Major Activities Accomplishments:  

The singular major activity of this project was the planning and execution of a September 9, 2016 workshop, Sexual Harassment in the Sciences: A Call to Respond.  The workshop was held in Washington, D.C. and included 60 invited participants, an even mix of academic heads and chairs, professional society leaders, and federal agency program leaders.  

Specific Objectives: 

The workshop objective was to generate common principles, and identify resources and best practices to address the challenge of sexual and gender-based harassment on campus, in the field, and at scientific meetings.

SIGNIFICANT RESULTS: 

Specific significant results from the workshop were:

1. the establishment of a document titled “Draft Organizational Principles for Addressing Harassment,” broadly disseminated to other scientific societies to start the dialogue and help stimulate the adoption of best practices;
2. the establishment of a “StopHarassment” website, where tools, resources and other article of interest for addressing harassment are gathered and available to the public;
3. follow-up workshops and invitation to share the results of the workshop at annual scientific meetings (AGU, Geological Society of America, and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists); and
4. further sharing and discussion of workshop results with the leadership of other scientific organizations, including: the American Society for Microbiology, American Meteorological Society, American Geoscience Institute, American Astronomical Society, the U.S. Geological Survey, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, and the National Academy of Sciences.

Other key outcomes and achievements from this project:

• The conference was convened by 6 partnering organizations—the American Geophysical Union (AGU), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Earth Science Women’s Network (ESWN), the Association for Women Geoscientists (AWG), and the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) and the American Chemical Society (ACS)—demonstrating an openness to strategic collaboration on addressing harassment-related issues.
• The workshop was broadly covered in scientific media (EoS, Science, Chemical and Engineering News) and associated press releases.
• An innovative new organizational campaign, SafeAGU, was initiated to publicly advertise and provide support for potential targets of harassment.
• Appointments of an AGU Task Force and an AGI Task Force, to help address issues and recommendations evolving from the workshop
• A follow-on successful NSF proposal titled “ADVANCE Partnership: From the Classroom to the Field: Improving the Workplace in the Geosciences" led by Erika Marin-Spiotta, PI, University of Wisconsin.

Opportunities for training and professional development: 

The project has resulted in development of preliminary workshop offerings to address the topic of harassment in the sciences, and beginning work towards tailored by-stander intervention training for targeted science communities. This is ongoing work to be addressed in follow-up to this project.

Dissemination to communities of interest:

The workshop results have been disseminated through discussion at national scientific meetings, including AGU, GSA, SEG annual meetings; and with the leadership of multiple other scientific organizations.  For example, a report on this work at the American Geosciences Institutes annual meeting of more than 50 affiliated society leaders resulted in the appointment of a separate task force to help establish codes of conduct and broad principles that each of the 50 affiliated societies can adopt.  The resources available on the “stop harassment” website have also been widely promoted.

IMPACTS

This project has had 3 major areas of impact: on the disciplines of the project, on other scientific disciplines, on development of human resources, and in the potential to impact  society beyond science and technology.

Impact in the scientific disciplines

This project has had an impact in the adoption and dissemination of its “Organizational Principles for addressing harassment, the establishment of a new “Stop Harassment” website, and in the establishment of multiple follow-on workshops and discussion sessions to begin public dialogue on addressing the topic of harassment in the science. 

There has been invited discussion of this topic across the sciences, and not just the geosciences.  For example, there was an invited presentation to the Board of the American Society for Microbiology, and a committee formed by the National Academy of Sciences to address harassment across all STEM disciplines included a presentation and discussion on the results of this NSF project in its data-gathering.

Impact on the development of human resources:

Follow-on work from this project has the potential to help lead to culture change in our approach to harassment and associated issues in our workplace, including a potential impact on efforts to improve the retention of women in science.

Impact on society beyond science and technology

This project has focused on addressing the issue of harassment in the sciences; however, harassment and associated forms of unacceptable behavior is also an issue in broader society.  Follow-on tools, research, and firmly established principles of conduct to be established in our sciences are likewise anticipated to have broader impact beyond the scientific community.    

Last Modified: 07/27/2017
Modified by: Billy M Williams