text:
Should professors intervene if a student is wearing offensive clothing in their classroom?
A question about university dress codes reminded me of an incident that happened when I was an undergrad, in which a classmate came to school wearing a really offensive and misogynistic t-shirt.
I was extremely uncomfortable, especially since this was an engineering program and I was one of only three or four female students in a class of about fifty. I had another class with the same student later that day and he was still wearing the shirt. I remember wishing at the time that a faculty member or someone with more authority than me would do something about it.
So, my question is as follows:

Should a professor intervene if a student in their class is wearing clothing that is likely to be offensive and hostile to other students? If so, how?
If yes: are there any scenarios in which a professor should not do anything even though a student's clothes contains material that is hostile towards another student or group of students?

And finally,

If I come across this scenario as a TA, in which a student (who may be a peer in my program of study) in my class is wearing something offensive, what can I do about it? I don't feel comfortable (or safe, for that matter) as a woman confronting a male student about an item of clothing that is offensive to women. On the other hand, I feel like it is my responsibility to keep a non-hostile environment in my classroom.

Discriminatory harassment is forbidden by the university's code of conduct and includes: placing written or graphic material which demeans or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual or group because of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age or disability.
The item of clothing in question contained a slogan and image that is indubitably demeaning and hostile towards women.

Doesn't this really depend upon the free speech laws of that particular country and/or specific university/college dress codes? If that particular attire is against any of these principles, then a professor may object, otherwise, I don't see why the professor/TA should care.

@Shion The attire certainly violates university policy on discriminatory harassment, and the professor should care if his classroom is a hostile environment to some students.

Why is something automatically hostile if it is an unpopular view? Free speech laws are specifically meant to protect unpopular and minority views. If all that this student is doing is wearing a t-shirt with a message, then I don't think this should be automatically construed as being discriminatory/hostile.

Having said this, I think that if you feel that concerned then you should definitely report this incident to the administration and let them deal with it. Specific to the US, many such similar cases with free speech and clothing messages have been struck down by Federal Appeals Courts on grounds of violating the First Amendment and many such cases are now making the rounds of the justice system.

@Shion Discriminatory harassment: "Written or graphic material which demeans or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual or group because of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age or disability"

There are some very interesting case laws in the US Court system about this since it falls in the twilight zone between absolute free speech and the need to balance an anti-discriminatory environment. The Supreme Court has not issued an final judgment regarding this issue but scholars except this to be decided with some finality in the next 10 years.

I don't really see how free speech comes into play here. The first amendment in the US is about the GOVERNMENT not restricting freedom of expression. If for example this is a private school, then there are no blanket free speech exemptions. In any case, that's not the question being asked.

Even if the school is public, it does not mean that the classroom is a public space that anyone has a right to (i) occupy and (ii) speak unrestrictedly in.  For instance you need to stop talking when the instructor asks you to.  Failure to behave appropriately in the classroom (as determined by university policy and the instructor) is grounds for being dismissed from the classroom and, if the behavior is especially flagrant and/or repeated, the course.

@Łukasz웃Lツ I believe it would not be constructive to post an offensive slogan on this site, even for illustrative purposes.

@Łukasz웃Lツ You can ask about this on meta; if the consensus there is that it's OK to post this message for illustrative purposes, I will. Otherwise, I won't.

@Łukasz웃Lツ Also: harassment/misogyny is not restricted to "violent" messages that call for physically harming women.

@Łukasz웃Lツ I said the "item of clothing in question contained a slogan and image that is indubitably demeaning and hostile towards women" - I don't consider that subject to misinterpretation, unless you think I don't know how to identify something that is demeaning and hostile towards women.

Double-standard check: I'm curious if the you would have been just as offended if the genders were swapped.

@AaronHall You mean if a woman was wearing the misogynistic shirt? Or a woman was wearing a misandric shirt? I probably wouldn't have felt personally traumatized in the second case, but I still think an authority figure should intervene.

@AaronHall Silliness check: I'm curious if there is any evidence of anything remotely similar happening with any regularity if the genders were swapped. Also, that still wouldn't be equivalent.

I'm not really sure the outcome should hinge on whether the people here believe that the display was "sufficiently misogynistic" or not. Why not just take as stipulated that it indeed was: the question is really about what to do next, and that's a reasonable question to ask.

Not to side with your professor who didn't intervene back then, but as someone not growing up in the US and not very well acquainted with the slang culture, I could have been totally oblivious about whatever shirt you're wearing. I believe students who feel offended should contact the TA and professor as well, instead of hoping for an a-ha moment from the professor.

@Penguin_Knight That is a very good point - the shirt in question used a slang term for male genitalia that is very well-known in the U.S., but might not be known everywhere else.

This question somewhat obscures the fact that the other students, especially the male ones in case of a misogynistic message, should also intervene. Every adult has a responsibility, and the particular offensive message always puts some demographic on the defensive who know what kind of response they will get if they complain. University students are the same age as employees who are expected not to harass their coworkers.

Can you provide specifics on the shirt's content, now that you've gotten a good amount of unbiased (in terms of content) feedback?

@HC_ I believe it would not be constructive to post an offensive slogan on this site, even for illustrative purposes.

@HC_ Why request every single detail from the OP? We should respect people's choice to be (partially) anonymous, rather then questioning their interpretation because of incomplete details. Question is clear (and even more general) without it. I've opened a meta question asking, among other things, why every single detail should be needed?

OP: Ok :). @penelope Just out of curiosity, nothing more. I did not say anything to imply that I was questioning her interpretation, as the question is one of principle; I think it is rather unfair of you to jump to conclusions like that and assume I was questioning OP's interpretation or merit. I just wanted to see what a male engineering student would mistakenly think was OK to wear to class.

@Hc_ Sorry, didn't mean to seem aggressive. The meta question wasn't open because of your comment, or even just this question. And, the OP did say several times in the comments she believed it not constructive to post an offensive slogan on the site... you probably simply didn't see it before, but after all the turmoil on this question, I was too fast to jump to conclusions. Sorry :/

This was posted two days ago, so I assume that the incident has come and gone. In this case, I would speak to the prof and have him construct a general email to the class list reminding students about not wearing that type of offensive clothing to the class. If he (or anyone) does it again, then escalate and either i) call security or ii) simply tell the student that their clothing is not appropriate to wear in this class.

@ff524 Without the content of the slogan in question, anyone attempting to make any judgement on said slogan is left chasing gremlins. This is responsible forum populated by adults capable of discussing the subject matter. No good comes from obfuscation.

@Travis: But the question is not about making a judgment on the slogan, and I think it is wise for the OP to leave it unsaid specifically to prevent this discussion from turning into evaluation of the slogan. The question is what to do next, assuming for the sake of question that the slogan is indeed sufficiently hostile. (This forum may indeed consist of "adults capable of discussing the subject matter", but as the subject matter is not the slogan, it is in some doubt whether the adults are capable of recognizing the subject matter in the first place. :-) )

@ShreevatsaR Yes, I realized the mistake as I was looking at some of the answers. I think the confusion stems from the idea that the question on the page may not be the question being asked, but this forum is for answering the question on the page, so I accept my earlier comment is irrelevant.

"don't feel comfortable (or safe, for that matter) as a woman confronting a male student about an item of clothing that is offensive to women." -- specifically on this point, your employer has a responsibility to help you to handle (and learn to handle) dicey situations in the classroom. Quite aside from their duty of care to you, if you're not comfortable enforcing their rules when acting as their representative, then they have a problem. Knowing the attitude of the organization, its procedures and back-up plans may make you more comfortable. At least you can get informal advice from others.

... and if it (sadly) turns out that the organization doesn't have procedures and support in place for TAs in such situations, then at least you know for sure not to take a risk. I would hope that this is fairly rare, but it might depend on the country and even on the specific people running particular universities or departments.

Dear @ff524, I find fully legitimate your fear of repercussions of direct confrontation of this individual as an offended minority. However I feel the responsibility of any authority figure to uphold the credo of the university in no way diminishes your right and duty as an offended individual to raise your concerns to the proper authorities, which you have not. Surely the Discriminatory Harrassment clause you quoted gives you a case and you will have supporters in your TA's and professors should you seek them out.But you should play a more active role in securing your rights as clearly stated

@user781 They are censored forms of offensive words. The following links go to the wikipedia page of the uncensored page:  N-word, C-word, F-word

@Suresh There is no such thing as a "Right to not be offended", from the government nor from any institution I'm aware of. Unless the University had an explicit policy against the clothing that person chose to wear, then there's little OP (or anyone) could actually do about it. Sometimes, it's just easier, and best, to grow a thick skin.

ff524 You say "I don't consider that subject to misinterpretation, unless you think I don't know how to identify something that is demeaning and hostile towards women".  Unfortunately there's no consensus reality on this one, so I wouldn't take @HC_ 's curious question personally.  E.g. many apparently serious and otherwise-reasonable-sounding people believe any sexual intercourse between a man and a woman is demeaning and hostile towards women.  Anyway, as has been pointed out, that isn't the point, and I agree with you that posting the slogan here would be counterproductive.

