Nine out of ten women have experienced some form of sexual discrimination in the workplace, says a new study from the University of Michigan. The study surveyed women in two predominantly male professions: the U.S. military and federal legal practice. The results of the study appear in the Springer’s Journal of Law and Human Behavior. (Kudos to the study team—Dr. Lilia Cortina, Emily Leskinen, and Dana Kabat—and the university for focusing on how sexism and sexist remarks affect women.)
Just imagine—90 percent of the women surveyed had experienced at least what the study team called “low-level sexist behavior,” which included offensive remarks about being female or the woman’s appearance, body, or sexual activities (but did not involve the direct sexual advances experienced by ten percent of survey respondents). The researchers found that even these “low-level” forms of gender harassment negatively affect women in the workplace—both their job performance, and therefore opportunities, and their physical and emotional health.
The findings are not surprising to anyone who has worked in a situation in which their male colleagues’ inappropriate remarks went unchecked by the company. Having worked for an organization in which a senior supervisor frequently suggested—in front of the company’s female (feminist) owners—that we put on kneepads and get to work raising capital (a veiled reference to getting down on our knees, etc.), I can attest to the fact that gender harassment takes place even in situations in which you might not expect it.
What so many companies apparently fail to consider is that ending gender discrimination—in all forms—is in their own best interests. Women who work in a hostile environment simply cannot contribute to a company’s goals as effectively as they might otherwise. When gender harassment becomes either sexual harassment or “inappropriate work place behavior,” the associated costs become more obvious (consider the recent Hewlett Packard situation in which the CEO resigned after admitting to a personal relationship with a female contractor and the company’s stock plunged.)
Clearly, ending sexist remarks/harassment in the work place is both morally right and fiscally sound. Watch this blog for a new “Take Action in the Workplace” later this fall.
Cynthia
