Gender Harassment at Work and In School: Seeing It; Solving It (Panel Discussion)

Tamara Floyd Smith, Jennifer J. VanAntwerp, Shruti Misra, Alicia Mullen, Eve A. Riskin, Denise Wilson

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

Abstract

The landscape of sexual harassment has evolved since #MeToo went viral in 2017. Thankfully, more violent and more egregious forms of sexual harassment, including sexual coercion and unwanted sexual attention, have declined. Unfortunately, gender harassment and discrimination appear to have increased in the workplace and schools, including in engineering. Worse, harassment continues to be substantially underreported, especially within engineering. Since the term gender harassment is often confusing and ambiguous, the panel discussion will begin with a short introduction to both sexist and sexual gender harassment, comparing definitions between social science research and U.S. law. The panelists will crystallize these definitions with stories of their own lived experiences. The moderator will then pose questions to the panelists to develop a broad perspective on solutions to gender harassment. This panel discussion emphasizes practical strategies to improve the landscape of gender harassment in engineering work and education. The discussion will be built around a framework drawn from a recent book [1] that explores the current status of sexual harassment in engineering. Our five panelists are a diverse group of women engineers representing multiple sexual orientations, races, and family backgrounds. Our panelists will present their experiences with gender harassment, lessons learned, their responses to the harassment, and paths forward. The panel will emphasize approaches and responses to gender harassment that can be implemented from the bottom up - by individuals or localized peer or work groups - without relying on top leadership in an organization to take the initiative to transform culture or take definitive and proportionate action in response to individual harassment cases.

Original languageEnglish
JournalASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings
StatePublished - 25 Jun 2023
Event2023 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition - The Harbor of Engineering: Education for 130 Years, ASEE 2023 - Baltimore, United States
Duration: 25 Jun 202328 Jun 2023

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