@penelope Two years later, I better understand why this question is better served without a specific example (image) :) (better late than never!?)

Given the recent events around Jordan B. Peterson in Canada and the ridiculous directions the events in Evergreen College surrounding Bret Weinstein are taking in the last couple days, I'm genuinely worried by the lack of principled commitment to free speech that finds so much support in this thread here. Forget the legal technicalities whether wearing an "I hate niggers" shirt to class is covered by a constitutional right to free speech - free speech has to be upheld as long the teacher can reasonably talk/present and his lecture remains audible/visible to the students.

As an instructor -- or a TA, or whoever is leading a formalized academic session -- you have not only the right but some responsibility to enforce at least minimal standards of acceptable behavior.  Some behavior is borderline and you do want to look to the other people in the room to see whether it is bothering them.  Some behavior really isn't, e.g. discriminatory harassment as mentioned above.  In particular if a student wears a tee shirt bearing what is clear to you is a slur related to

Race, ethnicity, skin color (examples include the n-word)
Sexuality (general examples)

Homophobia (examples include the f-word)
Misogyny (examples include the c-word)

Religion (examples)
Any other group or person

then as an instructor you should get them to leave right away.  You say that you don't feel "safe" confronting a male student about this.  This concerns me a little bit, as you are an authority figure even as a TA and especially as an instructor.  If you are not willing to enforce your authority directly then I think you need to have alternate arrangements in mind that will do so: e.g. you could try to call campus security and not continue the class until they arrive.  But I think one should realize that one absolutely has the right, and sometimes the obligation, to ask a student to leave the classroom under certain circumstances.  If I were in this situation and the student were a 250 pound athlete, I would still ask him to leave unless I had some specific intuition that he would react physically or violently to that request.  I don't have to feel like I can physically overpower someone in order to exert authority over them.

In general I agree with you about having authority even as a TA; but the kind of individual who wears a clearly offensive shirt to school is someone who has questionable judgement, and I'm concerned about confronting someone like that.

@ff524: Well, of course you have to use your best judgement, and erring a little bit on the side of guaranteeing your own personal safety seems more than understandable.  But you do need to do something.  If a student's attire makes you feel that you cannot even reason with them enough to ask them to leave the class, then you have a huge problem with them in the classroom.  It would then be appropriate to suspend or cancel class until the issue is resolved.

Put a statement in your syllabus reminding students about university policy in this regard, and that inappropriate attire is not allowed. You  should discuss some examples of inappropriate attire (offensive language, revealing clothing, etc.). If you have a problem with a student, male or female, do as Pete suggested in an earlier comment and call security. The university should be more than happy to back you up on this. If they are not, then you have another problem

@Chris Leary: Yes, right on.  In fact if someone feels like they are going to call for outside assistance as a first resort, then it would be wise to set that up in advance: e.g. have the number immediately available on one's cell phone, have a conversation with campus personnel about getting support in situations like this, and so forth.

@ff524 Are there any male students in the class you are comfortable speaking with? Maybe telling them to speak with [the bad guy] as you "don't think that all people are comfortable with his t-shirt" (alternatively: "such t-shirts are not allowed within the campus") and you "prefer to solve it in an informal way" (without accusing anyone or directly pointing that you are the victim). If there are no such, or it is not successful, I think that there is little choice but to resort to higher authorities (or some other TA or professor, who is not afraid to face [the bad guy]).

@PiotrMigdal I understand the idea: since I think it would be hard for me (a woman) to confront a guy who believes women have nothing valuable to say, I could ask a man to do it. But if I ask a male peer to do it, I am confirming the stereotypes this guy believes: women need men to fight their battles for them, women can't tell men what to do, etc. I want the intervention to come from a place of legitimate authority, not what this guy sees as "male authority." So I think escalating to a professor or dean is better than going through a peer.

@ff524 I really don't think that student will physically harass you because that will make matter only worse for him.

@ff524 I wouldn't care at all what the guy believes (given your other comments about his behaviour; as I understood, your goal was to make the class a safe and comfortable place). My point was to deal it in a way that 1. Does not require more force than needed (I met a lot of semi-autistic science students, who held strong views on some issues, or were oblivious to some "obvious" implication of how their behaviour is perceived, but "please don't" worked on them.) 2. If you are afraid to talk with him in person, they it is also crucial not to make you (or any other) a victim. Safety first.

@ff524 Personally, I don't like reporting to authorities without giving any warning (with the sole exception of safety OR breaching already explicitly mentioned rules), and trying to deal with problems informally whenever possible. However, I don't know your exact situation, so at this point it is for you to decide. (In any case, it is you to decide, you know the situation, and it is you who's judgement is (most likely) the most appropriate.)

@ff524 "but the kind of individual who wears a clearly offensive shirt to school is someone who has questionable judgement..." - That way there be dragons. That's quite a (fallacious) blanket statement to make.

@Travis: I and ff524 and many other academics (as e.g. indicated here) would question the judgement of a student who wore a clearly offensive shirt into a university classroom.  So I don't see the fallacy.

@PeteL.Clark This is tantamount to saying "That person has different values than I do, therefore they have questionable judgement." It's a bold and usually autocentric claim. "Clearly offensive" is clear only to you and those like you. Bare female faces are "clearly offensive" to fundamental Islamists, while their misogyny is "clearly offensive" to the western world. The fallacy is assuming that you (the self) are a representative member of that which is good, and that those that are different are by definition not good.

@PeteL.Clark I believe you misunderstood my point. I wasn't taking issue with the reasoning of the statement, but rather the reasoning which led to the premise - a meta-fallacy, if you will. Perhaps I chose my original words incautiously. The universe of concern (for the fallacy) is not OP's statement or the premise of the statement, but process which led to the creation of the premise. I am not rejecting the premise - I am taking one step up and rejecting that logic. The premise of OP's statement is the output of the fallacious logic. The fallacy committed is the Hasty Generalization.

@PeteL.Clark Aside from the fallacy, to address your last post, OP's distrust in the target's judgement is not, in fact, based on the university's moral code, but rather her own. Further, the statement is based on OP's personal interpretation of both the offending material and the policy. It is entirely possible that the material does not violate the policy, but OP believes it does. The purpose of my comment was to illustrate out that those with different value systems are not necessarily lesser. Regardless, this is not the place for this discussion. Please email me to continue (in my profile)

@PeteL.Clark I just realized that emails are not visible to other users. Use PseudoSharpie@dispostable.com.

What if you were on a public campus in Texas? If I was teaching in Texas, I would not ask the student to leave and I would recommend anybody teaching at a public university there not do so. The risk, in my view, is simply too great. Given the advice which has been given to faculty there, I would be extremely cautious. Even if I'm prepared to take the risk, do I have a right to put my students' lives at risk as well? Guns on campus changes the situation radically.

I'm a bit disappointed at the number of comments from people who say they need to know what the exact statement on this particular T-shirt was so that they can judge whether it was truly misogynistic before answering the question. The question is clear: What is the appropriate response given that a student is ``wearing clothing that is likely to be offensive and hostile to other students''? Debating exactly what constitutes misogyny (or any other form of hate speech) is not the point here. Surely a question about whether a particular slogan is offensive would be too localised for academia.se, whereas the question of how the role of professor and/or TA affects how/whether one calls out offensive speech/behaviour/etc is excellent.
A couple of the other answers express surprise/concern at the OP's comment

I don't feel comfortable (or safe, for that matter) as a woman
  confronting a male student about an item of clothing that is offensive
  to women.

Many of the comments on this page illustrate why it can be so hard to call out misogyny as a woman. Women who call out misogyny are regularly accused of being "too sensitive" and told to "lighten up". On this page we've seen people who think they'd be a better judge of whether something is offensive than the person who actually experienced it, suggesting it may have been all in her head, refusing to trust her judgement, and claiming that no young people are misogynists. All this just from outlining a story that inspired a general question about calling out offensive behaviour. Is it any wonder that women may find it difficult to confront the person who's actually wearing the offensive T-shirt?
Finally, to actually answer the question:
Most universities should have something like a code of conduct which forbids discriminatory harassment. The one quoted in the question certainly seems to apply to a T-shirt with an offensive slogan. In this case the professor (or any student in the class) would be within their rights to object to the T-shirt. I might say something like "that T-shirt seems to be in violation of the code of conduct; please don't wear it to this class again", ideally in much the same tone as I would say "If I don't have your homework by tomorrow you will get a zero", but I'd say it loudly enough that anyone paying attention could hear. As with any instance of calling out something offensive, I would only do this if I felt safe enough: you should try to create a safe environment in your classroom, but not at the expense of your own safety.
If you don't feel safe or comfortable enough to call out your student (and I can see this happening especially if that student is also your peer), there might be other people you can talk to, for example the professor of the class you're TAing, or the head of the graduate program in your department, or the student's advisor. This might also be helpful if the student does not respond well when you first address them.

