Does every biased action have an effective reaction?
This posts summarises the article, Does every biased action have an effective reaction? - cite as: Sharan, M. (2019). Does Every Biased Action Have An Effective Reaction? Zenodo. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.7027580
The original article reports on the survey “Support Received by Women in Research (CSG-WiS)” (details: https://wiscsg.github.io/wis-csg-2018). Published as one of fiver-part series of articles on Club SciWri), we assessed responses and actions against bias and other forms of harassment (sexual, mental, emotional etc.), indicated as ‘bias incidents’, experienced or witnessed by researchers at their workplaces. We also assess the outcome of reporting such incidents, challenges associated with them and further recommendations to address them.
Data for this report is available under a CC-BY license which can be cited as “WiS-CSG Team, & Malvika Sharan. (2019, August 12). wiscsg/wis-csg-2018: WiS-CSG Survey 2018 data and overview (Version v0.2). Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3366259”. All the identifiable information have been removed to maintain anonymity of the respondents.
We gathered 219 responses covering a wide demographic, age, social status, research background, positions, and workplaces. For the gender aspect, statistically significant data is available to evaluate two genders: men and women. Insufficient data makes it inconclusive to state anything about other genders. 197 of our respondents are Indian nationals (including the authors), therefore a few observations might be influenced by this factor. A large proportion of our respondents are located in India and the USA, however, several participants are also nationals or residents of other parts of the Americas (Canada, Mexico, etc.), European countries (mainly from the United Kingdom, Germany, and the Czech Republic), and other Asian countries (Singapore, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka). Finally, although this report focuses on identifying support for women in research, recommendations listed in this article are applicable for supporting members of other marginalized groups as well.
Background
Bias and harassment in all forms can be very detrimental to one’s performance at work and personal well-being. Scientific organizations vastly focus on how we conduct research [1] and how we publish them [2], but sadly, bias incidents are not treated as seriously as research misconducts [3]. Policies such as Title IX [4a] and Nondiscrimination in Employment Practices in Education [4b] in the USA, POSH act 2013 in India [5] and European Commission’s gender equality law [6a] and the Employment Equality Directive [6b] aim to ensure equal opportunities and gender equality in decision making positions, closing the gender pay gap, and ending harassment. Despite such strong measures, inequality and bias exist in workplaces and beyond. The Eurobarometer survey conducted in EU countries [7] showed that their respondents exhibit discriminative behaviors based on gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, and older age. As per Implicit Project led by Harvard’s global online research, over two-thirds of the online-test participants (men and women) are gender-biased and tend to think that men are better suited for professional careers than women, who are better as homemakers [8]. Women are often the targets of sexual harassment; people of color deal with racial bias; LGBTQ+ community experience emotional harassment; and those who belong to multiple marginalized groups such as queer women of color simultaneously experience multiple disadvantages and face more bias-related incidents. In the #metoo movement era [9], academics have also come forward to acknowledge the damages caused by gender bias, discrimination and sexual harassment [10, 11 , 12].
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted by UN General Assembly in 1979 [15], defines what gender discrimination is and provides agenda for action to end them. UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in its core includes Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls [16]. Visible efforts are being made to identify causes and damages posed by biases, and prevent them from occurring in the future. Nonetheless, over two-thirds of bias incidents in the workplace are never reported [13, 14]. There are several reasons, which include not being aware of the policies and complaint mechanism, dealing with the situation themselves, fear of negative repercussions, the social stigma attached to victims or not perceiving offense serious enough to make formal complaints. It’s obvious that these challenges have only added to the existing burden of people from historically underrepresented groups in STEM. Specifically, women and members of other marginalized groups have long been struggling to find secure positions in science, therefore, organizations must identify the equitable system to create a more welcoming, respectful and diverse workplace for everyone.
This posts summarised the article, Does every biased action have an effective reaction? - cite as: Sharan, M. (2019). Does Every Biased Action Have An Effective Reaction? Zenodo. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.7027580 (originally posted on Club SciWri), we assessed responses and actions against bias and other forms of harassment (sexual, mental, emotional etc.), indicated as ‘bias incidents’, experienced or witnessed by researchers at their workplaces. We also assess the outcome of reporting such incidents, challenges associated with them and further recommendations to address them.
