Facing the Giant: A Framework to Undo Sex‐Based Discrimination in Academia

• Published date: 01 November 2020
• Author: Sebawit G. Bishu,Alan Kennedy
• Date: 01 November 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13206

Facing the Giant: A Framework to Undo Sex-Based Discrimination in Academia 1127

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 80, Iss. 6, pp. 1127–1132. © 2020 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.13206.

Sebawit G. Bishu

Alan Kennedy

University of Colorado Denver

Facing the Giant: A Framework to Undo Sex-Based

Discrimination in Academia

Abstract: In 2019, American workers reported 26,221 claims of workplace harassment to the Equal Employment

Opportunity Commission. Nearly half of those claims represented sex-based harassment. The #MeToo movement has

shined a spotlight on the pervasiveness of harassment across sectors and institutions. A 2018 report by the National

Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine indicates that 58 percent of women in academic institutions, for

instance, have experienced some form of sexual harassment. In this article, the authors propose a three-part framework

to establish a culture of zero tolerance of sexual harassment. The framework helps academic and other institutions

prevent sexual harassment, protect victims from risks of reporting harassment, and set accountability measures

to demand justice. The utility of the framework is twofold. First, administrators can apply it as a tool to audit

institutional attitudes toward sexual harassment. Second, leaders can apply it as a corrective tool to prevent permissive

organizational climates that allow sexual harassment to be perpetuated.

Evidence for Practice

• To promote representation and inclusion, organizations should create a diverse and inclusive environment at

all levels to reduce the effects of power structures.

• To establish a responsive system, organizations should create a system of support for victims and conduct

periodic organizational audits.

• To establish accountability measures: create a system of accountability with clear policies and procedures.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission (EEOC 2009, 1) defines

sexual harassment as “unwelcome sexual

advances, requests for sexual favors, and other

verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature . . .

when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an

individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes

with an individual’s work performance, or creates an

intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.”

Workplace sexual harassment may take the form of

bullying, teasing, intimidating demands, or even

unwanted acts of coercion. At a basic level, workplace

sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that

violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (EEOC 2009).

Organizations play a critical role in allowing or

deterring a culture and climate in which sexual

harassment becomes pervasive (Schneider, Ehrhart,

and Macey 2013). Reflecting sociocultural values,

many organizations mirror the power roles between

men and women in the dominant culture. Unwanted

sexual advances, which may be explicit or implicit,

are considered quid pro quo sexual harassment when

such unwelcome sexual requests interfere with an

employee’s conditions of employment (Johnson,

Widnall, and Benya 2018). It is also sexual harassment

when organizational environments allow unwanted

sexual advances that interfere with an employee’s

ability to perform work or foster an intimidating or

hostile workplace climate (EEOC 2009). Although

this article refers mainly to women, because women

are more frequently victims of sexual harassment,

sexual harassment against men also occurs. In 2019,

men filed 16.8 percent of sexual harassment claims.1

Thus, workplace sexual harassment affects women,

men, organizations, and society in general.

Workplace sexual harassment has both individual

and collective repercussions. It violates the privacy of

targeted persons and increases their risk of job loss.

Victims of workplace sexual harassment experience

grave emotional consequences that may interfere

with job performance. Collectively, workplace

sexual harassment creates a culture that demoralizes

everyone in the organization. At the organizational

level, sexual harassment results in higher turnover,

lower productivity and job satisfaction, and lack

of trust in management (Antecol and Cobb-

Clark 2001; Johnson, Widnall, and Benya 2018).

Johnson, Widnall, and Benya (2018) also note the

Alan Kennedy is a PhD student and

lecturer in the School of Public Affairs at the

University of Colorado Denver. His research

focuses on administrative law, public

management, criminal justice, and social

equity. He is also an attorney and a judge

advocate in the Colorado Army National

Guard. The views expressed are his own.

Email: alan.kennedy@ucdenver.edu

Sebawit G. Bishu is assistant

professor in the School of Public Affairs

at the University of Colorado Denver and

research fellow in the Women and Public

Policy Program at the Harvard Kennedy

School of Government. Her research lies

at the intersection of public management,

personnel management, and social

equity. Broadly, her research is aimed at

examining factors that drive organizational

inequity with the goal of improving public

organizations’ equity performance.

Email: sebawit.bishu@ucdenver.edu

Viewpoint

Symposium:

Implications

of the #MeToo

Movement for

Academia