+1. I am disappointed, but not really surprised, at the unwillingness to take my story at face value. I can't count how many times I've heard "Women in STEM are treated just like anyone else no matter what you say you've experienced, because I've never noticed any  discrimination"

Thank you for leaving this answer.  It is an important contribution.

Even though I completely agree with what you have written in the first part of the answer, I am reluctant to upvote because it is not related to the question but rather to the (questionable) behavior of the community. For that purpose, I asked a meta question, concerning this and all other instances of people not answering the question but instead questioning the facts / interpretations as presented by the OP in the question. The second part of your answer is definitely a valid contribution.

@penelope I think the first part also addresses the question if you add the following sentence to the beginning: "If you choose to speak up, prepare for the possibility of having your motives and your judgment questioned, as they were on this forum."

A proportional response demands that you know the level of offence that you are responding to. People asking for the wording, etc. are not supporting misogynism or discrimination they are just showing some common sense.  Whether you ask the person to tone it down, leave there and then or don't like it but say nothing, depends entirely on what exactly it says!

@ff524 "I can't count how many times I've heard "Women in STEM are treated just like anyone else no matter what you say you've experienced, because I've never noticed any discrimination" Would the same apply if a woman wore a shirt in class that said something to the effect that men are all dead beat good-for-nothings? On principal, yes, that person should be asked to leave the room as well, but in practice this transgression would probably go unchallenged. Just pointing out, there is a double standard at play when it comes to potentially inappropriate clothing choices.

@SnakeDoc I would hope that, yes, that would also be challenged. But do note that the context can exacerbate these kinds of behaviours. There is a difference in effect if the t-shirt is worn in a class which is 90% male (OP's case) or 90% female (your case) as opposed to 50-50 or 90-10. And local and global histories of discrimination also affect the impact. A racist slogan may do more harm in a place with a history of slavery and Jim Crow and in a classroom which is 95% white.

A professor definitely has some shared responsibility for maintaining a harmonious atmosphere in the classroom. Given that the university has a code of conduct in place (as per the edit) it gives the professor some leeway to address the situation. But it might be difficult to do so without some initial prompting from the concerned students (because as a professor I can't claim to know what is likely to be offensive to students).
So to answer question 1, yes, if the issue is brought up or if it's otherwise clear that the T-shirt is disrupting class. As for question 2, it follows that if no one brings up the issue, the professor might not do anything.
If you're a TA, then there must be a professor. In that case, you should bring it up with them. Maybe they can "drop by" by accident when the student comes, and then they can deal with it without needing to imply that you're the one who brought up the issue.

As an undergrad, I definitely felt much too embarrassed to bring it up to the professor. I was stunned and insulted and just wanted to get out of there, fast. Knowing how I felt at the time, it's hard for me to swallow that the "victim" should be responsible for bringing it up.

And, the material in question was really not at all "borderline" or subtle - anybody with eyes would know it would be offensive to women.

I see what you mean. I guess that's where context becomes important. If the T-shirt in question were really horrifying, maybe I'd feel compelled to bring it up even if no student mentioned it.

"it's hard for me to swallow that the "victim" should be responsible for bringing it up."  The problem being that even if it's universally offensive, you may have been the only one that noticed it.  The professor isn't responsible for reading each word visible on each piece of clothing of all the students.  It's not their job.  When a legitimate complaint is brought to them, then they should act, but you can't expect them to act on everything you notice unless you also bring it to their attention.

@AdamDavis I don't expect someone to intervene about something they have not seen, or don't understand is offensive. Suresh's answer makes a distinction between whether or not someone complained to the professor or otherwise made it obvious that they're bothered, which I don't agree with, because the victim may feel too intimidated or upset to express their discomfort

@ff524 perhaps time has made things seem worse, but it's difficult to imagine any words printed anywhere being so offensive that one feels compelled to run away in horror. If anything, most folks just mentally note how crass this individual is, and remember that in the future. You will never be able to stop people from offending you - and your sense of offense is likely different from other people's. Sure, everyone should feel comfortable, but sometimes you are just going to be more sensitive to something that's not a huge deal overall (you survived, and perhaps are a better person afterward).

I find it unfortunate that all sides of the discussion in this comment thread seem to accept that only students' reactions matter -- that, if the OP is the only one to be "offended", then the shirt is fine and OP's discomfort is irrelevant.

Should professors intervene? Yes. Now, I think there's a level of personal judgement to be made here. Some people might overlook certain shirts. Some might think certain types of shirts are more offensive than they really are (ex: someone who's vegetarian might not like this shirt and I'd personally wonder if they have a sense of humor).
So, as discussed above, the "you can't go wrong" points are for race/national origin, gender, religion, and sexual orientation, age, and disability.
If I were a teacher (professor or a TA) and I identified something (or it was brought to my attention by a student) that someone is wearing an offensive shirt, then I would probably start by taking the student aside and letting them know that their shirt is offensive to some people, and that it displays remarks that make others uncomfortable, and that the student should not wear that shirt (and others like it) to this class again.
I would do this in private mostly because I don't feel that there's really a lot of benefit to publicly shaming someone who chose such a shirt - maybe they're a new first-year student who hasn't quite learned appropriate behavior yet, or maybe they're going through a phase, or maybe they just didn't think when they put the shirt on because they were drunk one night in Vegas when going T-shirt shopping. Give them a chance to improve. If they never wear the shirt again to class, to me that's a win.
If it happens again then I would not hesitate to walk up to the student after lecture starts and say quietly, "We discussed that you were not to wear shirts like this in class. Did you understand me last time? Do you think that this shirt is appropriate?" If the student isn't able to change the shirt or cover it up then I'd ask him to leave the class and then at that point would make an announcement about appropriate shirts.
Finally, if you are someone who is made uncomfortable by a shirt that someone is wearing then you should tell someone about it. Don't hold it in. Unfortunately lecturers generally only have control of their classroom (for example it's hard for a faculty member to kick someone out of a building, generally) but things like this can be reported.

"someone who's vegetarian might not like this shirt.."  Heh, heh.. nice, but I prefer this one which might offend anyone that holds the Olympics in high regard.  As an aside, my aunt (who is vegetarian but not a smoker) would probably smile/laugh at your example.

If you feel like the clothes that a student is wearing is fostering a less than nurturing atmosphere in your classroom, it is definitely in your best interest to end this. When you're in a STEM field, it's concerning to see a misogynistic message on a shirt and I think you should find a way to end it.
Depending on the content of the shirt, I would debate whether or not I brought it up in front of the rest of the class. If it had some relation to the course and performance, I would have a hard time not bringing it up front-and-center to the class in order to stop any type of stereotype threat that may pervade the course.   My debate on whether to confront during class would be based on thinking about the mentality of the students that are being oppressed in this case and what they may think, whether it be "that student is not wearing that anymore" or "I cannot believe the instructor did not say anything about that shirt," the latter of which was your response in undergrad.
I would stray away from anything that was accusatory or telling the student what to do, but would focus on asking leading questions that explained why it was not appropriate. This approach depends on the personality of instructor and your mileage may vary.
A more neutral thing to bring up to the student would be something about professionalism in the classroom. A discussion on college being about preparing one for a profession and/or higher scholasticism, and then ask the student if the classroom is really an appropriate venue for his wardrobe choice. Really, how to approach the student would depend on your comfort level, the context of the whole situation, and the explicit description of the Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy at your university. A higher-up may be able to help with regards to that.
This isn't an answer to your question per se, but I think this raises a good mindset in order to answer this question for yourself.

"When you're in a STEM field, it's concerning to see a misogynistic message on a shirt and I think you should find a way to end it."  I agree, and I would only add that if you're not in a STEM field then it is also concerning...

I totally agree. I am just speaking from my perspective and knowledge base on teaching.

I don't get the people trying to suggest a private conversation etc.  The whole point is to restore the confidence of female students to work in a reasonable atmosphere.
This just calls for "You are not wearing this T-shirt to my classes.  Get out and come back once you are wearing something appropriate."  His bad luck if he relied on wearing that shirt through the day.
Don't start class until he's gone, if necessary calling campus security.  Ask the other professors to do likewise when encountering similar material in order to maintain a professional and workable atmosphere, to avoid being considered the only one with standards.

I agree that I would have felt much less traumatized - even supported! - if anyone (professor, classmate) had publicly affirmed that the behavior is unacceptable.

@BenCrowell Another risk is the possibility of rewarding attention-seeking behavior, if he's deliberately wearing the shirt to be provocative. There's a tradeoff here. However, even in a scenario where immediate ejection from class is not wise, some public affirmation that the behavior isn't acceptable (like a comment at the beginning of the next class on appropriate attire and being respectful of others) would help foster a supportive atmosphere.

