Create Diverse, Inclusive, and Respectful Environments
Improve Transparency and Accountability
Provide Support for the Target of Harassment
Take explicit steps to achieve greater gender + racial equity in hiring and in promotions. Additionally, it is recommended that there be an improvement in representation of women at entry-level positions.
Combine anti-harassment efforts with programs to promote civility. They can be intensive 6-month intervention programs geared to enhance employees’ interpersonal awareness skills, respect, and civility.
Training should focus on changing behavior, not on changing beliefs. These programs should clearly communicate behavioral expectations and specify consequences for failing to meet those expectations, not solely on the avoidance of legal liability.
Utilize training approaches that develop skills among participants, such as bystander intervention training or behavior modeling, to train participants to interrupt and intervene when inappropriate behavior occurs, and report problematic behavior.
Develop and share clear, accessible, and consistent policies on sexual harassment and standards of behavior. Make clear that people will be held accountable for violating the policies.
Be as transparent as possible about how the institution is handling reports of sexual harassment.
Utilize climate surveys to further investigate and address systemic sexual harassment. The results of these surveys should be shared publicly to demonstrate that the institution takes the issue seriously.
Consider sexual harassment equally important as research misconduct in terms of its effect on the integrity of research.
Provide means for the target of harassment to access support services (social, health care, legal, and career).
Provide alternative and less formal means of recording information about the experience and reporting the experience – anonymous, confidential reporting systems outside of the usual workplace hierarchy. Explore restorative justice processes as well.
Develop approaches to prevent the target from experiencing or fearing retaliation in academic settings. Be prepared to take action to ensure the target of harassment is able to continue their work.
Strive for Strong and Diverse Leadership
Diffuse Hierarchal Relationships between Trainees and Faculty
College and university presidents, provosts, deans, department chairs, and program directors must make the reduction and prevention of sexual harassment an explicit goal of their future.
Support and facilitate leaders at every level (university, school/college, department, lab, etc) in developing skills in leadership, conflict resolution, mediation, negotiation, and de-escalation, and ensure a clear understanding of policies and procedures for handling sexual harassment issues.
Leadership training programs should include training on how to recognize and handle sexual harassment issues, and how to take explicit steps to create a culture and climate to reduce and prevent sexual harassment – and not just protect the institution against liability.
Adopt mentoring networks or committee-based advising that allows for a diversity of potential pathways for advice, funding, support, and informal reporting of harassment.
Develop ways research funding can be provided to the trainee rather than just the principal investigator.
Content Source
The content on this page is from a brochure developed The National Academic of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
Interventions for Preventing Sexual Harassment. 2018. Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (800): 624-642.