A staggering 70% of female scientists are sexually harrassed while doing fieldwork

[Deleted]

So, here's the article this is taken from which I'd suggest you read because it says a LOT of stuff about women in STEM fields and so on, and talks a bit about how the whole "well women get married and have children" thing isn't particularly relevant as the imbalances still apply to unmarried childless women: http://www.autostraddle.com/a-stagge...ldwork-252478/



Now, let's take a look at this...

They asked a bunch of people about harassment, and 666 people responded. Of the people who responded, 77.5% were women. 70% of women and 40% of men reported experiencing sexual harassment while conducting field research. 26% of women and 6% of men reported sexual assault (defined as “unwanted physical contact”). Here are some graphs taken from the article:



So, women are harassed and assaulted more often than men, but when men are harassed or assaulted it tends to come form a peer or someone underneath them on the food chain, where with women it tends to be from their superiors which as the article suggests, hints at power imbalances and so on. It's pretty easy to see how a culture of being preyed upon by your superiors is going to discourage women from entering these kinds of fields.

There's also a pretty big case here for teaching people, and particularly men, how to go about reporting these things, and needing better systems in place to resolve cases when they are reported particularly (in both cases) when the harassment or assault happens in the field rather than on campus. It's also worth nothing that men are less likely to talk about these things, even in surveys and studies and stuff, than women are.

Anyway, pretty serious implications for women in STEM fields. What do you think? How can this be resolved / stamped out?

[Deleted]

The same way you resolve it everywhere. report it. But its not just a Female related thing. even in their own data they point at flaws.

40% of men reported.... yet women are "twice as likely to report..." So we could argue that the numbers (theoretically could be similar)

Not only are women experiencing harassment and assault in greater numbers than men, but the actual nature of the assault can cause greater psychological harm

The sample size really is too small to justify this properly. bt back to above, Ive women are twice as likely to report it, yet only 30% higher, surely the figures even out when we factor in unreported issues?

The article seems.. very selective. Looking at the data as you even point out yourself. From 56 male reports, only 1 is reported?

I dont really think it has implications in STEM fields any more than it does in other fields. The higher staff in these fields are generally older (40s+) and are likely not use to being shot down over things like this.
the fact that less than 20% of women who say they had "unwanted physical contact" knew how to report it is pretty astounding.

If anything i would say the data points more to the issue of Men not actually doing anything about harassment in the workplace. Most likely due to the constant perception of "men cant be harrased" ect that people seem to have.

Only way to stop things like this happening is for people t grow up really on boths sides. But I really REALLY hate articles that try to push these issues as a female issue. It cheapens the issue alltogether.

[Deleted]

BS
10chars

[Velaniz]

That definition of sexual harassment seems like it was excessively inclusive, especially if 40% of men reported sexual harassment (STEM fields being male dominant and all).

[PizzaSHARK]

That definition of sexual harassment seems like it was excessively inclusive, especially if 40% of men reported sexual harassment (STEM fields being male dominant and all).

You can't trust those rabbits <_<

[Deleted]

The same way you resolve it everywhere. report it. But its not just a Female related thing. even in their own data they point at flaws.

40% of men reported.... yet women are "twice as likely to report..." So we could argue that the numbers (theoretically could be similar)



The sample size really is too small to justify this properly. bt back to above, Ive women are twice as likely to report it, yet only 30% higher, surely the figures even out when we factor in unreported issues?

The article seems.. very selective. Looking at the data as you even point out yourself. From 56 male reports, only 1 is reported?

I dont really think it has implications in STEM fields any more than it does in other fields. The higher staff in these fields are generally older (40s+) and are likely not use to being shot down over things like this.
the fact that less than 20% of women who say they had "unwanted physical contact" knew how to report it is pretty astounding.

If anything i would say the data points more to the issue of Men not actually doing anything about harassment in the workplace. Most likely due to the constant perception of "men cant be harrased" ect that people seem to have.

Only way to stop things like this happening is for people t grow up really on boths sides. But I really REALLY hate articles that try to push these issues as a female issue. It cheapens the issue alltogether.

I think there's a bit of confusion around the use of "reported" with like... if you survey someone and they report being harrassed, that means they are telling you they have been harrassed but not neccesarily "reported to the authorities"

I don't think it's trying to push it as a female only issue, but it is focusing on the fact that a significantly larger number of women than men are being harassed, at least judging by the 666 responders. It's absolutley an issue that men are not reporting it but given that the site is a website for dykes, not many men going to be reading it so that's not what the article focused on.

[Tyrgannus]

How can 0 men be aware of a mechanism to report contact yet 1 actually succeeded in doing it?

[Deleted]

How can 0 men be aware of a mechanism to report contact yet 1 actually succeeded in doing it?

I don't know the specifics of how the questions were phrased but I would assume it means either that the men were not aware of the mechanism to report BEFORE the abuse and then ahd to find out afterwards... or that they were not aware of what official channels a report should be filed, but told a superior anyway

[vetinari]

How can 0 men be aware of a mechanism to report contact yet 1 actually succeeded in doing it?

Probably the 1 guy interpreted it as "did you know of the mechanism before the incident happened"

[Vilendor]

These days not mutual flirting = harassment. You have to start somehow, figure out if the other people is in it. If i accept the rejection after the first warning and not flirting anymore, it shouldn't count as harassment.