Sorry, but the OP clearly stated that the school has a non-harrassment policy.  Throwing him out is not a reward of attention-seeking behavior.  Of course, you can also tell him something like "well, I know there are poor sods who derive their pride from being born with a silver spoon in your mouth.  Being proud of being born with a wooden spoon between your legs seems like a step down.  I hope that most here will be proud of having learnt to use a brain between their ears when you finish."

@ff524: concerning your first comment: so did you talk to someone about the T-shirt, trying to get feedback what others thought about it?

@BenCrowell: If the situation in class is unacceptable, then stopping the lecture for whatever length, or even stopping it for the day is a good idea. Continuing the lecture under bad circumstances will not be beneficial for the students.

One reason to have a private conversation is to avoid escalation, all the more because (in my experience) many students are immature, naive, ill-informed, and have scant conception of the impact of their actions on others, nor of the perception others will have of their random statements whether verbal or T-shirt-wise (gasp!). In particular, to come down hard on a 20-year-old whose T-shirt would be undeniably misogynist is an over-reaction. Let me not hesitate to continue ... that misogyny, especially in traditionally misogynist contexts, is bad. But/and then "defuse" by not ... (cont'd)

... (cont'd) declaring an ill-considered T-shirt to be any more than a foolish, naive, ill-informed error... easily corrected by not wearing it ever again... "An educational moment", rather than polarizing?

@paulgarrett I would act on an assumption of good will and ignorance - even if I thought this assumption almost certainly false. Then you can say 'I realise that you don't intend to show hostility towards women in engineering, but your shirt ...' or whatever. If the student is just an idiot, this should work. If the student is socially inept, this provides explicit instructions on how to improve their social interactions in the classroom. If the student is trying to show off/get a laugh/make a scene, it denies them the satisfaction unless they are really prepared to escalate. ...

... If they intended to spew hatred, it gives them a chance to have second thoughts while saving face. It is also likely to be relatively low risk in most cases: it doesn't close off any future options. This is compatible with making a general statement in class (or the next class) of the 'I would like to remind everybody that we are hear to learn and everyone has a responsibility to ensure a supportive classroom environment' or whatever. That can send a message of affirmation without 'picking on' anybody. (But don't assume the t-shirt wearer will pick this up.) @ff524

@cfr Your two-part comment above is really a gem.  I know this came about as a reply to paulgarrett, but I would love to see this made into an answer.

Should a professor intervene if a student in their class is wearing clothing that is likely to be offensive and hostile to other students? If so, how?

Maybe.
A professor should hold a discussion with a student when that student is in violation of the school's code of conduct.
If the clothing isn't in violation of the school's code of conduct, a professor will have to decide whether asking the student to desist is worthwhile or not.  In some specific situations, asking a student to stop doing something may actually bring about a situation where they start intentionally coming close to, but not quite, violating the university code.  In that case they may be offensive more frequently than they are currently, randomly picking out what to wear each day.

Are there any scenarios in which a professor should not do anything even though a student's clothes contains material that is hostile towards another student or group of students?

If it isn't against the school's code of conduct, the professor has little room to insist that certain clothing not be worn, but they can request a student stop wearing such clothing.
As above, though, it may actually exacerbate the problem.

If I come across this scenario as a TA, in which a student (who may be a peer in my program of study) in my class is wearing something offensive, what can I do about it?

We will assume, for the moment, that the clothing in question is not against the school's code of conduct, but it offensive to everyone, in every time, every situation, culture, place, etc.
First I'd evaluate how often it occurs.  Is this student consistently bringing offensive messages to class, or is this a once or twice a semester problem?
Second, I'd evaluate how much it affects the class.  Is the message visible to every student in class throughout the period, printed on the upper back with the student sitting in the front row, or is it hard to see except when the are standing up with arms at their sides, and then only by the instructor?  In either case, does it prevent other students from paying attention, learning, asking appropriate questions?
Third, I'd ask others how they felt about the issue.  Does it actually bother them, and did it bother them before you brought it up? I'd make sure this isn't merely a slight against me only.
Lastly, I'd decide, based on this information, if intervention is necessary. If it poses a significant, frequent problem, then I'd probably bring it up.  If it poses a significant infrequent problem for a few students, I'd probably bring it up.
A simple, "Please don't wear that shirt to this class again," privately and quietly as they walk out of the class might be sufficient for most cases. Some professors excel at public shaming in a simple effective way.  A humorous comment during the lesson referencing the student's poor taste in clothing might dissuade them from wearing similarly offensive clothing.

I don't feel comfortable (or safe, for that matter) as a woman confronting a male student about an item of clothing that is offensive to women.

That's a real problem.  If they are communicating something, and you, who are in charge of the classroom, choose not to communicate, then who is going to handle the problem?
If you must, get a third person to back you up.  Preferably someone with authority, and make sure the student understands not just that it's inappropriate, but how it makes you feel.  If it's not just offensive, but threatening, to you then you have all the more reason to make your work environment safe.  Tell your instructor that you can't teach a class where students are threatening you, and that you find certain articles of clothing threatening.  Make your case according to the student code of conduct and it'll be that much stronger.
But you really shouldn't take a passive role in your teaching.  You are learning skills now that will benefit you as an educator later, if that's the career you choose, and you need to learn how to do hard things.  This might be one of them.

On the other hand, I feel like it is my responsibility to keep a non-hostile environment in my classroom.

Not just for the students, but also for yourself.

First I'd evaluate how often it occurs - I'm still upset thinking about this single incident years later, so I'd argue that if it is seriously hostile content, once is often enough to be a problem.

It sounds like you were significantly traumatized by this incident.  If the message was that offensive, and so offensive that you can't even post it here, then it sounds like the student should have been immediately ejected from class and not allowed to return until they discussed the issue with the appropriate school authorities, possibly facing legal prosecution and expulsion.  Is that your assessment as well?

I don't know if the best response would have been to stop class and eject him immediately (for the benefit of the other students in the room) or to send him home to change after class (so as not to reward his attention seeking behavior by making a scene). But he definitely shouldn't have been allowed to go through an entire day at school like that.

@ff524 Note that t-shirts can be worn inside out ...

The word "misogyny" is is not strictly defined, and applied very loosely and emotionally by different people. You may say I know misogyny when I see it, I know when I'm offended, but your shirt wearer almost certainly didn't consider himself a misogynist. Considering how the word is applied across the internet, I can certainly understand how people feel that the best course of action still depends strongly on the actual content of the shirt, even if you personally feel it's objectively misogynistic.
Take the case of Matt Taylor. To some, that shirt represents a fun, kitsch re-purposing of 1950s sci-fi pulp imagery. To others, it's a very public sign of how unwelcoming STEM fields can be for women. Again, Taylor probably didn't consider himself a mysogynist, but people have condemned this shirt in terms exactly as strong as those used in the question. (For what it's worth, I expect that in your case, the shirt was actually much more offensive. I googled "mysogynistic t-shirt", and there are certainly some horrendous examples there.)
Another case-in-point is the punks of the late seventies wearing swastikas. They weren't Nazis, quite the opposite, but they felt they needed the strongest, most shocking symbol they could think of, to get the establishment angry. So if we imagine lecturing in the seventies, we could have a situation of a student wearing swastikas to class. That seems like the most clear-cut, unambiguous situation possible, but still, the student is not doing it for the reasons we think they are. And in fact getting angry, singling them out and getting security to escort them off the premises is just what they're hoping for.
People wear what they wear for strange and inscrutable reasons. For outsiders, a hijab may be a symbol of oppression, while for the wearer, it's actually a statement of emancipation. The same goes for t-shirts with movie posters, or death metal paraphernalia. Even swastikas. Of course, things can still be offensive if they're not intended to cause offense, but the lack of intent does change the situation, and what the best course of action is.
So let's take an extreme example: say a student comes to my class with a t-shirt that is absolutely shocking and reprehensible, and contains deeply disturbing imagery. Certainly, I would agree that something needs to be done, and it can't wait until the end of the lecture. So do I single him out in front of everybody, make a loud and public stand and force him to leave, possibly with the help of security? Or do I ask him to step outside with me and give him an opportunity to explain his reasons, and generally explain to him why I cant allow him back in?
Other answers have mentioned that the other students need to see that their safety is being guarded, and that the matter isn't iognored. Justice must be seen to be done, that sort of thing. Even so, I would still argue against the first strategy. I think there are three main reasons:

If I single the student out, I will antagonize him, and strengthen his belief that he did nothing wrong. I will lose any chance of actually influencing his behavior. You may feel that he doesn't deserve such considerations, but if I want to actually change things for the better, I have to be pragmatic.
As the responses here show, even if I think the issue is unambiguous, others may not. Especially with the misogynistic shirt, other students may take the side of the shirt-wearer. So while I'm making a stand and feeling good about myself, I'm actually creating a division in my classroom. This will make the atmosphere less safe in practice.
The student may be suffering from something bordering on mental health issues. Perhaps a  compulsion to be socially inappropriate, or a deep self-loathing causing him to lash out at others in whatever way he can find.
Finally, and I think most importantly, everybody has a fundamental right not to be ascribed an opinion. Even if the guy's covered in swastikas, he gets at least one chance to explain himself, and to do so in a non-public setting. I may be wrong in my interpretation, I may not. The point is, everybody deserves at least on opportunity to explain themselves. I think that's a fundamental right, and it's not lost simply because you wore something I didn't like, however objectionable it is.

