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Course corrections to address gender harassment in science
Kathryn B. H. Clancy, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Anthropology
Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation | Beckman Institute of Advanced Science & Technology | Women and Gender in Global Perspective
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Executive Board, Biological Seat, American Anthropology Association
USGS | November 29, 2018
Outline for today
• What is sexual harassment and is it really such a big deal?
• What are the ways in which people and institutions veer from the best course?
• How can we course correct and address the underlying problems that cause harassment?
WHAT IS SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND IS IT REALLY SUCH A BIG DEAL?
Sexual harassment is rarely “sexual”Come-ons Put-downs
55%31%
8% 6%
92% of sexual harassment involves “put-downs”
Gender harassment
Gender harassment andunwanted sexual attention
Unwanted sexual attention
All 3 types
Adapted from Schneider et al 1997
Cortina, Cantalupo, others
Sexual jokes or imagery in a talk
A man standing over a woman while
disagreeing with her
Sabotage of someone’s grant, labwork, equipment, promotion
Asking a new mother if she really plans to come back to work
Sexist comments about aptitude
Unwanted sexual
advances, sexual coercion
Put-downs
Come-onsGeneral incivility
Adapted from Lim and Cortina 2005
“Selective” incivilities:Targeted at certain genders, races, sexualitiesCortina et al 2013
“So who did you fuck to get up the ladder?”
“Did you really do the research or are you pushing an ideology?”
Clancy et al 2014 PLOS ONE
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Never Rarely Sometimes Often
Frequency of observed sexist remarks in astronomy/planetary science sample
Men
Women
Adapted from Clancy et al 2017 JGR Planets
Clancy et al 2014
Field sciences: female trainees targeted the most
Clancy et al 2017
Astro: WOC targeted the most
Clancy et al 2014
Field sciences: senior perpetrators of female scientists
0
20
40
60
80
100
Faculty/staff Student
Grad school: in general peers harass peers
Women
Men
Adapted from Rosenthal et al 2016
YEAH, BUT IS IT REALLY THAT BAD?
Type of harassment (come on, put down)
Severity of personal and professional
outcomes
FrequencyPerpetrator
power
Bergman et al 2002, Sojo et al 2016
40% of women of color felt unsafe in their workplace
Clancy et al 2017
Women of color and white women skip professional events when they
feel unsafe at work
Clancy et al 2017
Lim and Cortina 2005
Social context affects WOC scientists’ experiences of incivility and harassment
Rodrigues and Clancy in prep
Isolation Gaslighting
They just were so angry at me for no reason. At least I couldn’t think, just like you said, maybe things you cannot prove. Yeah. Maybe they think, “They can’t be treating you like this because you are a woman, and Asian, and you look like—there’s no bigger guy behind you.” Even so, I just don’t understand it. There’s no need to be rude. Unless I did something to them, there’s no reason. (Non-tenure track woman of color science faculty)
Rodrigues and Clancy in prep
Social support Meta-awareness
If I didn’t have those other female students that were there, I don’t think I would have – I think I might have left the office saying, “What did I say or do that caused him to get angry?” (Tenured woman of color science faculty)
Rodrigues and Clancy in prep
COURSE CORRECTIONS
OFF COURSE: INSTITUTIONS ARE OVERLY FOCUSED ON THE “SEX” OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT
1
“Sexual harassment is less about conquest, more about contempt. It’s
less about lechery, more about assholery.”
1
Lilia Cortina, personal communication
Course correction: Understand that sexual harassment is contempt for women
• Focus on promoting compassionate and collegial behavior
• Focus on sanctioning cruelty and discrimination
• Consider common practices and whether they contribute to an environment of harassment
1
OFF COURSE: INSTITUTIONS ARE OVERLY FOCUSED ON LEGAL SOLUTIONS
2
“The rules of employer liability for harassment are calculated to ensure that employers adopt basic policies
and procedures with respect to workplace harassment, not,
surprisingly, to ensure that they actually prevent it.”
2
Grossman 2003
Course correction: Take proactive measures to address culture and climate
• Focus on sustained and specific analysis of your workplace
• Start addressing the systemic problems you know about now
• Consider sanctions below the legal threshold for bad actors
2
OFF COURSE: OVERLY DEFERENTIAL TO TRADITION AND HONORING THE PAST
3
3
Female engineering undergrad: “‘We’re going to take pictures on the statue because we’re
the quintessential engineer.’ So all of a sudden, I saw quite a few of my friends like
that became their profile picture … there was such a confidence in it and such a pride in it.”
Cross et al in prep
https://dailyillini.com/news/2017/04/28/statue-engineering-quad-brings-representation-diversity/
3
Course correction: Move from tradition to inclusion
• Replace racist mascots, sexist cheers, exclusive traditions with new, inclusive ones
• Fix sexist fraternity/field site/professional society cultures
• Address sex and race imbalances in leadership
3
OFF COURSE: TRYING TO ROOT OUT “BAD APPLES” ONE BY ONE
4
4“Therein lies the most common trap we fall into when trying
to make the internet a safer place: framing it as a war of good people versus bad people instead of looking at acceptable and unacceptable ways to treat each other. ‘Good people’ get off
the hook for doing bad things, while ‘bad people’ aren't considered worth understanding or empathizing with and
aren't encouraged to progress, evolve, and do better.
“The question isn't ‘What the hell is wrong with those people?’ It's ‘What the hell is wrong with us?’”
Zoe Quinn, Crash Override
Course correction: Focus on “whole barrels”
• Eliminate male domination in terms of overall numbers and those in leadership
• Reduce tolerance for harassment
• Develop trauma-informed communication policies
• Use evidence-based training: bystander, perspective-taking
4
Mission: The USGS serves the Nation by providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life.
Thank you!• Collaborators: Katharine Lee, Erica Rodgers,
Christina Richey; Robin Nelson, Julienne Rutherford, Katie Hinde; Jenny Amos, Kelly Cross, Princess Imoukhuede, Ruby Mendenhall; Michelle Rodrigues; Mary Rogers; Lauren Aycock, Zahra Hazari, Eric Brewe, Renee Michelle Goertzen, Thomas Hodapp
• Trainees: Postdoc: Michelle Rodrigues; Grad
students: Katharine Lee, Merri Wilson, Isis Rose
• Funding: NSF, ILC Leadership Fellow, CAS Beckman Fellow, AAS CSWA