18 | WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE: THE UNEVEN PLAYING FIELD THE UNEVEN PLAYING FIELD Sexual harassment remains prevalent Sexual harassment continues to pervade the workplace. Thirty- There are also stark differences in how women and men view five percent of women in corporate America experience sexual their company’s efforts to create a safe and respectful work 10 at some point in their careers, from hearing sexist harassment environment. Only 32 percent of women think that disrespectful jokes to being touched in an inappropriately sexual way. behavior toward women is often quickly addressed by their companies, compared to 50 percent of men. Women are far For some women the experience is far more common. Fifty- less confident that reporting sexual harassment will lead to a fair five percent of women in senior leadership, 48 percent of investigation. And they are twice as likely as men to say that it lesbian women, and 45 percent of women in technical fields would be risky or pointless to report an incident. report they’ve been sexually harassed. A common thread connects these groups: research has found that women who These numbers indicate the urgent need for companies to do not conform to traditional feminine expectations—in this underscore that bad behavior is unacceptable and will not case, by holding authority, not being heterosexual, and working go overlooked. Leaders at all levels need to set the tone by in fields dominated by men—are more often the targets of publicly stating that sexual harassment won’t be tolerated 11 sexual harassment. and by modeling inclusive behavior. HR teams should receive detailed training so they know how to fully and compassionately Ninety-eight percent of companies have policies that make investigate claims of harassment, even if they involve senior it clear that sexual harassment is not tolerated, but many leaders. And companies would benefit from putting an audit employees think their company is falling short putting policies process in place to ensure that investigations are thorough and into practice. Just 62 percent of employees say that in the past sanctions are appropriate. year their company has reaffirmed that sexual harassment won’t be tolerated, and a similar number say that they’ve received training or guidance on the topic. Moreover, only 60 percent It is important to note that the prevalence of sexual of employees think a sexual harassment claim would be fairly harassment reported in this research may be lower than what some working women experience. This survey investigated and addressed by their company—and just 32 focuses on full-time employees in the corporate sector percent believe it would be addressed quickly. versus the full economy, and given the nature of sexual harassment, it is often underreported. GROUPS WHO MOST COMMONLY EXPERIENCE SEXUAL HARASSMENT % OF WOMEN WHO REPORT HAVING EXPERIENCED SEXUAL HARASSMENT OVER THE COURSE OF THEIR CAREER ALL 35% SENIOR- LESBIAN WOMEN IN WOMEN WOMEN LEVEL WOMEN TECHNICAL OF COLOR WOMEN ROLES 10 It’s worth noting that the definition of unlawful harassment varies by jurisdiction. 11 See Jennifer L. Berdahl, “The Sexual Harassment of Uppity Women,” Journal of Applied Psychology 92, no. 2 (2007): 425–37; Heather McLaughlin, Christopher Uggen, and Amy Blackstone, “Sexual Harassment, Workplace Authority, and the Paradox of Power,” American Sociological Review 77, no. 4 (2012): 625–47, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0003122412451728.