5 ms·

Sexual harassment is pervasive in US physics programmes

24 points by bcaulfield 7y ago

notTyler 7y ago
I had a friend get physically harassed and eventually get forced to exit the program when she demanded action. Anecdotal, sure, but I would guess it is more common than people realize or want to admit.
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qwerty456127 7y ago
I can't even imagine a person with IQ above 100 actually harassing someone, in my perception only animals and humans of similar level of mental development can even feel interested in doing this. Aren't sexual harassment definitions exaggerated? I.e. isn't being nice and smiling with an opposite sex person or inviting her for a cup of tea considered "some form of sexual harassment" in studies like this?
- glangdale 7y ago
  Men with IQs above 100 regularly harass women as even the most cursory engagement with news about academia and science would have shown you. And no, smiling at someone and 'being nice' nor a invitation to a "cup of tea" would not be considered in itself "harassment", although I'm sure asking repeatedly for the latter after being told 'no' or persistently staring/leering would get over the line.
- rabidrat 7y ago
  You might be conflating IQ with EQ.
phantarch 7y ago
I don't deny that this is an issue in any college setting where lots of hormone-driven young men are crammed together around a smaller number of women, but something about the way the question in the article is posed makes me suspicious of the intensity or widespread nature of the claim: > Of the 455 people who responded, 338 reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment, including gender harassment — such as being ignored because of their sex or gender, or being told inappropriate jokes — unwanted sexual attention or a combination thereof during the previous two years. How inappropriate were the jokes? How much of it was harassment versus social unawareness? How does the survey distinguish between idle chatter that goes south and aggressive men with bad intentions that corner women in the stairwells of physics buildings? Again, I don't deny the issue, but short articles like these that are lacking in detail about their claims, then link to another article from the same site, which links to a $55 copy of the study [1] seem like insufficient data points beyond everyone's gut feel that "sexism and harassment are a problem in male-dominated fields" [1] https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24994/sexual-harassment-of-women-climate-culture-and-consequences-in-academic https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24994/sexual-harassment-of-women...
alkibiades 7y ago
“such as being ignored because of their sex” this doesn’t quite fit into most people’s definition of sexual harassment
- mjfl 7y ago
  It also implies mind reading. How do they know that for sure? They don't.
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24 points by bcaulfield 7y ago

I had a friend get physically harassed and eventually get forced to exit the program when she demanded action. Anecdotal, sure, but I would guess it is more common than people realize or want to admit.

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qwerty456127 7y ago

I can't even imagine a person with IQ above 100 actually harassing someone, in my perception only animals and humans of similar level of mental development can even feel interested in doing this. Aren't sexual harassment definitions exaggerated? I.e. isn't being nice and smiling with an opposite sex person or inviting her for a cup of tea considered "some form of sexual harassment" in studies like this?

glangdale 7y ago
Men with IQs above 100 regularly harass women as even the most cursory engagement with news about academia and science would have shown you. And no, smiling at someone and 'being nice' nor a invitation to a "cup of tea" would not be considered in itself "harassment", although I'm sure asking repeatedly for the latter after being told 'no' or persistently staring/leering would get over the line.
rabidrat 7y ago
You might be conflating IQ with EQ.

phantarch 7y ago

I don't deny that this is an issue in any college setting where lots of hormone-driven young men are crammed together around a smaller number of women, but something about the way the question in the article is posed makes me suspicious of the intensity or widespread nature of the claim: > Of the 455 people who responded, 338 reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment, including gender harassment — such as being ignored because of their sex or gender, or being told inappropriate jokes — unwanted sexual attention or a combination thereof during the previous two years. How inappropriate were the jokes? How much of it was harassment versus social unawareness? How does the survey distinguish between idle chatter that goes south and aggressive men with bad intentions that corner women in the stairwells of physics buildings? Again, I don't deny the issue, but short articles like these that are lacking in detail about their claims, then link to another article from the same site, which links to a $55 copy of the study [1] seem like insufficient data points beyond everyone's gut feel that "sexism and harassment are a problem in male-dominated fields" [1] https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24994/sexual-harassment-of-women-climate-culture-and-consequences-in-academic https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24994/sexual-harassment-of-women...

alkibiades 7y ago

“such as being ignored because of their sex” this doesn’t quite fit into most people’s definition of sexual harassment

mjfl 7y ago
It also implies mind reading. How do they know that for sure? They don't.

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