To the downvoters: comments are welcome.

Tourettes does not involve a compulsion to shock. The end of this answer is fair, although it rather loses sight of the main problem which is the behaviour and its effects, rather than the intention. (I agree the latter may affect the best strategy.) But, really, the first 2 paragraphs invoke all the stereotypes about 'emotional' women getting upset over nothing and calling it 'misogyny'. The word is perfectly well-defined. This is true even if it is misused. Lots of words are misused. Do you routinely begin answers with the possibility that the asker may be misusing them?

@cfr I'm not saying that the word is misused, or that the OP didn't know what she was talking about. I'm saying that the word clouds discussion. It's a word that means different things to different people and yet carries a very strong emotional charge. Therefore, it's a good exercise to taboo it and try to use more objective, and precise language. Specifically, to separate effect and intent. That way, we can have people legitimately being upset about a t-shirt, without inferring anything (either way) about the wearer's intention.

@cfr Fair point about Tourette's. The view of Tourette's as a compulsion to say socially unacceptable things is outdated. I've removed it from the answer.

I see now that my use of the word "emotionally" in the first paragraph invokes a stereotype of women responding  to instances of sexism "emotionally" and the fallacy of equating an emotional response with an irrational one. That was absolutely not my intention. I certainly didn't want to dismiss or diminish the OP's experience.

As I read it, 'misogynistic' describes the slogan and not the wearer's intent. I don't think that making the language developed to describe oppression - at considerable cost - off-limits is in anyway helpful. The language to name the problem is, frankly, a historical achievement. Lacking the terms to describe oppression has been - was for a long time, continues to be to some degree and some extent - itself part of the problem. There not being a word for a harm is an especially effective way of denying that there is any harm.

I didn't down vote your answer, by the way. I'm trying to explain why I suspect others did.

@cfr I agree that finding accepted names for patterns of oppression is very important milestone in emancipation. Nevertheless, the word misogyny implies dislike and contempt of women by any definition I can find, so calling someone or their actions misogynist, inevitably carries a personal charge. I didn't mean to imply that the words should banned ("taboo" was a poor phrase, but I was referring to the rhetorical exercise I linked), just that in specific contexts it's useful to unpack such words into more specific phrases, to get at the heart of the problem.

In any case, thanks for the insight into where the downvotes came from. I guess it's down to just the same kind of charged language I was trying to talk about :)

I don't disagree with anything you've said, and very strongly agree that 'misogynistic' is a problem word for the reasons you've stated-- it presumes something about the mindset or beliefs of the person being referred to and therefore invites argumentation/rebuttal/offense that is likely to derail any attempt at communication.  I was surprised at the downvotes too (I upvoted); I suspect it's because your answer, on the face of it, seems to be about defending the t-shirt wearer and not offering much in the way of possibilities for resolving or at least reframing the OP's problem.

First step in any conflict should be communication. If I were in your shoes I would have likely go up to the person in question and ask them what message they want to convey by wearing that particular attire.
The reason I have this belief is that what constitutes offensive is very subjective, as one might take offense at anything really. Please note that I am not saying or implying that it was the case for OP, but without knowing the level of "offense" in question, it's hard to make a generalized judgement. In that case, it's always a good idea to peacefully confront the person and tell them that you feel offended. That's my first point.
The second point I would like to make is that the primary responsibility for sorting out your disagreements is on your own shoulders. It is in general frustrating to expect someone else to intervene and fight your battles for you. People of authority (the teacher in this case) might not notice the offense, or not realize how uncomfortable it makes you feel, unless you actually make that clear for everyone involved.
In the specific scenario that is depicted in the OP, I cannot imagine why you would not be allowed to point out that your classmate's attire is offensive and not suitable for public spaces, let alone a classroom. If the person reacts badly, then you have more of a case for disciplinary action against the classmate with the offensive clothing. Then the professor/TA/security and even other classmates would likely to be on your side.
If the person reacts in a favorable way (i.e. apologizing for the offense, and explaining that they did not mean to offend anyone) you have even taught your classmate something about good manners.

I believe it would not be constructive to post an offensive slogan on this site, even for illustrative purposes.

@ff524 of course not, I didn't mean that you should. I was just trying to explain that it's hard to know where on the scale from "tasteless humor" to "danger to society", this particular offense was.

If graffiti containing an unambiguous racial slur is posted in a public place, do you think the local authorities have no reason to intervene until someone complains? I don't think it should necessary be the "victim"'s responsibility to complain to an authority figure. (As the "victim" it can be very intimidating and difficult to speak up when someone is wearing clothing that is overtly hostile to you)

@ff524: If they aren't aware of it, how can they intervene? Your example is bad because there would have to be an investigation and finding the culprit would be hard. In OP's case, the shirt is worn by the offender so its obvious

@GIJoe If the professor doesn't see the shirt, I don't expect him to do anything. However, if he does see it and it is unambiguously offensive, I think as an authority figure he has some responsibility here.

@ff524: I haven't seen the message. Let's take a different route. What if the TA or Professor is TOO sensitive? What if a student wore a very US patriotic shirt to class and it offended say a small group of Iranians? Or what if the professor or TA is anti-military and finds it offensive that an ROTC student wears their uniform to class once a week? Point is it is very subjective so OP should tread lightly. There is no such thing as unambiguously offensive IMHO

@GIJoe I can definitely think of things that are unambiguously offensive; e.g., widely known racial slurs.

@ff524: I tend to agree. My point is that its not offensive to everyone (e.g. those who are in on the joke, or tend to think that way). I don't wear that type of clothing.

@ff524 I have to disagree, if there is a whole sub-culture of using an unambiguously offensive racial slur in music/tv/sports/other entertainment (especially by the very people who would get offended by it) then it's apparently not as unambiguously offensive as one might think.

It's nothing remotely equivalent to the case in OP, of course, but for the sake of example consider that something like "Bacon is awesome" might be pretty damn offensive to politically active vegans, as it practically advocates for murder in their eyes. I happen to like bacon, and I might even wear a shirt like that (if I had one) that doesn't mean that I mean to offend every vegan that's around me.

"Bacon is awesome" is neither demeaning to, nor does it show hostility to, vegetarians. There's a difference between these examples and a slogan that is clearly meant to be hostile to a particular group. Showing approval for something some people don't like =/= showing hostility to certain people.

@ff524 I agree but I don't think the two examples of sub-culture are a good comparison, as Jews would not be inclined to use that kind of speech in songs/movies/books etc. At any rate I am not arguing that things should be tolerated. I am merely saying that if you are offended about something, not matter the "level of offense", speak up! let your voice be heard! that's the only way you can make a difference

OK, I agree that your answer would be helpful in a scenario where the message was offensive to me but not necessarily hostile. In my scenario (which of course you don't know the details of) I felt intimidated and traumatized by the hostility; I could not have said anything to the offender myself.

'offensive' is extremely subjective. In general I would error on the side of free speech.