Our survey shows that over half the incidents experienced by people never get reported perpetuating risks of unresponded misconducts. People who are familiar with reporting mechanisms at their organization, tend to report more incidents knowing that they have appropriate support and policies in place. These mechanisms include effective evidence-based diversity policies and designated members/committees who uphold those policies. Designated members help creating safer space for people by establishing a code of conduct [19], and reporting and investigation guidelines to deal with bias incidents [20]. They can also provide a common platform for people to gain information on their rights and support system. Ombudsperson or trusted members who are listed as visible points of contact, improve chances for people to report bias incidents as people can reach out to them directly for support in difficult situations [21]. Organizations can also hire services for professional evaluation and assessment of workplace to understand how inclusive their policies are, and where they can receive recommendations for improvements (such as Stonewall [22] and Athena Swan [23]). Studies have shown that anti-harassment training and education program contributes to positive skill development of people with a special focus on advancing women and members of other marginalized groups [24]. These training can be given on a range of topics such as coaching, mentoring, ally-skills, conflict management, case reporting/handling, and implicit and unconscious bias. People at leadership positions should educate their teams about how to handle conflict and accept criticism when they exhibit an unconscious bias towards their colleagues. They can share professional contacts of individuals, mentors or communities who their group members can reach out to for support. Supervisors must establish specific resources for their students to help them handle situations of bias and outcomes of those situations.
It’s not only up to organizations and authorities, but we should also take responsibility to educate ourselves [25] about our rights and identify resources to help answer questions such as:
- what is considered a violation of the code of conduct?
- what can we do when we experience or witness harassment and bias incidents?
- what is the reporting mechanism and guideline in the workplace?
- what kind of support is available and what policies are in place against harassment?
At an individual level, we should make it our duty to speak up whenever unfair and biased behaviors are encountered. We should consciously train ourselves to be a better ally to our colleagues by using our societal privileges to step up for others who are less advantaged [26]. We should take the opportunity to understand our own bias and inhibitions as bystanders, learn to intervene when witnessing harassment or apologize and correct ourselves when we cause offense. We should participate actively in creating safer spaces for relevant conversation, for instance by organizing/attending social awareness events and exchange useful resources with our peers. Finally, as highlighted at the personal story featured in the beginning of this article, when we don’t know how to respond to an uncomfortable or a stressful situation, we should reach out for help and support of trusted allies, advisors or mentors. We should try to document proof of misconduct, and report them to the appropriate authorities. and whenever we can, extending solidarity and support to others who might be facing difficult situations in our workplace and society.
Concluding remarks
International and national policies are established in most public and private sectors to deal with workplace bias. However, we observed that less than 25% of incidents are reported immediately and over half the cases are never reported. In our survey data, it is apparent that there is a huge gap of information on what bias is, how to respond to them and what supports are available in the workplace to deal with such situations. Any corrective or preventive measures will be ineffective if such lack of awareness at professional spaces will continue to exist. We observed that people tend to report bias incidents more when there is information exchange and established trust between people and their supervisors or administration including designated committees who can handle these issues. We also noted that even with a support system, formally reporting of bias incidents can still be an uncomfortable and daunting act. Victims of bias and harassment don’t report such incident sooner for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons are a lower sense of support, fear of furthering sensitive issues, minimization of harm, social stigma, professional repercussions, stereotypes, unfriendly behaviors or threats towards themselves in the future. Even when people overcome their fear and discomfort, reporting bias incidents does not guarantee them any definite resolution or favorable outcome. This indicates a lack of transparency in how organizations deal with such cases by questioningly maintaining low policy standards that barely satisfy the legal requirements. This may inadvertently discourage targets and bystanders of discriminations, causing disappointments, burnout, personal challenges, and poor work performance. In addition, this should also be noted that allegations of misconduct can damage the reputation of alleged person or organization even if later proven to be unjustifiable. Therefore, organizations and individuals must maintain the confidentiality of the investigation and protection of all parties involved from retaliation. Effective measures must be taken to enforce mechanism for information dissemination, education, reporting, case-handling, investigation and prevention of misconduct to establish security, gender equity and diversity in the workplace.
One important lesson that underlies this report is that bias, discrimination, and harassment are worryingly common. Collective efforts and accountability at both organizational and individual level help in creating a more welcoming and safer environment for everyone in the workplace. Particularly, a diverse, inclusive and supportive culture can prevent workplace bias and empower women and members of marginalized groups in STEM by improving their chances to thrive as researchers.
