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

[theostrichsays]

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

Ahhh okay that makes more sense. Like I said I couldn't open it, so I appreciate the quick response.

[nextormento]

Reading both the article and the survey, and analyzing the broad choice and adjetivation, I can safely conclude the article writers have a tendency to misplace importance.

[Ryme]

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.

A common thought, but it's not actually true. A random enough sample of around 400 people is enough to accurately represent a population of around a million, for example. (95% confidence level, 5% interval)

As to this data, it's not really good enough to draw any interesting conclusions about anything since it's not based on anything scientific and falls prey to numerous social construct issues.

[Deleted]

Ahhh okay that makes more sense. Like I said I couldn't open it, so I appreciate the quick response.

I think it's why it's such a difficult area. You're in this middle ground between like, is this a university / organisation / whatever issue, where I should take it up with them even though it happened off campus, or is this the sort of thing I should take to the police, or what. Like it's not totally in university land because it's out on field work, but not totally in "everyday life" either because you are still "on the job" with for your university.

[Deleted]

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

Field work is no different. the policies dont change nor does the structure. If they want to claim that people dont know who is in charge of the overall project then they dont belong in the field anyway.
Field work ig very structured because if has more rigorous H&S areas to watch over.

Simple really. if you ont know who is in charge. Stop working, Find out, then go back to work. Dont carry on working regardless when you dont know who you are reporting to

[Bigbazz]

But how much of sexual harassment does "your hair looks nice" count for?

[Deleted]

But how much of sexual harassment does "your hair looks nice" count for?

Depends what level of "feminist" you ask.

To normal people, none at all. tho crazy psycho nut jobs... well

[Deleted]

Field work is no different. the policies dont change nor does the structure. If they want to claim that people dont know who is in charge of the overall project then they dont belong in the field anyway.
Field work ig very structured because if has more rigorous H&S areas to watch over.

Simple really. if you ont know who is in charge. Stop working, Find out, then go back to work. Dont carry on working regardless when you dont know who you are reporting to

And what happens if it's the person in charge there who harrassed you? Since that seems to generally be the case with women here

[Stelio Kontos]

Depends what level of "feminist" you ask.

To normal people, none at all. tho crazy psycho nut jobs... well

That's why it's smarter to just not compliment at all. I also call them "bro" like I would any male co-worker.

A bro for you, and a bro for you. And you, and you.

[Ryme]

To their credit, they actually underline why the study isn't very useful within the study itself:

The data presented here represent the first systematic investigation of field site work environment and experiences, particularly as they relate to sexual harassment and assault. These data are limited in several important ways. First, incivility, chilly climate, sexual harassment, and sexual assault are biopsychologically intense experiences for the targets, witnesses/bystanders, and perpetrators. Recall of these experiences has the potential to precipitate emotional distress. The sample was potentially biased by ethical, pre-participation disclosure that questions regarding these topics were in the survey. Some people may have been more likely to participate in the survey if they had negative experiences, some people may have been more likely to forward the survey link to individuals who had previously disclosed negative experiences in private conversation (snowball sampling), and some people may have been less inclined to participate in this survey to avoid emotional stress of sharing their experiences. Several colleagues directly informed the study authors that they would not participate because revisiting their experiences was too traumatic. Thus, it is unclear if the self-selection of this sample produces over- or under-reporting of negative field experiences.

One potential concern one could have was that individuals with negative experiences could take the survey multiple times, becoming disproportionately represented in the dataset of their experiences. However, nearly all respondents provided a unique identifier in the form of an e-mail address (N = 628, 94.3%). Comparison between the group that provided a unique identifier and those that did not (N = 38) revealed that the two groups did not significantly differ in the composition of their gender, sexual orientations, race/ethnicity, ages, countries of origin, or career stages (all p>0.4). We combined the two groups for subsequent analyses, but did evaluate for differences in harassment and assault (see results).

Although we have substantial confidence that each participant is unique in the dataset, multiple individuals may have worked at the same field site. In the interest of anonymity, the survey did not include questions about specific field site locations preventing nesting these data in regression analyses. As such, these survey data neither allow us to estimate the rate of these experiences among our trainees and colleagues, nor do they allow any estimation of the prevalence of field sites with a hostile work environment and/or systematic abuse. That said, the large number of respondents from across dozens of disciplines and high prevalence of harassment and assaults suggests that the results presented here are likely not attributable to only a handful of hostile field sites. Some field sites represent multi-institutional and international collaborations with researchers from a diversity of cultures, disciplines, and laboratories. Such arrangements have complex and, at times, delicate management dynamics, which were not evaluated in the present study.

