Sexual Harassment

ONE IN TEN FEMALE GRADUATE STUDENTS AT MAJOR RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES REPORT BEING SEXUALLY HARASSED BY A FACULTY MEMBER. [source]

Sexual harassment in academia refers to unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal, non-verbal, or physical conduct of a sexual nature that creates a hostile or inequitable academic or professional environment. This type of abuse undermines trust, safety, and equal access to opportunities in education.

Examples of Academic Sexual Harassment

Quid Pro Quo Harassment

Definition: When academic or professional benefits are conditioned on submission to sexual advances or favors.

• Examples for Students:

  • A professor offers a better grade in exchange for a date.

  • A research advisor implies funding for a project depends on personal interactions.

  • A teaching assistant pressures a student for romantic involvement, leveraging their grading authority.

• Examples for Employees:

  • A department head promises tenure or a promotion in return for sexual favors.

  • A supervisor makes inappropriate advances during professional development events.

  • A colleague suggests career support in exchange for a personal relationship.

Hostile Environment Harassment

Power-Differential Exploitation

Gender-Based Harassment

Cyber Harassment

Third-Party Sexual Harassment

Vicarious Sexual Harassment

Institutional Harassment

What Can Institutions Do Better?

• Strengthen Reporting Systems: Institutions should provide accessible, anonymous, and transparent channels for reporting sexual harassment.

• Enforce Policies Against Retaliation: Protect individuals who report harassment from further harm or career setbacks.

• Provide Training and Awareness Programs: Educate students, faculty, and staff about what constitutes harassment and how to prevent it.

• Monitor and Evaluate Campus Culture: Conduct regular climate surveys to identify and address systemic issues related to sexual harassment.

• Support Survivors: Establish dedicated resources, such as counseling services and advocacy offices, for individuals affected by harassment.

What to Do if You Suspect Sexual Harassment?

Ask yourself these questions:

• Know Your Rights: Familiarize yourself with university policies on discrimination.

• Document the Behavior: Record dates, times, and descriptions of incidents, including witnesses and communications. If you at any point in time feel unsafe, you are permitted by law to record the conversation. Check your university's privacy policy beforehand.

• Seek Campus Support Personnel: Ombudsman are a good first stop before filing an official complaint. Ombudsman are a confidential resource, and they will be able to act as a "thought partner" in helping you navigate your official and unofficial options. Talk to them about additional support personnel on your campus, such as student affairs, for example. Your campus may have additional support, and an ombud is a great place to start figuring out your options.

• Seek Personal Support: Connect with trusted mentors, colleagues, or campus resources like counseling centers or advocacy offices.

• Build a Network of Allies: Find others who have experienced or witnessed similar behaviors to strengthen your case and build solidarity.

• The Three-Part Letter to the Harasser: This strategy comes from a 1981 Harvard Business Review article, cited in The Lecherous Professor (p. 165). This option may be risky, but if chosen, it lays groundwork for legal proceedings, and may help you prove that you actively sought to curtail the harassment.

  • Part 1: The facts as you see them, in detail

  • Part 2: Describe your feelings about the alleged harassment and any perceived or actual damages inflicted on you.

  • Part 3: What you would like to have happen next.

  • If the harassment continues, Billie Wright Dziech and Linda Weiner (authors of The Lecherous Professor) recommend that you repeat this letter, and add a fourth part stating that if the behavior continues, you will file a report with the department head, the dean, or some other authority if your prior request is ignored.

• Report the Harassment: File a complaint through your institution’s Title IX office, grievance channels, or external agencies like the EEOC. While you can go to your department chair as a first step, bear in mind that each stakeholder in the university has an agenda. If the chair is unresponsive, this is a sign that the agenda is to manage the department's reputation or "keep the peace" at all costs. Reporting to institutional channels like Title IX offices or HR departments will require persistence and documentation. Title IX offices and HR departments will require evidence in order to "investigate" fairly. This is where your "three-part letter" may come in useful. If you choose to report, be sure to keep a close watch for retaliation. If you feel you are being retaliated against, once again, document everything, and file additional reports if you feel safe doing so.

• Report the Harassment Externally: You may choose to bypass internal reporting on campus, or choose to file external reports in addition to those filed internally. There are many options, and you must weigh what is best for you and your situations. If you choose to report externally, consider the following resources as first options.

  • Office of Civil Rights (OCR).

  • Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

• Consult Legal Counsel: Explore your options with legal experts, particularly if institutional responses are inadequate.

Additional Information

Articles and Research

A Systematic Look at a Serial Problem Sexual Harassment of Students by University Faculty

Download • 1.83MB

"This review includes over 300 cases obtained from: (1) media reports; (2) federal civil rights investigations by the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice; (3) lawsuits by students alleging sexual harassment; and (4) lawsuits by tenure-track faculty fired for sexual harassment."

• Gender inequality in academia: Problems and solutions for women faculty in STEM [Journal of Neuroscience Research]

• Gender Equality in Academia: Bad News from the Trenches, and Some Possible Solutions [Cambridge University Press] 

• Gender Matters, Too: The Influences of School Racial Discrimination and Racial Identity on Academic Engagement Outcomes Among African American Adolescents [pdf]

• The Standford Daily: A Stanford professor sexually harassed his student a decade ago. Some female students say his inappropriate behavior never stopped.

• The New York Times: Harvard Settles Lawsuit Over Claims of Sexual Harassment by a Professor

• The Guardian: Harvard students sue, claiming school ignored professor’s sexual harassment

• The Hard Times: We Reported Our Professor for Sexual Harassment and Nothing Happened to Him but We Did Learn About How Tenure Works

• Los Angeles Times: A UCI professor was accused of sexual harassment. He’s back in the lab

• Vice: A Professor Was Accused of Sexual Harassment and Resigned. At His Next University, It Happened Again

• Chemical & Engineering News: Gianluigi Veglia sexually harassed his students and lab staff but wasn’t fired

• Vox: This grad student says her professor harassed her. Her life changed. Did his?

The Professor Is In: A Crowdsourced Survey of Sexual Harassment in the Academy

In December 2017, Dr. Karen Kelsky launched an anonymous, crowdsourced survey to document experiences of sexual harassment within academia. The initiative aimed to shed light on the pervasive issue by allowing individuals to share their stories confidentially, thereby highlighting the systemic nature of such misconduct in academic settings. The collected narratives underscore the entrenched power dynamics and cultural factors that enable harassment, emphasizing the need for comprehensive reforms to foster a safer and more equitable academic environment.

"Sexual harassment is rampant in the academy as it is in every other industry.  The entrenched hierarchies of the academic world, the small size of most scholarly fields, the male dominance of virtually every field other than women’s studies, the culture of collegiality (read, evasiveness and pretense) that predominates, and junior scholars’ desperate dependency on good references for career advancement, make for conditions in which sexual abuse (and indeed abuse of all kinds) can flourish with impunity."

Helpful Resources

Mental Health Support

The National Grad Crisis Line	Free, confidential telephone counseling, crisis intervention, suicide prevention, and information and referral services provided by specially-trained call-takers. Caring, professional staff and well-trained volunteers answer around the clock.
BetterHelp Grad	A month of free therapy for grad students and a reduced rate for ongoing support.