References
Reports, policies and practices related to bias/harassment/misconducts:
[1] National Academy of Sciences (US), National Academy of Engineering (US) and Institute of Medicine (US) Panel on Scientific Responsibility and the Conduct of Research. Responsible Science: Ensuring the Integrity of the Research Process: Volume I. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 1992. 4, Misconduct in Science—Incidence and Significance. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK234512/
[2] White Paper on Publication Ethics: CSE’s White Paper on Promoting Integrity in Scientific Journal Publications; 3.2, International Models for Responding to Research Misconduct. First published in 2006 and updated on a rolling basis since May 4, 2018.
[3] National Academy of Sciences (US), National Academy of Engineering (US) and Institute of Medicine (US) Panel on Scientific Responsibility and the Conduct of Research. Responsible Science: Ensuring the Integrity of the Research Process: Volume I. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 1992. 4,_ Misconduct in Science—Incidence and Significance_. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK234512
[4a] Title IX is a federal civil rights law in the United States of America that was passed as part of the Education Amendments of 1972. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_IX
[4b] Nondiscrimination in Employment Practices in Education. Employment practices contained in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/hq53e8.html
[5] The Sexual Harassment of Women in the Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, is a legislative act in India that seeks to protect women from sexual harassment at their place of work.
[6a] Promoting equal economic independence for women and men, closing the gender pay gap, advancing gender balance in decision making, ending gender-based violence and promoting gender equality beyond the EU. https://ec.europa.eu/info/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/gender-equality_en
Evaluations of workplace bias:
[7] Special Eurobarometer 437: Discrimination in the EU in 2015. http://data.europa.eu/euodp/en/data/dataset/S2077_83_4_437_ENG
[8] Project Implicit is a non-profit organization and international collaboration between researchers who are interested in implicit social cognition and hidden biases, and to provide a “virtual laboratory” for collecting data on the Internet. https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/aboutus.html
Sexual harassment in academia and #MeToo movement
[9] A movement against sexual harassment and sexual assault. The movement began to spread virally in October 2017 as a hashtag on social media in an attempt to demonstrate the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me_Too_movement
[10] The #MeToo movement shook up workplace policies in science New research seeks to better understand how sexual harassment affects women. Kyle Plantz, Science news. December 2018.
[11] Academia’s #MeToo moment: Women accuse professors of sexual misconduct. Nick Anderson, Washington Post. May 2018
[12] The “Me Too” Movement in Indian Academia, by Radhika Saxena LLM’19 and Human Rights Scholar. University of Pennsylvania law School.
[13] Working without fear: Results of the 2012 sexual harassment national telephone survey , Australian Human Rights Commission 2012.
[14] Sexual harassment: how the genders and generations see the issue differently in the UK. Lifestyle, 2017. https://yougov.co.uk/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2017/11/01/sexual-harassment-how-genders-and-generations-see-
Challenges and recommendations to deal with bias
[15] The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women adopted by UN. http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/
[16] Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda/
[17] Why Don’t Victims of Sexual Harassment Come Forward Sooner? Beverly Engel, L.M.F.T., The Compassion Chronicles. Published in Psychology Today, November 2017.
[18] Why don’t people report sexual harassment? Kate Le Gallez Writer, Culture Amp.
[19] Deloitte Corporate Governance Services, Suggested Guidelines for Writing a Code of Ethics/Conduct. 2005, Deloitte Development LLC.
[20] How to Respond to Code of Conduct Reports. Valerie Aurora and Mary Gardiner, 2018.
[21] The ombudsman for research practice. Fischbach, R.L. & Gilbert, D.C. Sci Eng Ethics (1995) 1: 389. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02583257
[22] UK Workplace Equality Index, Stonewall: Acceptance without exception. The definitive benchmarking tool for employers to measure their progress on lesbian, gay, bi and trans inclusion in the workplace.
[23] Athena Swan, Recognising advancement of gender equality: representation, progression and success for all.
[24] The Unexpected Effects of a Sexual Harassment Educational Program. Bingham, S. G., & Scherer, L. L. (2001). The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 37(2), 125–153. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886301372001
[25] What works to reduce prejudice and discrimination? - A review of the evidence. Maureen McBride, Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research. ISBN: 9781785447235. October 2015.
[26] Ally Skills Workshop by Valerie Aurora, Frameshift Consulting. Now that we all know about bias in the workplace, what can we do to stop it? The Ally Skills Workshop teaches simple everyday ways for people to use their privilege and influence to support people who are targets of systemic oppression in their workplaces and communities.