Yes, teachers (including both professors and TAs) should absolutely intervene in such an instance.  As everyone else has said, non-discrimination policies would most likely prohibit such offensive misogynistic expression in a classroom environment, and these are policies with which I would recommend all teachers familiarize themselves before they enter the classroom.
Let me mention one more reason that you should not just overlook such an incident: to prevent such things from happening in the future. Not all students are completely familiar with what constitutes improper behavior in a classroom.  If nobody does anything, what's to stop that student from doing the same thing again?
Here's a related story from my own experience.  One time, when I was a TA for an engineering calculus course, I got an in-class group assignment back from a pair of students, where one student circled the other student's name and wrote "is gay" as a joke. Being gay myself, I was pissed. (I had also hoped that the idea that "gay" could be used an insult had gone out of acceptance by that time, in 2012. Guess not.) At the time, I didn't know who did it; it could've been someone outside the pair, but it certainly wasn't the student whose name was circled due to the handwriting being different.  I also didn't want to falsely accuse anyone, or put anyone on the spot.  I didn't quite frankly care who did it; I just wanted to make sure my students knew that this behavior was unacceptable.
So the next class, I read the university non-discrimination policy to both my classes and I told them what had happened, without naming anyone (or the class it happened in).  I said that I didn't care what anyone said or did in their free time, but in my class, I wouldn't stand for people doing things like this.
My first class, I couldn't hide my tension or my anger when I was saying all of this.  The second class, which was the one with these two students, I did the same thing, but I was much calmer because I had already done this with the first class.  The two students ended up apologizing to me when I handed back the paper, and I (calmly) said that I wasn't accusing anyone of doing anything, but I just needed to make sure that everyone understood that this wasn't acceptable.
In retrospect, the only thing I would have done differently in my case is practice my speech beforehand so I could convey the seriousness of what I was saying without the tension and anger I had during the first class.  (Some people don't react as well to tension and anger.)  That aside, I did feel good affirming for my students, some of whom were likely LGBT themselves, that my classroom was not a place where I would accept any such inappropriate or discriminatory behavior.  And finally, I made it way less likely for anything similar to happen in the future on my watch.
Your case is different, because it involves quite the open display of inappropriateness. In your particular case, I would walk up to the student and tell this person that wearing such a shirt in the class is inappropriate and goes against school policies, and that he needs to leave and change into something else before he returns to your class.  The students who are concerned about the shirt will most likely notice your action and feel relieved that you are addressing it.
I'm not so sure that you should call him out from the front of the classroom, although you certainly have the right to do so.  The student might find it humiliating to be called out in front of the entire class (especially in a large lecture), and moreover it's a little impersonal.  (Although I addressed my situation with the entire class, keep in mind that I didn't know who had done what and I didn't name anyone.  Also, if you just read the non-discrimination policy out loud in your case, it will be pretty obvious to everyone who you're addressing.)  I think the best outcome would be with a private or semi-private, direct conversation as I suggested above.
On the other hand, if you're intimidated and worried about possible physical violence, then you could opt to ask this person to leave in a semi-private manner but with a reasonable physical distance between the two of you, while many other students are around.  This allows for witnesses in case anything goes awry.  (This does seem like an unlikely scenario, but your safety is paramount.)  If this option is not safe enough to you, then as Pete L. Clark has suggested, you should call campus security and wait until they arrive before starting your class.

Should a professor intervene if a student in their class is wearing
  clothing that is likely to be offensive and hostile to other students?
  If so, how?

As with most things in life, it can be somewhat complicated. In professional settings rule of thumb is usually to "Praise in public, reprimand in private." Thus, while it may make sense for the professor to intervene, the best time to do so would likely be after class has concluded. How good or bad of an approach this might be in an academic setting might be up for debate, since a "teachable moment" might be lost for the rest of the class, but it also allows the student opportunity to save face.
Another thing of note along this lines, even more so since nobody else mentioned it, is that is also gives the professor a chance to check to make sure the student really understands the mean behind things. I've been in environments where ten to twenty percent or more of the students in a given class might be exchange students. Their cultural norms can be drastically different and they might not even fully understand what a slang term can mean. This allows for a much more robust conversation about things than just a "Don't wear that shirt again." being directed at the student.

If yes: are there any scenarios in which a professor should not do
  anything even though a student's clothes contains material that is
  hostile towards another student or group of students?

This is likely going to be very subjective since the professor may not always be aware of the situation (e.g. quote in a foreign language, very large lecture hall where the professor can't even see the student, etc.). To a certain extent the student body needs to assist the faculty in being aware of some of the situations so they can be dealt with. Another scenario is protest campaigns to reclaim certain terms by effectively displaying those terms yourself. So at the end of the day, situations are going to arise, but likely it would need to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

this isn't a performance review. The shirt was seen in public. If you refrain from objecting to it in public then you are refraining from assuring the rest of the class that you will protect them from hateful speech. Letting it go and then discussing it privately might or might not prevent a recurrence, but it doesn't reassure any class members who were upset by it.

@KateGregory Except in academia we need to be mindful that not everyone is aware of our cultural norms. An exchange student might not have the faintest idea that a phrase is offensive or even what a word means so there is nothing gained by embarrassing them in front of the entire class. Plus, I would like to think that most people would catch on that if a student is asked to stay behind after class that they would know what the topic of discussion would be.

I habitually wore Black metal T-Shirts, which can have offensive lines, as an Undergrad, which never got me into trouble. But, some people asked me why I like this kind of T-shirt and I tried to explain my reasoning.
This worked very well and I formed strong friendships with some of these people.
And I, personally, tried hard not to judge people from their appearances - which was never 100% sucessfull, but I think is a worthwile attempt.
So, I think the best first step is simply asking the person WHY he is wearing this t-shirt. Every person with a provacating T-shirt gets asked now and then, so it should be no big deal.
Running to your teachers first is similar to running to your mommy and not really grown up behaviour.
Disclaimer: I come from germany, where a much wider range of clothing is deemed acceptable in academia, especially social sciences and CS.

Regarding the specific shirt you used to wear (not the shirt I encountered), Wikipedia says: "The T-shirt is banned in New Zealand, a handful of fans have faced court appearances and fines for wearing the shirt in public." (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cradle_of_Filth)

@BenCrowell If satanists are underrepresented in engineering, does that mean that I must be careful not to offend them?

I'd like to -1 for "Running to your teachers first is similar to running to your mommy and not really grown up behaviour". This essentially makes yet another recourse unavailable to those who already feel victimized (and are uncomfortable with direct confrontation), by dissuading them from the only thing they can see to do (approach authority figures), and implying that they should feel bad about themselves for doing it.

@BenCrowell I'll agree that they are likely not significantly underrepresented, but I reject the notion that beliefs and actions should be protected on the basis of representation.

@BenCrowell A lot of the T-Shirts I have seen in my life could be constructed as offensive. Maybe not fashion but there are a lot of inmature T-shirts out there. Like "Dort - Mund" with an Arrow pointing towards the Penis (the joke only "works" in german).
I personally would not see them as discriminatory but as inmature and act accordingly: talk to the person try to convince him that it's a bad idea. If that doesn't work, go to hihger places.

@ff524 Yes, but it is covered by free-speech laws in Germany. Ironically, many CDs of COF and effectively banned because they are not allowed for people under 18.

I just mentioned it because it sounds like it might be unwise to generalize from your "never got in trouble" experience (especially for those not in Germany)

I think it might be useful for everyone to read Ken White's essay on "Shirts and Shirtiness." http://www.popehat.com/2014/11/17/shirts-and-shirtiness/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Popehat+%28Popehat%29

Under-represented is not the same as a history, or current risk, of discrimination. Despite historical prejudice against left-handed people, it is (as far as I know) now unlikely potential engineers are selected against because they are left-handed. Similarly, discrimination does not require under-representation. A single blind student in a class of 20 does not make blind students under-represented, but they may still face discrimination and I would be concerned about a t-shirt which might create an environment hostile to them. (Note: I pick this example deliberately.)

authors: Бондарев Владислав


text:
Research Grant - Difficulty in Obtaining and How?
I'm an undergraduate student taking psychology.
Although my primary interest is counseling, I also have a strong interest in behavioral psychology - especially as it relates to operant conditioning for combat (I love combat psychology.)
In general, how difficult is it to get a research grant? There's relevant data that hasn't been explored and I'd be interested in doing it.
I imagine being at the undergrad level is a problem, but I'm asking for general information - if I have to wait until I'm in a doctoral program or I've finished it, that's fine.
Also, how would I go about obtaining the grant? We can define what makes me a good candidate, but then where do I go?

My advice is to get an undergraduate research advisor. Even you are in a doctoral program, you still need to have an advisor to help you to get a research grant. I never heard of an undergraduate student can get research grant by him/herself.

As a general rule, you will need an existing track record in research to convince a funding agency that you will use their money to do good research again. As an undergraduate, you should indeed get involved with a research group at your university, for example, as a student assistant. For more information, see the detailed answers to Grant funding for independent researcher with no past track record.

Your question is very broad for this site. I will try to do my best to give you an overview, but you should really ask a more focused question if you hope for more specific answers.
Generally, what opportunities for research grants there are depends on many factors, but foremost where you are geographically and which career stage you are in. Geography matters because most basic research funds are national funds, that is they specifically fund research conducted e.g., in the US, in Switzerland, in the European Union, etc. The career stage matters as most "normal" project grants are available only to people in a certain career stage or position, typically faculty (sometimes also postdocs). For more early-career researchers, other special grant types are often available, such as PhD project funding, young investigator's grants, or similar. However, these usually differ from regular grants in that they often need to be applied for in collaboration with a faculty advisor, mentor, or host. One of the functions of this mentor is to make sure that the grant money is used correctly.

I imagine being at the undergrad level is a problem, but I'm asking for general information - if I have to wait until I'm in a doctoral program or I've finished it, that's fine.

