

And it's all too common, even at the top:

I've seen the culture of sexual harassment at NIH. The agency needs to do more than simply apologize

At the @NIH, I heard accounts of sexual harassment from female scientists and lab workers — women who worried they couldn't possibly risk pushing back.

www.statnews.com

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[Goro]

Document everything, talk to the PI and then go to HR, if there is no resolution

Research isn't as highly important to med school admissions as most premeds think it is, and more importantly, what you're going through simply isn't worth it.