I knew this would be the story based just on your thread title. 
I read the article last night. I’m not sure what was more surprising. The whole sordid situation or the fact that Dean of Stanford’s GSB used Facebook messaging, perhaps in hopes of keeping messages away from prying eyes, to communicate with his paramour.
I disagree with the thread title’s premise. One sex scandal at Stanford Business School doesn’t say anything about academia at large. “Sexually boorish behavior” is not any more prevalent in academe than elsewhere, and probably less so. Many people in corporate America have affairs with coworkers and get caught up in career-ruining scandal. Most academics live in an environment of almost painful political correctness re harassment, etc. That said, human folly is everywhere, and smart people act dumb when driven by their passions.
@NJSue I disagree. I have been more part of more than a few academic departments, and while certainly definitive, they had much more liberal policies, especially applied to underlings (e.g students) than non-academic settings I have been employed. See, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/14/us/former-yale-medical-professor-accused-of-sexual-harassment.html?
And I’ve worked at many banks, large and small, where it was going on constantly, and was very seldom dealt with from an HR perspective despite everyone knowing about it. The only time the s*&t hit the fan was if someone sued or got bent out of shape. Otherwise it just went on…
So, I’m with NJSue on this one - I don’t think you can make a case that it’s more prevalent or any worse in academia than corporate america. I think it’s equally prevalent.
The only thing I will give you is that the governance structure of a university may allow for BS to occur than in corporations, but that’s not to say nobody has ever successfully effected a cover up or offensive to support their affair in a corporate setting.
Perhaps this is instructive-- http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/09/academia-winning-sexual-harassment-complaint and http://www.yale.edu/hronline/careers/managers/shbroch.pdf or http://magazine.good.is/articles/sexual-assault-conversations-should-include-professors
Also a top business school is a nightmare to control. Because it has its own considerable revenue streams, and because the faculty is in demand both from other schools and from the private sector, there’s usually very little leverage that the university administration has over the dean and faculty. And the dean and faculty are very, very impressed with themselves, are usually quite wealthy, and don’t care much for authority other than their own. They really don’t think the rules apply to them.
I note that this case, while technically involving chain of authority because one of the players was the dean, did not involve anything like the power differential that comes into play with faculty-student affairs. That the woman’s husband taught at the school for years in an untenured role pretty much indicates that his position was more or less part of her compensation, and that he could not expect his job to continue if his wife didn’t want it to.
^^Conversely, the fact that the husband taught for so many years and did not receive tenure, was a big clue that tenure was never gonna happen.
sorry, but I don’t get the title of this thread either. Folks have relationships with separated colleagues in every walk of life, gubmint, corporate, heck, even elementary school.
I don’t think this really has much to do with sex at all. Stanford GSB has no policy prohibiting consensual relationships between professors and Gruenfeld and her husband were already separated and living apart. Saloner was also not married by the time most of this transpired.
The only issue here is that Saloner did not recuse himself from making decisions regarding 2 married subordinates considering the fact that he was conducting a personal relationship with one of them. Yes, the emails indicate he made some very poor professional decisions and many of them were documented in writing, another poor decision.
I just take issue with splashing people’s personal lives across the pages of the press. Keep to the issue at hand which is possible abuse of his position or nepotism. Do we really need to know the details of their intimate relationship?
surely you are aware that humans not robots work and teach at stanford ! so let me familiarize things that humans do (even professors, our family friends, neighbors, coworkers,presidents etc…)
sexual activity in and out of wedlock (some people even have same sex relations) they lie, cheat, steal, drink, take drugs, commit acts of violence, have mental illness, are greedy, have tempers, take risks, can be mean (some very mean)…
stop putting Stanford business school’s employees on a high pedestal . (they will have nobody working there)
Many commentors have noted the article is no more than a hatchet job, seeking to get skin from the Stanford association. People are only human and we see far worse behavior documented on a daily basis.
My point, was more related to the historical relationship professors have had with students, which from my vantages dictates another level of accountability.
For me, the most worrisome part of the report was not the affair or the indiscreet trail of texts, FB messages, and emails. As was said previously, smart people can act stupidly, and people from all walks of life have messy, ill-considered private lives. Nor does it surprise me that young people who are heading towards very large paychecks act entitled and sometimes drink too much, drive under the influence, trash their vehicles and the lives of others, and are sometimes guilty of excesses against the opposite sex.
Given how much money all the principals make, I didn’t feel a bit sorry for any of them. There seems to be plenty to go around without having to tie it up in divorce litigation. JMO.
I was more concerned about allegations of the hostile workplace for those over 40, especially women, and would have liked to see more coverage about that.
“My point, was more related to the historical relationship professors have had with students, which from my vantages dictates another level of accountability.”
everyone involved is an adult in an MBA program …no harm no foul
@zobroward That is patently false in both a graduate and undergraduate levels. In facts, many schools have specific policies against such situations, that is especially true as applied to being in the same program where one is matriculating and professors in the same program, see:http://www.yale.edu/equalopportunity/policies/
schools have lot’s of “rules”… an mba student who maybe 27,30,35…40 etc… is not the same as a 12 year old boy being molested by a female teacher. “rule” or no “rule” graduate students having a relationship with a professor is no biggie. it is not that common anyway. does it happen 100% yes but in the real world it is far and few in between. an adult who left a job in the corporate world is not vulnerable and defenseless like a child. they are in in control and aware of the pitfalls of dating. and an MBA professor is also very aware of what can happen when you date a person you see everyday. it is not an issue that is in my top 10 concerns in life but, I have no problem with a person who is an adult having a relationship with another adult and that is all that was happening.
Not a problem…what an incredibly cavilier attitude. The fact is that people lose jobs, and large settlements are triggered. I now this for a fact as I was deposed at two law schools where 7 figure settlements were part of the equation. By way of real example, see-- http://www.latimes.com/la-me-ln-uc-bans-dating-of-faculty-students-20150206-story.html
And one of the cases I was involved with had a 22 year old female 1st year law student as the plaintiff-- you still have the same sentiments?
yes
I am neither a Puritan or member of the Taliban. I can see no scenario in which anyone should get any money for this. I yearn for jury duty on such a civil case. if I am on the jury the plaintiff will be paying legal fees for the defense and I will ask the judge to censure the plaintiffs lawyer as well as well as encourage the defense to pursue disbarment of the plaintiffs lawyer who brought a frivolous case to milk the system.
It is axiomatic by any small modicum of academic standard that if you are in a position of authority and/or contribute to the formulation of someone’s grade, that dating is off the table-that is a no brainier for any institution.