[pateuvasiliu]

Actually, a staggering 70% of female scientists CLAIM to be harrassed.

Can feminists please stop being so disgustingly misandristic that they instantly believe a woman's word over a man's?

It's '' unreported rape '' all over again, where if a girl says she was raped then obviously we assume any random man is a rapist, so the girl must speak the truth, right?

[Deleted]

A common thought, but it's not actually true. A random enough sample of around 400 people is enough to accurately represent a population of around a million, for example. (95% confidence level, 5% interval)

As to this data, it's not really good enough to draw any interesting conclusions about anything since it's not based on anything scientific and falls prey to numerous social construct issues.

Well, it's like... I don't think it's strong enough to say anything categorically, but definitely strong enough to say "there is clearly a problem here that needs to be addressed or looked into further"

[nextormento]

A common thought, but it's not actually true. A random enough sample of around 400 people is enough to accurately represent a population of around a million, for example. (95% confidence level, 5% interval)

As to this data, it's not really good enough to draw any interesting conclusions about anything since it's not based on anything scientific and falls prey to numerous social construct issues.

You're absolutely right.
The survey even discusses how biased it is: respondents were not chosen from a random sample, but opted in through online surveying. Some people are more/less likely to take the survey if they have some experience with the topic.
It's cool that they're taking steps to figure how to measure the impact of harrassment in STEM fields. But to derive any conclusion whatsoever from this survey would be nuts.

Well, it's like... I don't think it's strong enough to say anything categorically, but definitely strong enough to say "there is clearly a problem here that needs to be addressed or looked into further"

We knew that already. That's why they're conducting the survey.

[Deleted]

Actually, a staggering 70% of female scientists CLAIM to be harrassed.

Can feminists please stop being so disgustingly misandristic that they instantly believe a woman's word over a man's?

It's '' unreported rape '' all over again, where if a girl says she was raped then obviously we assume any random man is a rapist, so the girl must speak the truth, right?

Not sure where you're getting the misandry from, and how sure how you can justify that while claiming huge numbers of women are just... liars or something. Anonymous liars with nothing to gain by lieing on an anonymous internet survey, a survey that, as they are scientists, are unlikely to want to muddy the results of. Okay

- - - Updated - - -

You're absolutely right.
The survey even discusses how biased it is: respondents were not chosen from a random sample, but oped in through online surveying. Some people are more/less likely to take the survey if they have some experience with the topic.
It's cool that they're taking steps to figure how to measure the impact of harrassment in STEM fields. But to derive any conclusion whatsoever from this survey would be nuts.

Well, no, you can't really take anything concrete from it, but it's enough to show that there is a really big problem and that it needs a lot of further study

[Simulacrum]

Even ignoring the thing where social sciences are unreliable in general, that's a pretty extreme extrapolation right there, for a study that only recovered 516 replies from a majority of young, self-identified anthopologists (including "psychological anthropologists", which sounds like something about as far from science as you can get while still getting away with calling yourself a scientist). Implying that this is a "STEM fields and so on" problem based on that is pretty dishonest, as is implying that it's a 'any' field problem rather than a societal thing in general (which people within the fields themselves have no real power to do anything about).

It also makes other unreasonable implications, like that women are concerned for their physical safety because of this sexual harrassment, even though the rates of sexual harrassment don't correlate to the rates of concern for their safety; 70% to 40% compared to 43% to 32%.

Overall, it just seems like yet another ideological propaganda piece blaming men for women underperforming.

[Deleted]

And what happens if it's the person in charge there who harrassed you? Since that seems to generally be the case with women here

Then you report it back to the campus as you would normally.. There is always someone to report it to.

[Deleted]

Then you report it back to the campus as you would normally.. There is always someone to report it to.

Yes, there always is, or should be, but you can feel pretty helpless in such a situation and like, "well it happened off campus so am I even able to report it on campus?" and like, if the person who would normally be in charge of recieving such reports is the one who harrassed you then it's like "im in this shit situation and don't know where to go" and from the outside it's easy to be like "Well you just go one person up the food chain" but when you are in that situation it's not always immediately obvious.

[Self Inflicted Wounds]

But how much of sexual harassment does "your hair looks nice" count for?

I wouldn't ask that here.

[Shuji V2]

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

You don't assume. I don't think I have to explain why.

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

Lol. This makes it a super trustworthy study!! But are you kidding me though? Anyone who wanted could have manipulated the outcome in their favor. I wouldn't take this for truth.

[nextormento]

Well, no, you can't really take anything concrete from it, but it's enough to show that there is a really big problem and that it needs a lot of further study

It sure is enough to produce some sensationalist headlines and thread titles .