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Silence Comes at a Cost: Sexual

Harassment Reporting in STEM

Maria Daniella Douglas* and Barbara C. Bruno, Hawaiʻi Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa,
Honolulu, Hawai'i, 96822,USA

“In order to defeat the darkness, you must been reported, how these claims are being A LOOK AT THE TOP 100
bring it into the light.” —Seth Adam Smith, investigated, and their outcomes, including GEOSCIENCE UNIVERSITIES
Rip Van Winkle and the Pumpkin Lantern disciplinary measures taken. This creates While there are no laws that require U.S.
(2016, p. 113) the perception of sexual harassment intoler- universities to publicly release annual
ance, which is critically important in reports on sexual harassment, NASEM
Sexual harassment claims and their inves- spreading awareness of resources for sexual (2018) strongly encourages them to do so.
tigations bring unwanted attention to an ugly harassment victims and preventing future So, how many institutions are actually
side of academia. Informing the public of incidents of harassment. These reports also doing this? To find out, we searched the
these awful events can paint the institution in hold the institutions accountable for pro- websites of the top 100 geoscience universi-
a poor light. Such reports can also empower tecting their students and employees and ties (Nature Index, 2019) to see how many
other victims to come forward, potentially adhering to their own set policies and had released at least one report since
leading to more bad press for the school. So, procedures. January 2019 that follows NASEM guide-
many institutions are understandably loath However, no law requires universities to lines. Specifically, we looked for reports
to publicize the prevalence of sexual miscon- release such reports. The Clery Act (1990) that included data on (1) the number of sex-
duct on their campuses. However, this silence requires U.S. colleges and universities to ual harassment claims made against stu-
comes at a cost, because it communicates publish annual reports on campus crimes. dents and faculty; (2) their investigations
that sexually harassing behavior is tolerated. Since many types of sexual harassment are and outcomes; and (3) sanctions taken on
In contrast, regularly informing campus not considered crimes, they are not included claims that were found to have cause.
communities of sexual harassment claims in the mandated Clery reports. Additionally, Several search terms were used in addition
and their outcomes communicates intoler- the Clery Act does not require reporting on to the name of the institution, including sex-
ance, which can create a safer environment the status of pending claims. Thus, Clery ual harassment, sexual misconduct, annual
to study and work. reports are a good first step, but fall well report, and Title IX. If the report could not be
short of meeting the NASEM (2018) stan- found within 30 minutes of active searching,
REPORTING COMMUNICATES dard for sexual harassment reporting. then the institution was determined not to
INTOLERANCE Similarly, many institutions conduct cam- have publicly released a report.
The National Academies of Sciences, pus climate surveys, which are largely aimed Of the top 100 geoscience universities in
Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM, 2018) at gathering anonymous data to inform poli- the U.S., we found only 26 to have released
recently published a report aimed at miti- cies regarding campus sexual misconduct reports that met all three criteria (Table 1).
gating sexual harassment in higher educa- (Association of American Universities, 2015). An additional eight institutions released
tion. The report states: “There is often a However, because these surveys are anony- reports that met two of the three criteria;
perceived tolerance for sexual harassment mous, institutions cannot properly investi- most of these did not describe the sanctions
in academia, which is the most potent pre- gate survey responses, let alone impose imposed (Table 2). Thus, two-thirds (66%)
dictor of sexual harassment occurring in an sanctions on perpetrators. of the top 100 geoscience institutions fall
organization… The evidence suggests that Last year, NASEM (2019) launched an considerably short of the NASEM (2018)
the workplace climate is seen as intolerant Action Collaborative to address and prevent recommendation.
of sexual harassment when… the campus sexual harassment, in partnership with more In contrast, the vast majority (eight, or
community is regularly informed about than sixty higher education institutions and 80%) of the top ten geoscience institutions
how the institution is handling/attending to research organizations. The Action Collab- released detailed reports on sexual miscon-
claims” (p. 3). orative may be the next big step in the battle duct, and many announced the publication of
This key recommendation suggests that against sexual harassment in higher educa- these reports as an important step in promot-
institutions should regularly inform the tion as it develops research-based policies ing public safety and institutional account-
campus community about the number and and promising practices that promote a cam- ability. Some of these schools noted an
types of sexual harassment claims that have pus culture of civility and respect. increase in sexual misconduct reporting

*Corresponding author: dd9496@hawaii.edu

24 GSA Today | August 2020

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