University College London (UCL) has been an Athena Swan member for 20 years. It now holds an institutional Silver awards and more than 40 departmental awards, including three Gold. A new initiative from UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology is helping to address unacceptable behaviours in academia.
What if the behaviours quietly shaping academic workplaces such as favouritism, exclusion or subtle undermining aren’t just “part of the job,” but part of a pattern that can be changed?
At the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, a bold initiative is doing exactly that. PATTERN (“Change the Pattern”) translates research into action, exposing unacceptable behaviours, exploring why they occur, and equipping staff to recognise and challenge them. It’s at an early stage but is beginning to shift how workplace culture is understood.
The problem hiding in plain sight
Academic environments often celebrate excellence and resilience, but the research behind PATTERN reveals a more complex reality. Unacceptable behaviours are not rare; they are widespread, normalised and often poorly recognised.
More than two-thirds of women and nearly half of men reported experiencing such behaviours within the past five years. These include exclusion, dismissiveness, undermining, abuse of power and persistent incivility. Excessive pressure to perform and blurred professional boundaries also feature strongly.
The challenge is not only their prevalence, but their ambiguity. Many people struggle to clearly define what they are experiencing or feel unsure whether it is serious enough to report. As a result, harmful behaviours often go unchallenged and become embedded in everyday working life.
Looking beyond individuals
A key strength of PATTERN is its focus on the systems that enable these behaviours. Academic environments are shaped by intense pressures – competition for funding, the need to publish and the drive to progress. These operate within hierarchical structures and cultures that often mirror wider societal inequalities.
At the same time, long-standing norms, particularly the expectation to develop a “thick skin”, discourage people from questioning problematic behaviour. Together, these factors create conditions in which harm may be tolerated or even indirectly reinforced.
By reframing the issue in structural terms, PATTERN shifts the focus from individual actions to the broader culture that sustains them.
The impact on people and organisations
The consequences of these behaviours are both personal and organisational. Participants reported impacts on mental and physical health, confidence, relationships and career progression. These effects also extend to team dynamics, workplace culture and overall performance.
Women consistently reported higher levels of impact, particularly in mental health and career development, while men were more likely to report no impact. This likely reflects differences in reporting and perception rather than absence of harm.
These findings highlight that unacceptable behaviours are not simply interpersonal issues. They are systemic risks that affect wellbeing, retention and productivity.
Turning insight into action
What sets PATTERN apart is how it translates research into something practical and visible. Rather than a traditional report, it has been developed as a multimedia campaign designed to embed its insights into everyday working environments.
Through visual materials, the campaign maps the connections between triggers, behaviours and impacts, helping staff recognise patterns they may have previously overlooked. Workshops and digital tools support reflection and discussion, linking the research directly to lived experience.
At its core, PATTERN challenges familiar narratives such as “that’s just how things are done” and the expectation to tolerate difficult behaviour. In their place, it promotes a culture of care, accountability and psychological safety, while giving staff a shared language to describe and understand harm.
Early signs of change
Although recently launched at UCL, PATTERN is already showing promising results. Awareness of reporting routes has increased for both men and women, and the proportion of staff who do not know how to report bullying or harassment has been significantly reduced.
Engagement has been strong, with over a thousand staff and students interacting with campaign materials and hundreds participating in workshops. Feedback highlights a powerful shift: many participants describe recognising behaviours they had previously accepted as normal, while others emphasise the value of having the language to describe their experiences.
This suggests the initiative is not only raising awareness, but enabling people to reframe their experiences and start conversations.
Designed to go further
PATTERN was designed to extend beyond a single institution. Its materials are shared under a Creative Commons licence, and the campaign has been developed as a standalone model that can be adopted and adapted elsewhere.
This approach has already attracted interest across the sector, reflecting a key insight from the research: these challenges are embedded in academic culture globally and require shared solutions.
Athena Swan Good Practice Initiative database
Download the full case study to explore the detailed findings and learn how these insights could be applied in your own organisation: University College London – Change the PATTERN: Addressing Unacceptable Behaviours in Academia