You are likely correct. As an undergrad there may be very few opportunities to apply for grants in your own name. Very few undergrads are academically mature and well-developed enough to form and implement their own research agenda, and giving out grants to students in such an early phase of their career will often be seen as too risky from a funding agency's point of view. Even being a doctoral student is already quite early to apply for project funding in your own name. Most grant opportunities open up for you when you are faculty at a research institution.
To give you one example from Switzerland: most funding provided by the SNSF (Swiss National Science Foundation) is given out through their individual project funding scheme. There are many restrictions on who can apply, but most importantly you need to be working at least 50% of your time in a research-active institution in Switzerland, and you need to hold a PhD degree since at least four years or hold an independent research position, e.g., be an assistant professor (Chapter 2, Article 4).
Your own salary cannot be funded by such a project grant, so it's only used to cover e.g., PhD students that you advise. This also clarifies why the SNSF largely restricts access to these funds to professors - the applicant needs to be somebody who can provide guidance and formal advisory to the staff employed in the project, and they assume more junior researchers will not be able to do that.

In general, how difficult is it to get a research grant? There's relevant data that hasn't been explored and I'd be interested in doing it.

This depends on the grant, but in general it is very difficult. Most grants worth applying to have acceptance rates below 10%. Interestingly, the SNSF project funding scheme mentioned above is an exception, with acceptance rates in the 40% to 50% range
Further, and this is another reason why you may have to wait until you can run your own project, a large part of the grant evaluation procedure is usually an evaluation of the Principle Investigator. Quite frankly, a funding agency will look at grants by established senior researchers much less critically than by academically young or not yet established ones. While this may appear unfair, for the funding agency it is just much less risky to give money to a person that has already successfully conducted many projects than to somebody who hasn't.

Also, how would I go about obtaining the grant? We can define what makes me a good candidate, but then where do I go?

This is not a question that can be answered with the detail that is provided. My suggestion is to keep your ideas in your head, maybe work on them in your free time or as a side project, and then revisit them once you are in the right career stage to apply for your own funding. This will also have the advantage that you then already have preliminary results during the application phase, which is another factor that you can use to tremendously increase the chances of your grant application.

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Submitting parts of my thesis to a journal, overlapping text fragments: self-plagiarism?
I am currently working on my thesis and I am submitting a part of my thesis as a paper to a journal (same text no rephrasing in some parts). I believe the journal review takes about four to six months before it is published and my thesis will be published on my university website before that. When they check for plagiarism and they find a match between my paper and my thesis, will they reject it?

In which field you are ? and for sure when they see your name and supervisor name on it, will not be considered plagiarism.

Presumably the fact that this is part of your thesis is mentioned in the paper?

@Roland Just because the situation is standard does not mean it should not be explicitly mentioned. If the paper had been the "original" that was then incorporated into the thesis, this would surely be mentioned in the thesis.

Possible duplicate of: http://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/49467/how-to-reuse-complete-paper-for-my-thesis/49472#49472

@Roland I have included such notes in several papers, despite the fact that the contents had been almost entirely rewritten for the paper. Usually this has been in the acknowledgements though, where it makes sense to thank your supervisor anyway.

It's not common practice to mention that a publication has been included in a thesis (at least in my field). Honestly, the publishers usually don't mind, the University is not their competitor. However, you do need to acknowledge advisors and funding sources in your publication. Generally it is pretty clear that the findings are part of a thesis project, particularly if it is supported by a scholarship.

It is only (self-)plagiarism when you do not indicate that some text is being reused.
So there is a simple remedy: Add to your thesis some text that indicates which parts have been submitted where. This could be formulated for example as:

This chapter has been submitted to journal as authors, title

The best course of action here is to disclose that part of the work is being submitted for publication in the thesis. In fact, this is encouraged at my institution. It will make your thesis stronger if findings have been peer reviewed and the examiners will recognise that it has been deemed publication quality. One of their goals is to assess whether it is an original finding which a publication would support.
As for self-citation and self-plagiarism, that is a very difficult issue and some fields take presenting the same work without attributing the prior source very seriously. Consult your advisor for what is acceptable in your field. However, generally what you need to avoid is:

Submitting the same work for publication in different journals
Submitting the same work to fulfil the requirements of different degrees (e.g., Masters and PhD).
Submitting the work of others (even coauthors) for your thesis.

I don't think including sections in both an article and thesis breaches these necessarily and may be acceptable in some fields. Thesis by publication is also becoming more widely acceptable. However, you do need to ensure that it is clear what your contribution to a publication was if it included verbatim in your thesis if there were coauthors (and their contributions are acknowledged and disclosed). Afterall, it is your work that is being assessed to fulfil your degree.

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Slow dissertation advisor: should I complain?
My doctoral advisor has regularly taken 3-4 weeks to respond to each round of my revisions on my doctoral dissertation draft.
Because of her lengthy response delays, I defended very late in the semester. (In contrast to her 3-4 weeks, I take 2-3 days to finish all of her requested revisions.) At the moment, it looks like I am going to run over to the next semester, which means I have to push back my conferral date and pay another semester's tuition since I am over the period where I received tuition compensation. (I had funding and a scholarship for four whole years, but my dissertation has run into a fifth year.)
My question is should I complain to her about her delays? I have already spoken a couple times to the graduate student advisor who works with the faculty, so I am sure my doctoral advisor knows I am anxious to finish up. Should I complain to the department chair about allowing faculty to take so long to respond to dissertations? If I have to enroll in another semester, I will officially be a whole year beyond the average time period of finishing a PhD in this program.
I still could have made this semester's conferral deadline, but my doctoral advisor yet again dropped the ball, and she hasn't looked at my final revisions for 4 days and the very last deadline for this conferral is today. I doubt I will meet the deadline today because she again took a long time in responding to my revisions even though I told her about this deadline several days ago. Should I complain to the department chair? Should I complain to anyone? Is there anything I can do besides paying for yet another semester's tuition?

Ask your advisor to check with the dean or other appropriate authority to see whether tuition can be waived since you have nothing left but a round of revisions and the defense.  That puts your advisor in the position of explaining the delays, rather than your complaining about them.

@FredSmith - I like the idea in this answer, but I think, Fred, you should be the one to check with the dean.  Your advisor might put it on her to do list and might get around to it in three or four weeks....  (No point in complaining at this point -- that train has left the station.)

Read your department literature and/or talk to the department head to see if there is any special status you can apply for since you only have your dissertation work left to complete.  Many times this is referred to, at least unofficially, as ABD (All But Dissertation) status.
Oftentimes ABD status can be used to significantly reduce tuition costs (since you wont be taking any coursework).

With the deadline being today, I fear there is nothing left to do.
In the future you might get your supervisor to review chapter by chapter, reducing the actual effort she has per iteration, and giving you the feedback early on. Then you can also use feedback you got from the early chapters to update future one accordingly, so that your supervisor can see that you take her feedback seriouly.


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My PI assigned me to a direct supervisor who is academically incompetent. What should I do?
This is very closely related to this question. However in that question on top of the academic problems there are also major safety issues and the answers correctly focus on that. But this still leaves an interesting question unanswered: What should you do if you perceive your direct supervisor to be academically incompetent?
Suppose you start in a new lab as a masters or PhD student. The PI is great but very hands off. You are assigned a PhD student or a postdoc for your every day supervision. You get the impression that this person is failing academically. The linked question has a good list of clues. They have no plan for their own research, seem to have trouble understanding the surrounding literature or even the prerequisites, don't come up with new ideas to look into and maybe on top are technically inept and very bad at handling the lab equipment. Essentially you feel like you already are academically ahead of your supervisor and this person doesn't have anything to teach you.
What do you do? And in what time frame, having this impression after two weeks might be different than having it after 6 months but maybe waiting six months before doing anything is too much already.

"this person is failing academically" ... is it normal for a "failing academic" to be assigned as a supervisor, of anything?

@CGCampbell check the famous academic failure of Roghoff&Reinhart
https://theconversation.com/the-reinhart-rogoff-error-or-how-not-to-excel-at-economics-13646
they failed so much, but they still managed to be called to supervise the Congress on budget decisions, before their failure was made public.

@quarague using the points from that list, if the issue is a lack of safe behaviour in a lab comes up then this should be raised with whoever is responsible for the lab and safety in it. As from that question, if this came up then you should raise your concerns with this person and let them handle it in order to keep everyone safe. For all the other points you should start from the assumption that you are wrong.

Those issues could come from: - not yet knowing how to reduce a complex subject they know well into a few words, - they could have just started from a different sub-field and part of their supervision role is to learn this new sub-field (which they will probably do quicker than the student), -this topic may be different to their main topic and they just don't have heaps of free time to put into understanding it and its literature deeply while working on their main topic. Among other things.

What is their role as direct/daily supervisor? You won't need to expertise and experience of a senior professor to show you where to find building blocks for experiments or how to book a timeslot in the lab.

