An Inclusive Workplace for all Scientists
Abstract
Workplace climate can promote, or hinder, scientific productivity and innovation. Implicit and explicit bias attitudes and harassment behaviors can harm productivity and health of scientists. However, little is known of the extent to which individuals in these disciplines experience inappropriate remarks, harassment, and assault. Recent work suggests that within physics and astronomy, scientists' experiences of the workplace may differ based on their gender, race, and rank. Therefore, we conducted an internet-based survey of the workplace experiences of 474 astronomers and planetary scientists between 2011 and 2015. Survey participants responded to questions regarding personal experiences categorized by negative language, safety, and responses to harassment. Statistical analyses were performed using Fisher's exact test, log-likelihood ratio test with Williams' correction for small values, and Wilcoxon rank-sum test on intersectional data sorted by gender, race, and rank. In this sample, in nearly every significant finding, women of color experienced the highest rates of negative workplace experiences, including harassment and assault. Further, women of color reported feeling unsafe in the workplace as a result of their gender or sex 40% of the time, and as a result of their race 28% of the time. Finally, 18% of women of color, and 12% of white women, skipped professional events because they did not feel safe attending, identifying a significant loss of career opportunities due to a hostile climate. Our results suggest that the astronomy and planetary science community needs to address experiences of women of color and white women as they move forward in their efforts to create an inclusive workplace for all scientists. We recommend: evidence-based training on conflict management, bystander intervention training, and codes of conduct that allow for informal reporting and swift justice for perpetrators.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFM.U53A..07R
- Keywords:
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- 0855 Diversity;
- EDUCATIONDE: 6630 Workforce;
- PUBLIC ISSUES