Have you ever been told that idealism fades with age? That as you get older, you will realize the world is probably not going to change and, if it does, you are probably not the one who will make it happen?
In a world where skepticism and cynicism seem to be the norm, there are a few who don’t let their hope die and continue to soldier on. Dr. Ana Vidu, a postdoctoral scholar in the Sociology Department at UC Berkeley, is one of them.
“I have always had this feeling of wanting to change the world. Of course, there are power structures that we cannot change overnight, but even if we can improve one life by finding alternatives within the system we’re living in, that’s a change,” she said.
Dr. Vidu, born in Romania and brought up in Spain, is researching networks of support for survivors of sexual harassment in academia with the larger goal of improving mechanisms of prevention and action against gender-based violence on campuses.
Her passion for this research is rooted in her personal experience as a survivor of sexual harassment in an academic space. After she complained against her professor back in Spain, she was branded a troublemaker and experienced firsthand the backlash that survivors are often confronted with when they raise their voices.
“Nobody wanted me at the University of Barcelona. People don’t like it when you talk about the things that nobody wants to hear,” she said.
Dr. Vidu has taken all that she went through and turned it into a deep commitment to help other survivors. In 2013, she worked to create the first network of survivors of sexual harassment at the university in Spain. She is now working on a project with the aim of creating a worldwide ‘Me Too’ university network.
When she’s not working on her research, Dr. Vidu serves as the co-chair of diversity, equity, and inclusion on the board of the Berkeley Postdoctoral Association (BPA).
In this role, she is working on creating affinity groups for postdoctoral scholars from vulnerable communities as well as organizing a discussion series on topics such as biases in academia and inequalities at work.
Next year, Dr. Vidu will head back to Spain where she eventually wants to be a professor of sociology. “I want students to have what I didn’t when I was a student - the inspiration that changing the world is possible,” she said.