Panel: Sexual Harassment in Medicine

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Mon, November 12, 2018, 4:00pm to 5:30pm
Location: 
Biomedical Science Research Building - Kahn Auditorium

Sexual Harassment in Medicine

Welcome by Mark Schlissel, President of the University of Michigan

PANELISTS :
- Paula Johnson, President of Wellesley College, Chairperson of the National Academies committee, and member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine
- Reshma Jagsi, Professor and Deputy Chair in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Michigan Medicine and Director of the Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine, U-M

REPORT SUMMARY & MODERATION:
- Lilia Cortina,* Associate Director of ADVANCE for the College of LSA; Professor of Psychology, Women’s Studies, and Management and Organizations, U-M
- Anna Kirkland,* Director of the Institute for Research on Women and Gender; Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Women’s Studies, U-M

In 2016, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine assembled a committee to conduct a study on the impact of sexual harassment in academia on the career advancement of women in the scientific, technical, and medical workforce. The committee published a comprehensive report titled, "Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine," in June 2018. The report identifies key findings on the causes and impacts of sexual harassment, and recommendations for institutional policies, strategies, and practices to address and prevent it.

Preventing and effectively addressing sexual harassment of women in colleges and universities has remained a challenge for decades. More than half of women faculty and staff report having been harassed. Student surveys of university systems show disturbingly similar rates, with 20–50% of women students experiencing sexually harassing behavior perpetrated by faculty or staff.

Persistent sexual harassment in STEM fields, and its adverse impacts on women’s careers, jeopardizes progress in closing the gender gap, damages research integrity, and results in a costly loss of talent. Academic sciences, engineering, and medicine share characteristics that create conditions for harassment, but many findings of the report are not limited to STEM field settings. Other fields within academia can be similarly male-dominated, hierarchical work and learning settings in which abusive cultures may form. Such environments can silence and limit the career opportunities for both the targets of the sexual harassment and bystanders, causing both men and women to leave their fields.

This panel will include a summary of the report, discussion from the report’s co-authors, commentary from disciplinary experts, and Q&A with the audience.

The panel will offer broad discussion of use to any member of the university community or the public interested in sexual harassment in academia. A reception will follow.

Sexual Harassment in the Academy Panel Discussion Series is presented by IRWG and the Office of Research, with co-sponsorship from: ADVANCE, The Office for Health Equity and Inclusion, the College of Literature Sciences, and the Arts, and the College of Engineering

Questions or for accessibility information, please contact irwg@umich.edu or (734) 764-9537.