Sex-based harassment in employment: New insights into gender and context.

Abstract

Legal definitions of sex-based harassment have evolved over the decades; it is important that social science perspectives on this phenomenon evolve as well. This study seeks to refine our understanding of conditions in which sex-based harassment thrives, with empirical evidence from three organizations. Previous research has suggested that underrepresentation of one's gender in the employment context increases risk for sex-based harassment. This work has focused mainly on sexual-advance forms of harassment, mainly in the lives of women. Less is known about the gender harassment of women, or about any kind of harassment of men. Extending this scholarship, we analyzed survey data from women and men working in three diverse domains: academia (N = 847), the court system (N = 1,158), and the military (N = 19,960). Across all samples, the underrepresentation of women in a workgroup related to increased odds of women experiencing gender harassment, but not sexual-advance harassment. For men, the opposite pattern emerged: underrepresentation did not increase men's risk for either type of harassment, instead relating to decreased odds of harassment in some contexts. We interpret these results in light of theories of tokenism, gender stereotyping, and sex role spillover in organizations. Our findings support the recommendation that, to reduce harassment (whether it be illegal or legal, gender- or sexuality-based, targeted at women or men), organizations should strive for gender balance in every job at every level. For male-dominated contexts, this implies a need to recruit, retain, and integrate more women throughout the organizational hierarchy.

Breaking the Silence: Sexual Harassment of Mexican Women Farmworkers

“…39 The sex role spillover theory also found that WSH was more likely to occur when gender roles outside of work were inappropriately brought into the workplace. 11 Thus, being a woman in a culturally male-predominant work environment such as agriculture inherently increased the risk of WSH.…”

“…2,5–11 However, only 2%–13% of women ever report WSH to authorities. 12 Women who are sexually harassed also experience higher rates of health care utilization, chronic pain, depression, and work withdrawal than nonharassed women, up to 10 years after the incident.…”

Stereotype Threat in Organizations: Implications for Equity and Performance

“…Research over several decades has shown that when these interpersonal behaviors are present in the workplace, members of stereotyped groups suffer (e.g., Mueller et al 2001, Schneider et al 1997. This is the case for many stereotyped groups, including women, racial and ethnic minorities, and gay individuals (e.g., Bruce 2013, Kabat-Farr & Cortina 2014, Karsten 2006, Raeburn 2004, Schneider et al 1997). However, harassment and sexist treatment in the workplace is not always blatant-expressed by catcalls, lewd jokes, or offensive posters in a cubical (e.g., Leskinen & Cortina 2014).…”

Mental Health and Substance Use Factors Associated With Unwanted Sexual Contact Among U.S. Active Duty Service Women

“…One recently conducted qualitative study of U.S. service women deployed overseas indicated that being in a high-stress, sexist environment could facilitate unwanted sexual contact (Burns, Grindlay, Holt, Manski, & Grossman, 2014). In particular, women in the military may face additional gender-related stresses compared to men, such as elevated levels of stress due to sexual harassment (Vogt et al, 2011) and gender harassment (Kabat-Farr & Cortina, 2014), and greater levels of stress due to family separation and perceived loss of intimate relationships (Skopp et al, 2011). There is a lack of research, however, on the association between military and gender-related stress with unwanted sexual contact.…”