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