There is little safety in numbers.

• Position: Sexual Harassment

Despite common assumptions, research suggests that women are not more likely to be sexually harassed when they are the minority or majority in a work group. Instead, sociologists at Ohio State University, Columbus, found that, in most cases, women are sexually harassed on the job when their work group has a similar proportion of males and females. Women in these situations are more likely to experience taunting, patronizing, and predatory behaviors.

Randy Hodson, coauthor of the study and professor of sociology, says the logic behind the finding is simple: "There is a lot more opportunity in these groups because you have a lot of men who have contact on a regular basis with a lot of women, and that's going to create more opportunities for sexual harassment. When women are less represented or when they are mainly working with other women, there is simply not as much opportunity."

Hodson and other researchers did a detailed analysis of book-length studies examining workplace culture from an array of industries, such as manufacturing, skilled trades, finance, and public administration. All of the books included detailed observations of worker interactions taken by researchers who were immersed into an organization for at least six months.

The study found that the characteristics of a person's job also influences the likelihood and type of...