“You must know OTHER things about this guy” --- Verbal harassment in STEM

Yvonne Lian, 2019

Think about your classmates in your next physics class, 75 percent of your female classmates have experienced sexual harassment in the last two years.

Many people think that words don’t hurt, at least not to the extent of injuring or abusing someone and causing them their jobs. But statistics tell us that women are a lot more likely than men to leave their STEM-related jobs. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, only 28 percent of the STEM workforce was female in 2017. Why is that? Though physical sexual harassment has been a hot topic for decades, verbal harassment continues to be ignored. Unfortunately, the seemingly harmless casual teasing is one of the major reasons that cause women to leave STEM careers, resulting in aggregating gender inequality.

Insults, hostility, belittling, degrading, or unwanted sexual-attention all count as verbal sexual harassments. Women in STEM endure the second highest rate of sexual harassment of any profession. All of this creates a toxic environment where 40 percent of women constantly feel distressed and uncomfortable at work.

"The only reason that you were the first author on a paper in science was that...you were surrounded by brilliant people.” Or “do you know this professor at xxx university? You must know other things about this guy.” These comments might sound familiar. Perhaps you might even heard about similar conversations at the place you work.

Maybe when you overheard these conversations, you thought they are just harmless teasing, yet that is not the case. These comments suggest that women don't possess the ability to contribute to major scientific advancement, degrading women far below their intellectual capabilities.

Crude comments, belittling jokes, no wonder the statistics are so appalling. Would such blatant comments ever happen to a man? Why are women at the receiving end of such conversations?

These comments mirror the commenter’s perception that women are viewed more as sexual objects rather than people who are competent workers. Faced by these insults and doubts about their competency, women came to a cruel realization: their gender and their sexual appeal — rather than their productivity, intellect, or skills — are what is valued by men.

These harassments harm women way beyond stress, which also dampen their contributions to science. Surely, after hearing such atrocious comment, you would feel like an outsider who would never be able to earn the respect and appreciation from your fellow peers. Even more so, after repeatedly hearing about these comments, you might start to truly believe in them and doubt yourself. What comes after is worse: these doubts negatively affects women’s sense of belonging, a factor that make women leave their careers.

It is heartbreaking to see women leaving their STEM-related jobs just because they cannot tolerate these harassments any longer. These are the lost talents who would have contributed immensely to scientific improvements.

The recent White House report tells us there will be roughly one million STEM-worker deficit in the upcoming decade, yet at the same time women are constantly harassed out of science. We need to break this vicious cycle. Clearly, JUST DON’T DO IT would be the obvious answer. However, reality tells us this solution is not as simple as it seems. But first, it is time to break the silence surrounding sexual harassment.

If you are an executive and does not wish to lose half of your highly-qualified employees, you might consider setting some ground rules. For example, you might establish some company policies that strictly discipline men who make a female employee uncomfortable. In addition, it may be useful to give some instructions as to what is appropriate in a casual conversation through group meetings and posters. Further, and more importantly, consider initiating a support network for employees who are troubled by harassment.

For those who work alongside women, show your support for them! When you see or hear someone who makes a women feel uncomfortable, help her get out of the awkward situation. Now that you have learned how traumatizing such harassments can be, try to help in creating a warm atmosphere where everyone can make the maximum contribution to your field without ever having to worry being looked down upon. More so, perhaps next time before teasing a female coworker with what you might think as harmless jokes, be mindful of the effects these words may have on her. It’s not joking around when it harms half of the entire field.