Harassment, bullying and discrimination in the workplace damage science and cause health problems, which results in decreased motivation, lost productivity, and the exclusion of people who might have led highly satisfying scientific careers and made important contributions[6]. In the United States, 59% of undergraduate women students experienced harassing behavior[2]; and 62% of higher education administrators reported experiencing or witnessing bullying[5]. A 2013 survey of the Earth Science Women’s Network found that 51 % women (versus 6% of men) had experienced sexual harassment in their careers[1]. A 2017 study in astronomy and planetary science found that 68% of women of color reported feeling unsafe in the workplace as a result of their gender, sex, or race; and 30% of women skipped professional events because they did not feel safe attending due to a hostile climate[3]. In a United Kingdom survey of physicists identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ), almost a third had considered leaving the physical sciences due to negative workplace experiences[4].
Have you ever wanted to reject cultures of silence and replace them with cultures of transparency and empowerment in your workplace? If so, this workshop is for you!
Harassment in the workplace will not stop on its own, and we all play a part in creating and sustaining a safe and inclusive work environment. Thus, it is becoming increasingly important to be trained as bystanders who can intervene when inappropriate behavior occurs in the workplace. Bystander training creates awareness, responsibility, and sense of belonging; changes behavior over time; and builds an inclusive culture.
AGU-H3S is hosting a bystander training workshop on Thursday, November 18, 2021, from 1-4 ET/10-1 PST sponsored by the AGU Hydrology Section. This workshop is offered by NSF’s AdvanceGeo program—a partnership of representatives from the Earth Science Women’s Network, Association for Women Geoscientists, and the American Geophysical Union to address the problem of sexual harassment and other exclusionary behaviors that lead to hostile working and learning climates in the earth, space and environmental sciences[7].
In this workshop, participants will be trained on how to identify forms of harassment in the workplace, safely take personal intervention strategies, and promote cultural change to reduce incidents of harassment in the future. All participants will be provided with handouts that describe bystander intervention strategies and point to resources related to the issues discussed. Participants will be asked to complete a short survey at the end of the workshop to provide feedback to the facilitators.
Below you can find the detailed information and the registration link.
Who can attend?
All members of the AGU Hydrology Section are encouraged to attend this workshop. Registration cap for this workshop is 50 participants.
How much does it cost?
This workshop is generously supported by the AGU Hydrology Section and is free for participants.
When/where does it take place?
November 18, 2021 from 1-4 ET/10-1 PST | Virtual through Zoom. Breakout rooms will be used during the sessions.
Where to register?
Please be aware that by registering, you are committing to participation in this workshop. If you cannot attend, please cancel your registration as soon as possible so that another person can take that spot in this limited-capacity training session.
Do you have any questions/concerns?
Please contact us at h3s.agu@gmail.com or send us a DM on Twitter at @AGU_H3S.
References
[1] Archie, T. and Laursen, S. (2013). “Summative report on the Earth Science Women’s Network (ESWN) NSF ADVANCE PAID Award (2009–2013)”, Ethnography and Evaluation Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO, 149 pp. https://www.colorado.edu/eer/sites/default/files/attached-files/eswnfinalreportall_2013.pdf
[2] Cantor, D., Fisher, B., Chibnall, S., Harps, S., Townsend, R., Thomas, G., et al. (2019). Report of the AAU Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Misconduct. Retrieved from https://www.aau.edu/key-issues
[3] Clancy, K. B. H., Lee, K. M. N., Rodgers, E. M., and Richey, C. (2017). “Double jeopardy in astronomy and planetary science: Women of color face greater risks of gendered and racial harassment”, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 122, 1610– 1623. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JE005256
[4] Gibney, E. (2019). “Discrimination drives LGBT+ scientists to think about quitting”, Nature, 571, 16–17. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02013-9
[5] Hollis, L. P. (2015). “Bully University? The cost of workplace bullying and employee disengagement in American Higher Education”, SAGE Open. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244015589997
[6] Marín-Spiotta, E. (2018). “Harassment should count as scientific misconduct”, Nature 557, 141. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05076-2
[7] Marín-Spiotta, E., Barnes, R. T., Berhe, A. A., Hastings, M. G., Mattheis, A., Schneider, B., and Williams, B. M. (2020). “Hostile climates are barriers to diversifying the geosciences”, Advances in Geosciences, 53, 117–127. https://doi.org/10.5194/adgeo-53-117-2020