[Stelio Kontos]

These days not mutual flirting = harassment. You have to start somehow, figure out if the other people is in it. If i accept the rejection after the first warning and not flirting anymore, it shouldn't count as harassment.

Honestly, if you feel you're dealing with a woman that will claim harassment for a simple, non-crude flirt, you're better off speaking to her like a business associate and nothing more. And if she's interested, it's better to just not go there with a woman like that, or let her initiate but be ready to end it at the first sign of Cray-cray.

[Ratyrel]

I find it odd that there is no figure for how many people they asked. The data's absolute significance surely depends on whether they asked 200000000 people or 1000.

[Deleted]

I think there's a bit of confusion around the use of "reported" with like... if you survey someone and they report being harrassed, that means they are telling you they have been harrassed but not neccesarily "reported to the authorities"

I don't think it's trying to push it as a female only issue, but it is focusing on the fact that a significantly larger number of women than men are being harassed, at least judging by the 666 responders. It's absolutley an issue that men are not reporting it but given that the site is a website for dykes, not many men going to be reading it so that's not what the article focused on.

Even given that definition of reported, which was what i was going with, By the articles own admission if women are twice as likely to report harassment how accurate are the figures? Also how are they classing the "comment" section of harrasment.

You go to Liverpool as a woman and i guarantee you will be called "Love" at least 10 times in a day. Its a very common social thing yet if you wanted to beat the stick you could claim harrassment every time right?

Its very much making it out as a female issue. Considering the rate of which they report. It should have been put as >40% of ALL field workers.... Instead they chose to near ignore the male figures throughout the whole article and make it come across like all men do in the field is harass women. Considering the ridiculously small sample size its nothing but a flame bait article to me. they even include this..

While most universities have codes of conduct and structures in place to address sexual assault on campus (though their follow-through is disappointing), fieldwork generally has less clear structures.

this is where i really call BS. (bold part) the structures dont change just because you are off campus. All the universities i have ever dealt with have a set policy. nowhere in it does it mention that "n the field it doesnt really matter though" which is what that comment implies.

[Tyrgannus]

On a more on topic response as opposed to "that's an odd thing in the graph", I believe there is an odd (and totally bullisht) sexual desperation that seems pervasive among a lot of men, pushing them to do some really stupid stuff. I do believe it is more difficult to have casual sex as a man, I really do, but the workplace is not the place to be looking for it and being overly aggressive about it is not an effective tactic in garnering positive attention. I wish I could explain it, but I can't. Unfortunately, I feel resolving the issue might be linked in understanding human psyche better than I do.

[theostrichsays]

Only 658 responses ma'am, 142+516. But on mobile so I can't open the link, but the comment portion, 1/3 of men and over 1/2 of women received comments, did they define that part, or was it just simply left at comments (not sexually explicit by definition, just something that made them uncomfortable)? Just curious is all, since as I said I cna't open it while on mobile =(

The 1/6 of women saying they knew how to report it, I can't imagnie they had no idea how to report sexual harassment as much as maybe they didn't have a means they trusted, since so few who reported also felt satisfied. These are relatively intelligent people, I just fail to believe they had NO idea on how to report it, which creates a different conversation on why did they not feel comfortable. Anyways sorry for rambling.

Edit:

but the workplace is not the place

I used to preach to young NCO's about that exact thing. Really figured most people would have this down pat.

[Deleted]

I find it odd that there is no figure for how many people they asked. The data's absolute significance surely depends on whether they asked 200000000 people or 1000.

The study itself says it was done via an internet survey, so it's not really possible to know how many people saw it and didn't reply

[Deleted]

I find it odd that there is no figure for how many people they asked. The data's absolute significance surely depends on whether they asked 200000000 people or 1000.

the survey was sent out on social media and on Clancy’s blog at Scientific American...

Ive never even heard of the latter. And what social media. My hunch it its been targeted to get a figure they can use to create an article for a good "shock" headline

[Summer]

Well I'm a woman scientist and have never been harassed and really, the average male colleague is more like an endearing nerd than some sort of macho player. I'm actually sort of giggling at the thought. Haven't ever heard my friends complain either.

But I'm sure it varies in different cultures, I live in Finland so probably one of the better places.

[Deleted]

Only 658 responses ma'am, 142+516. But on mobile so I can't open the link, but the comment portion, 1/3 of men and over 1/2 of women received comments, did they define that part, or was it just simply left at comments (not sexually explicit by definition, just something that made them uncomfortable)? Just curious is all, since as I said I cna't open it while on mobile =(

The 1/6 of women saying they knew how to report it, I can't imagnie they had no idea how to report sexual harassment as much as maybe they didn't have a means they trusted, since so few who reported also felt satisfied. These are relatively intelligent people, I just fail to believe they had NO idea on how to report it, which creates a different conversation on why did they not feel comfortable. Anyways sorry for rambling.

The article talks about how on campus harrassment usually has a very clear route to take reports down and systems in place to handle reports and so on, but field work is off campus and different, so easy to see how few people would know the correct way to go about reporting it

[Keyboard Champion]

I will now sexually harass my coworker...FOR SCIENCE!