How Can Academic Culture Change to Combat Sexual Harassment?

Academia is second only to the military in its prevalence of sexual harassment against women, surveys report, and STEM fields are no exception. Sexual harassment harms individuals, science, and society. Although awareness of the issue has grown in recent years, legal mechanisms like Title IX do little to prevent it from happening, and bureaucratic mandates often alienate survivors.

It’s time to move beyond compliance to focus on prevention, culture, and creating ways for survivors to guide change. Two articles in Issues advocate upstream approaches. Early career activist Vassiki Chauhan argues that sexual harassment should be framed as a workplace safety concern, with collective bargaining to ensure survivors are supported. And Karen Stubaus, part of the National Academies’ Action Collaborative to prevent sexual harassment in higher education, describes new approaches to effectively hold faculty accountable for sexual harassment, including allowing promotion and tenure committees to consider conduct toward colleagues alongside other metrics.

On Thursday, April 20 at 1 PM ET, join Barnard College cognitive neuroscientist Vassiki Chauhan, Rutgers University vice president for academic affairs Karen Stubaus, and Purdue University gender and American studies researcher Cheryl Cooky in a discussion moderated by Science reporter Meredith Wadman on what it will take to shift from an academic culture that permits sexual harassment to one that prevents it.

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