They are supervising you. You will be 100% sure they are wrong and you are right only after external independent confirmation, which you can obtain by attending conferences/workshops, and publishing a paper or two would be the definitive seal.
However, by that time, you may realize why your directly supervising PhD/PostDoc is working that (inefficent) way ...
So, it is better to show some independence and get -intensively- in touch with the PI after a couple of weeks.
With the PI, it should be possible to have an honest discussion, even regarding the point "the supervisor you assigned me cannot help me because of lack of time/needing some time to freshen up his/her knowledge on the Stat-of-Art of Science and Technology on my specific topic".
If it's not possible to be so open and clear with the PI, well, the issues are way larger than the supervision from said PhD/PD ...

So the two key points are a) it is very hard to know whether your impression of academic incompetence is correct, it might very well be completely wrong and b) talk to your PI.

@quarague yes, with the catch that unfortunately there are two categories of PI (completely independent of their academic success), the human ones and the ones with the attitude "research is suffering that bring great joy only to who can endure it".
Guess which one is dominant ...

To quote another answer, stop whining and start kicking ass.
Work hard, do awesome research, approach the PI if the direct supervisor can't help. If your assessment really is correct, it won't be long before the PI lets you forge your own research path.

Who is whining?

@EarlGrey nobody.

Assuming your assessment is correct:
Can you work around them? Then do so and minimise contact (but smile politely while you grin and bear it).
If not, get out of there asap. The whole kick ass idea sounds really neat and inspiring, but life is not a movie montage.
Do not complain to the PI about the assigned supervisor. Either they already know the score, and will not want to hear it for reasons YYZ, or they don't, in which case they will not want to hear about it for reasons UVW --- point is, you are screwed either way if you make a fuss.

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Reviewer noticed a significant overlap of my submitted draft with an earlier paper of mine
in a single-blind paper reviewer one of the reviewer comments In total, 12% of the paper contains text from X et al. (2019) which is not properly cited. this cited article, is one of my works. in review responses can I discuss it? or not?

Even if it is your own article, why is 12% of the text copied?

Single blind usually means the reviewers already know who you are. If this is the case, why wouldn't you be able to discuss it? (though, even pointing out that it's your own paper might not resolve the issue).

There are two issues here; self plagiarism and possible copyright infringement. If your previous work has been published then you may not hold copyright to it any more and your rights to reuse the text may be limited. You should check that. If you do still hold copyright or a sufficient license from the publisher then you are clear on that.
But self plagiarism is a separate issue. When a scholar reads a paper they also want the context in which the ideas were developed. So, if we use another work, we cite it so that the scholar can follow links, including the citations made in the earlier text, etc. If you just copy part of your own old work without citing it, you (probably) break that chain of context. You make the current work seem new and deny the scholar the chance of easily examining the context.
If you have copyright to your work, you can probably safely reuse longer parts of the old work than if it were by another, but you still need to cite it. In such a case, quoting long passages is probably acceptable provided that you can find a suitable typographic convention to show what is old and what is new. But citation is still needed.
The fact that a reviewer has raised the issue suggests that you have some work to do. First, you need to be clear about your copyright or your license. Second, you have to provide proper citations of things you use (i.e. quote) from the old work. Failing that, you are subject to having the work rejected.
Rephrasing the old work is not the issue. That can be viewed as an attempt to disguise your intent, just as if you rephrased the work of someone else without citation.
The fact that self plagiarism is viewed differently by different people is irrelevant here. This publication has raised the issue, so it is important to you. It is also, in general, safer to be conservative in such things just to protect your own reputation. If you use it, cite it. Easy rule.

If you use text from your own works without attribution, you are self-plagiarizing. Attitudes towards self-plagiarism vary widely. Some people/publishers are opposed to it, others are surprised people even frown on it.
The fact that the editor was OK with sending your paper out to review indicates they don't consider the amount of self-plagiarism problematic. So you can probably do nothing and get away with it. Still, you might as well rewrite the problematic text or cite the relevant article; it's probably not too time-consuming, and makes everyone happy.

I think OP may be the person being accused of (self) plagiarism here.

@Maeher indeed, I misread the question. Edited answer.

I personally think that 12% of copied and pasted text is detrimental. But it depends on in which part of the paper or for what it is used. A "perfectly" phrased paragraph shouldn't change all the time, but then it should be clear it is used as discussion. The experimental part case is more obvious. So reformulated or made clear you have already published that part. +1

Sorry, "rewriting the problematic text" doesn't cure plagiarism of any kind. You need to cite what you use. You need to cite it even if you summarize or paraphrase it. If you "do nothing" your paper will likely be rejected.

I also don't understand your comments about the editor being "OK" with sending it out. Why do you think an editor would have noticed it before it was reviewed? I doubt they gave it much thought other than a skim to decide which reviewers would be appropriate.

@Buffy fair point. As for why the editor would be OK - journals run submissions through plagiarism checkers before sending them for review.

@Allure Not always.

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Are there any laws that require certain published research works to be removed from the public record?
I was wondering are there exist any restrictions as to what kind of research can be published. In particular, are there any laws in place that require certain published works to be removed from the public record?
It seems fairly odd that you see a dozen negative studies on acts which are illegal, but not a single positive one. It is known that the internet is filtered, so that might explain why you might not find positive studies using the popular search engines.
The only case I can think of would be homosexuality (where research all came out after legalisation).
Edit:
The question is regarding all studies conducted for cases which are illegal which includes but not limited to Class A drugs, paraphilias (positive study would be under sexual orientation but should not be limited to thought only) and incest. These all also have negative stigmatization so I would request if anyone is going to respond do not go on the base of you emotions, I'm attempting to test the validity of research on this case of bias and who can and cannot publish. One user mentioned 'prohibited' research, I was in the assumption that apart from conducting the illegal act you can still research on criminal cases even if it is for benefits or am I mistaken?
One case that questioned the whole research process is the  FGM case. Where you have dozens of cases of it not showing any medical benefits, but their are people who have done studies showing or at least comparing to existing cases. However what I am more interested about where are all the studies that were conducted in the countries where it is legal, they exist but they are not available in the places where you find all other researches (for all the health organisation to make the claim that there are none)?

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A current example: China imposing restrictions on the publication of coronavirus research

The existing answers already correctly state that there are of course things that you are not allowed to publish on, period - for example state secrets, or national security related research. Depending on how strict you are about the word "allowed" some industrial research that is covered by a Non-Disclosure Agreement may also fall under this umbrella.
That said, your wording and example (homosexuality) implies to me that you are more looking for some "thought control" type of laws, where you are allowed to publish about a specific topic, but your results can only point in one "acceptable" direction. This is not the case in modern democracies, although to some extent this certainly happened historically or in non-democratic societies.
In fact, people certainly do conduct research and publish papers that compare (for instance) the danger of legal and illegal drugs, and the result is not always that legal drugs are less unhealthy than illegal ones (in fact alcohol is often identified as a particularly damaging drug in such studies). Conducting such a study may require specific approval (if possession of some of the involved substances is illegal), but there is no law against publishing research that makes existing legislation look bad. In Freakonomics, the authors describe another example in detail, a study where an economist did embedded research in a gang to study their organisational management. Gang activities are certainly very illegal, but observing and reporting that gangs are actually quite well-managed from the point of view of management science is not.

The only case I can think of would be homosexuality (where research all came out after legalisation).

Consider that there are many reasons why studying something legal is much easier than something illegal. Access to study subjects is an obvious one - as long as homosexuality was illegal it is hard to identify study participants and to convince them to participate in a study. Funding for and public interest in studying activities that are illegal is typically also much lower (unless the research is specifically about preventing the illegal thing from happening). Finally, there is a certain amount of self-censorship embedded in all human societies - sure, many academics have tenure and could in principle study whatever they want, but in practice few people will voluntarily choose a touchy study subject that has the potential to make them pariahs.

I gave more detail,  and asked about the FGM case (as one example) are there any restriction setup as I fail to see why the places where it is legal does not have any research published despite documented claims it is done in medical safe environment (as stated on my post).

“This is not the case in modern democracies” Not legally, but good luck getting a study that contradicts the social zeitgeist (e.g. studies into racial differences that show certain races to be “inferior” to others) published.

@nick012000 The question is about the law.

are there...any restrictions [on] what...research can be published.

Yes. For example, national security laws restrict the publication of certain works and legality of human/animal experimentation restrict others.

Actually, for such things as human/animal experimentation, it isn't the publication that is illegal, but the experimentation behind it. And for the case of national security, it is prior constraint that restricts it, not after-the-fact retraction. (Note that the title question isn't exactly the same as that asked in the body of the question. And the two opening questions in the body are quite different. )

@Buffy The question is rather vague and has been edited. The introduction of "retraction" is due to lighthouse keeper, rather than the OP. I have tried to respond to the spirit of the question, since the actual question is unclear.