Institutional Courage in Action: Racism, Sexual Violence, &amp; Concrete Institutional Change

Gómez, Jennifer M.; Freyd, Jennifer J.; Delva, Jorge; Tracy, Brenda; Mackenzie, Lori Nishiura; Ray, Victor; Weathington, Beverly

doi:10.1080/15299732.2023.2168245

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Such attacks seek to delegitimize scholars from marginalized groups as knowledge producers and remove their access to the academy. Universities can demonstrate institutional courage (Gómez et al, 2023) by taking affirmative steps to reduce epistemic exclusion; in so doing, they can assert their place as inclusive spaces that serve the public good and fight against efforts to revert higher education to spaces of exclusion.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Epistemic exclusion: A theory for understanding racism in faculty research evaluations.

Settles,

Jones,

Buchanan

et al. 2024

American Psychologist

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Despite institutional efforts, growth in the number of faculty of color has largely plateaued, limiting research innovation and other benefits of diversity. In this article, we seek to understand structural barriers to faculty equity by (a) detailing a theory of epistemic exclusion within academia and (b) applying the theory of epistemic exclusion to the specific context of faculty departmental reviews of scholarly research (e.g., annual review, promotion and tenure review). Epistemic exclusion is a form of scholarly devaluation that is rooted in disciplinary biases about the qualities of rigorous research and identity-based biases about the competence of marginalized group members. These biases work in tandem to systemically and disproportionately exclude marginalized scholars (e.g., people of color, women) from the academy. In the context of faculty departmental reviews, epistemic exclusion can happen in formal systems of evaluation through criteria, metric, and application exclusion. It can also occur informally during interpersonal interactions and communications through legitimacy, contribution, and comprehension exclusion. In this article, we detail each of these types of exclusion, how they may interact with each other, and their consequences. We assert that epistemic exclusion threatens the diversification of academia and offer suggestions for equitable evaluation practices and reducing epistemic exclusion within higher education broadly. Public Significance StatementEpistemic exclusion in academia is a type of scholarly devaluation rooted in disciplinary biases about rigorous scholarship and identity-based biases about marginalized group members. This structural bias has a disproportionately negative impact on marginalized scholars and occurs in the evaluation of faculty research through formal and informal processes.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Epistemic exclusion: A theory for understanding racism in faculty research evaluations.

Settles,

Jones,

Buchanan

et al. 2024

American Psychologist

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Research suggests that power asymmetries embedded within discrimination and harassment policies may be addressed through transparency. 23,24 Case examples of how higher education organizations have responded to gender-based violence highlight that lack of transparency perpetuates harm and contributes to pervasive mistrust. 25 Often, the adjudication of allegations of prejudicial or discriminatory behavior is perceived as not being fair, timely, or appropriate.…”

Section: Transparent Reportingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Codesigning Policy-Based Solutions to Discrimination and Harassment in Academic Medicine: An Inclusive Approach

Sukhera,

Goez,

Brown

et al. 2023

Acad Med

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Academic medicine institutions have historically employed policies as a means to tackle various types of discrimination and harassment within educational and professional settings, thereby affirming their dedication to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. However, the implementation and effectiveness of policies are constrained by limitations, including a lack of awareness and barriers to reporting. Due to concerns about accountability and transparency, many groups and individuals experiencing discrimination have lost trust in policy-based solutions to address equity in academic medicine. To address such challenges, the authors offer an evidence-informed policy framework with actionable recommendations. First, policy should be cowritten through meaningful and participatory engagement. Second, organizations should publicly report on metrics of policy effectiveness. Third, to ensure accountability, external organizations or adjudicators should be involved in oversight of policy-based processes. Fourth, leadership commitment is essential for success. Overall, policy can be an effective mechanism to address discrimination and harassment; however, a more inclusive approach is needed.

show abstract

“…As such, they might become the recipients of complaints from models who will want to confide in them regarding their employment conditions. In these cases, agencies might engage in “institutional courage”; these courageous actions include the adoption of policies and practices that encourage transparency, fairness, justice, and responsibility (Gómez et al, 2023; Smidt et al, 2023). Mapping out exactly how both sets of bystander actors—personal associates and modeling agencies as institutions—respond from the victims’ perspectives is an empirical question to which this analysis now turns.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are They Really Helping Them to “Get Over It”? Bystander Behavior After Sexual Harassment Incidents in the Fashion Industry

Crowley

2023

J Interpers Violence

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sexual harassment is a problem that continues to confront mostly women in the American workforce. One of the primary ways to reduce its prevalence and impact is through bystander intervention. A bystander is familiar with the incident and ultimately decides whether to proactively intervene, do nothing, or actually cause further damage to the victim by siding with the perpetrator. While bystanders can become engaged both prior to and during a sexually harassing event, or at the primary and secondary levels of prevention, they can also be involved after the incident, or at the tertiary level of prevention. This present study addressed tertiary prevention in real-life sexual harassment cases drawn from the fashion industry, whereby female models—as independent contractors represented by agencies and with few labor rights—were the victims, powerful men in the business were the key perpetrators, and other actors were the bystanders. Using thematic analysis to understand 18 accounts of harassment, this research identified bystander support from personal associates and some modeling agencies as institutions in the form of emotional resources and action-oriented advocacy. However, other modeling agencies more commonly engaged in bystander opposition, whereby they silenced their models who complained of harassment or continued to send models to work with known perpetrators in the business. This study thus draws attention to the ways in which some bystanders can help, but others can cause further harm through their particular employment relationships with victims that promote worker precarity. Implications for practitioners and public policy reforms for this industry are discussed.

show abstract

Institutional Courage in Action: Racism, Sexual Violence, & Concrete Institutional Change

Cited by 6 publications

References 23 publications

Epistemic exclusion: A theory for understanding racism in faculty research evaluations.

Epistemic exclusion: A theory for understanding racism in faculty research evaluations.

Codesigning Policy-Based Solutions to Discrimination and Harassment in Academic Medicine: An Inclusive Approach

Are They Really Helping Them to “Get Over It”? Bystander Behavior After Sexual Harassment Incidents in the Fashion Industry

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About