Study: Sexual harassment rife in science, culture change urged

WASHINGTON — Sexual harassment is rampant in academic science, and colleges and universities that train new scientists need a systemwide culture change so women won’t be bullied out of the field, a national advisory group said Tuesday.

In fact, it’s time to treat sexual harassment as seriously as research misconduct, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine concluded in its recommendations.

While women are still outnumbered by men, universities are recruiting more women to science-related fields than ever. The new report makes clear that pervasive sexual harassment puts those gains at risk.

“If we are losing talent in science, engineering and medicine, then that is something that is detrimental to our country and quite frankly to the world,” said Wellesley College President Dr. Paula Johnson, who co-chaired the report.

Assault or unwanted sexual advances are making #MeToo headlines but don’t tell the whole story, the report found. Most common in science is what the National Academies termed gender harassment, a hostile environment rife with sexist commentary and crude behavior that can negatively impact a woman’s education and career, as well as her mental and physical health.

“Even when the sexual harassment entails nothing but sexist insult without any unwanted sexual pursuit, it takes a toll,” said University of Michigan psychology professor Lilia Cortina, a member of the committee that spent two years studying the problem.

The report cited a University of Texas system survey that found about 20 percent of female science students, more than a quarter of female engineering students and more than 40 percent of female medical students said they had experienced sexual harassment from faculty or staff.

Minority women experience “a double whammy of discrimination,” Cortina added.

The hierarchical nature of science can make it difficult to report and root out such behavior, with scientists-in-training often dependent on a single highprofile mentor for research funding, job recommendations and fieldwork in remote locations.

Despite attempts to address harassment in recent years, most academic policies and training consist of “symbolic compliance” with anti-discrimination law that doesn’t have much impact, the report found. Those policies typically rely on a woman filing a formal harassment complaint before the institution takes any action to improve educational or working conditions. The report said women rarely file those reports because they think, correctly, they’ll face some form of retaliation.

Among the report’s recommendations is that

institutions find alternatives to traditional hierarchy, such as mentoring networks, so that students and junior faculty aren’t dependent on one supervisor.

It also suggests that Congress and state legislatures consider prohibiting confidentiality agreements and other actions that shield harassers.