Grooming and Coercion
- Julie Cruse
- Jan 13, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: May 18, 2025
Academic grooming and coercion are forms of manipulation where individuals in positions of power exploit trust, authority, or dependence to influence or control students, faculty, or staff. These behaviors often blur boundaries, creating environments where individuals feel pressured into compliance, often without realizing the extent of the manipulation until significant harm has occurred.
10 Signs of Grooming
Intense flattery of your intelligence, skills, appearance
Using pet names (e.g.: sweetheart, baby, darling, kiddo)
Signs messages in affectionate terms (e.g.: xo, hugs, love)
Lovebombing
Compliments body or clothing
Hyping up commonalities (e.g.: interests, hobbies, hometowns)
Eliciting personal or private information about you
Triangulates into your network (e.g.: frequently talks about friendships with your superiors, colleagues, friends, or family)
Attempts to isolate you in your own network (e.g.: dominates your time, disparages others, acts jealous)
Eliciting sympathy (e.g.: exaggerating or feigning illness , injury, or suicidal ideation)
Find more at Domestic Violence Services Network, Inc.
Types of Grooming and Coercion in Academia
Emotional Grooming
Definition: Establishing trust or emotional dependence to exploit individuals for personal or professional gain.
Examples for Students:
A professor encourages a student to share personal struggles and uses that information to manipulate them.
A mentor offers emotional support to a student but gradually expects them to prioritize the mentor’s needs over their own.
A faculty member positions themselves as a “friend” to a student, blurring boundaries and creating dependence.
Examples for Employees:
A supervisor provides personal attention to a junior staff member but later expects personal loyalty in professional matters.
A senior colleague excessively flatters a peer to gain access to their ideas or work.
An administrator manipulates an employee’s sense of gratitude by reminding them of favors granted.
Professional Grooming
Definition: Offering mentorship or professional opportunities as a pretext to exploit power dynamics.
Examples for Students:
An advisor invites a student to co-author a paper but expects personal favors in return.
A professor offers a prestigious research assistantship but demands the student work unpaid or perform personal tasks.
A faculty member gives a student exclusive opportunities but isolates them from peers to maintain control.
Examples for Employees:
A department chair promises a promotion but gradually introduces inappropriate expectations.
A senior faculty member offers collaboration on a grant in exchange for personal or professional favors.
A supervisor creates dependence by emphasizing how much they’ve “done” for an employee, then exploits that relationship.
Sexual Grooming
Definition: Building trust or dependency with the intent of manipulating someone into a sexual relationship.
Examples for Students:
A professor offers special treatment, such as grade boosts, while making inappropriate comments about a student’s appearance.
An advisor normalizes physical touch or overly personal conversations during meetings.
A faculty member takes a student to off-campus locations under the pretext of mentorship but engages in boundary-crossing behavior.
Examples for Employees:
A senior professor repeatedly compliments a junior colleague’s appearance and escalates to suggestive comments.
A supervisor uses mentoring sessions to steer discussions toward personal or sexual topics.
A faculty member leverages their position to pressure a subordinate into attending private, non-work-related events.
Coercion
Definition: Using threats (indirect or otherwise), pressure, or manipulation to force individuals into unwanted actions or decisions.
Examples for Students:
A professor implies a student will fail a course unless they agree to meet privately outside of class.
A graduate advisor threatens to revoke funding or delay graduation unless a student complies with their demands.
A faculty member pressures a student into attending social events that involve inappropriate behavior.
Examples for Employees:
A department chair coerces junior faculty into unfair workloads by threatening negative performance reviews.
A senior colleague pressures a staff member to attend personal gatherings under the threat of professional exclusion.
A supervisor implies that refusing personal requests will result in being overlooked for promotions or projects.
What Can Be Done?
Establish Clear Boundaries: Institutions should enforce policies that clearly define acceptable and unacceptable interactions between students, faculty, and staff.
Provide Training and Awareness: Conduct workshops for all members of the academic community to recognize and prevent grooming and coercive behaviors.
Strengthen Reporting Mechanisms: Ensure anonymous and accessible channels for reporting grooming or coercion without fear of retaliation.
Encourage Allyship: Train peers and colleagues to intervene and support individuals who may be targeted by grooming or coercion.
What to Do If You Suspect Grooming or Coercion
Trust Your Instincts: If interactions feel inappropriate or manipulative, take a step back and evaluate the behavior.
Document the Behavior: Keep a record of interactions, including dates, times, and any concerning actions or statements.
Set Boundaries: Clearly communicate personal boundaries and seek support if those boundaries are challenged.
Report the Behavior: File a complaint with your institution’s Title IX office, HR department, or ombuds office, depending on the situation.
Seek Support: Reach out to trusted mentors, counselors, or advocacy groups to navigate the situation and explore options.
Mental Health Support
Free, confidential telephone counseling, crisis intervention, suicide prevention, and information and referral services provided by specially-trained call-takers. Caring, professional staff and well-trained volunteers answer around the clock. | |
A month of free therapy for grad students and a reduced rate for ongoing support. | |
National Sexual Assault Hotline: Confidential 24/7 Support |
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