Viewpoint Symposium Introduction: #MeToo in Academia: Understanding and Addressing Pervasive Challenges

• Published date: 01 November 2020
• Author: Maria J. D'Agostino,Nicole M. Elias
• Date: 01 November 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13318

Viewpoint Symposium Introduction: #MeToo in Academia: Understanding and Addressing Pervasive Challenges 1109

Maria J. D’Agostino

Nicole M. Elias

City University of New York

Viewpoint Symposium Introduction: #MeToo in Academia:

Understanding and Addressing Pervasive Challenges

The ‘Me Too’ movement began in 2006 to

support survivors of sexual harassment and

violence, particularly Black women and

girls and other women of color from low-wealth

communities (Me Too, About). This movement

started as a local grassroots effort and has expanded to

reach “a global community of survivors from all walks

of life and helped to de-stigmatize the act of surviving

by highlighting the breadth and impact of a sexual

violence worldwide” (Me Too, About). Now, also

recognized as “hashtag, MeToo” or #MeToo, largely

due to its viral spread through social media, #MeToo

has prioritized sexual harassment and violence in

social, economic, and political spheres. Academia

is not isolated from the movement and has been

confronted, often times unwillingly, with survivors’

accounts of sexual harassment and violence.

Prior to the onset of the #MeToo movement, sexual

harassment and violence in academia received little

attention. The larger #MeToo movement spawned

subsequent movements within academic disciplines

(see The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering,

and Medicine Report and the following examples: @

MeTooSTEM, @MeTooANthro, @MeTooPoliSci),

academic ranks (see #MeTooPhD), and even name

faculty from colleges and universities (see: Academic

Sexual Misconduct Database https://academic-sexual-

misconduct-database.org). This increased attention

and ubiquity of sexual harassment and violence in

academia prompts us to question the cultural and

structural factors that contribute to this problem.

Karen Kelsky (2017) conducted a crowd-sourced

survey of sexual harassment in the academy that

documents more than 2,400 cases. The implications

of the #MeToo movement for academia calls into

question common practices, policies, and culture in

higher education (Elias and D’Agostino 2019). The

rampant sexual harassment and violence incidents

prompt a larger conversation and rethinking of the

power dynamics in academia, namely, the role of

institutions and individuals in preventing sexual

harassment and violence (Elias and D’Agostino 2019).

Our Women in the Public Sector blog, Implications

of the #MeToo Movement for Academia (2019), set

out to create a space to discuss the critical topic of

sexual harassment and violence in the field of public

administration. Our call for submissions encouraged

contributors to question and suggest changes to the

practices and structures that perpetuate and render

sex and gender inequity invisible. We asked authors

to focus on the role of institutions and individuals

in preventing sexual harassment and assault, as

well as propose solutions to difficult challenges. To

continue the discussion and further develop solutions

for practice in academia, the blog contributors were

invited to submit to this Viewpoint Symposium.

The authors mentioned below build on their blogs

and provide a scholarly lens for understanding some

of the most pressing topics surrounding #MeToo in

academia.

Knepper, Scutelnicu, and Tekula emphasize the

implications of gender harassment, the least recognized

form of sexual harassment, and recommend evidence-

based guidance for advancing women in the academy

to create more equitable and just spaces for teaching

and learning in The Slippery Slope: Struggling for

Equity in the Academy in the Era of #MeToo. Neal,

Gherardi, and Olejarski, in Beyond the Turtle Approach:

Women in the Public Sector, argue that the #MeToo

movement has ushered in a new way of thinking and

supporting women in public organizations. They

advocate for more inclusive mentoring relationships

by providing holistic support and intentional

mentorships throughout the arc of women’s careers

and institutional policy changes that support the

unique value of women in the public sector and the

academy. Johnson and Renderos draw attention

to the demographic diversity within the #MeToo

movement in The Invisible Populations. They ask what

happens when the wrong person, that is, people of

color, working-class, women, and transgender persons,

share their #MeToo experiences. They demonstrate

that, when these “wrong persons” do speak out, they

are often discredited, marginalized, and silenced.

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 80, Iss. 6, pp. 1109–1110. © 2020 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.13318.

Viewpoint

Symposium:

Implications

of the #MeToo

Movement for

Academia