Women who are opposed, bullying towards PhD students and promising researchers who drop out. These are testimonies that appear when Kalla fakta examines the vulnerability of female researchers at Uppsala University. One of them is the anthropologist Ulrika Persson-Fischier, who was accused of not having written her thesis herself.
– It was like the whole world was spinning, she tells Kalla fakta about the day she was accused of research fraud.
Ulrika Persson-Fischier began her research career in Uppsala but submitted her thesis at the University of Oslo, after feeling opposed by her male colleagues.
– It was an excellent thesis, says her opponent, the prominent anthropologist Adam Kuper.
But 1.5 years after the defense, several emails from Uppsala University arrive in Oslo. A high-profile professor at the anthropologist, Don Kulick, claims that Ulrika did not write her thesis herself.
– He writes that he is offended and that Oslo risks becoming a dumping ground for mediocre Swedish theses, says Ulrika.
Alleged research fraud
The alleged research fraud is investigated by Oslo University and Ulrika is completely cleared of suspicion. Instead, an investigation is being launched into the abusive treatment of Ulrika at Uppsala University. But the then-rector concludes that it “did not appear that there was offensive differential treatment based on the current regulations”.
And Ulrika is not alone in having had problems. Uppsala University stands out in terms of bullying of female doctoral students in a large survey study from last year. More than the fifth female doctoral student states that she has been victimized in the last 12 months.
– The greatest risk to be exposed is when a woman begins to achieve success. Then she becomes a threat, says researcher Anneli Häyrén, who has investigated a large number of cases of harassment related to gender.
Professor Don Kulick, who was specially recruited to Uppsala University with SEK 80 million in research money, does not want to participate in an interview with Kalla fakta.
– He had a feeling, that’s obvious. Otherwise, I would not have reported the suspicion,” says Dean Erik Lindberg about the motive behind the claim of research fraud.
See the full Kalla fakta’s review here.
Hear Ulrika Persson-Fischier talk about her experience in the player above.