From the American Physical  Society's  Committee for The Status of Women in Physics  Gazette,  Spring and Fall 2006 (see http://www.aps.org/programs/women/reports/gazette/index.cfm)

Guest Editorial: WHAT YOU CAN DO - A Guide To Creating A Level Playing Field In Physics

By Roxanne Springer, Duke University


If you are reading this Gazette, you are likely familiar with the frequent laments and statistics about the under-representation of women in physics, along with stories of harassment and discrimination some women in physics experience. Every few years a new "what you can do" guide appears on how to encourage more women to study physics as undergraduates, to get your dean to make sure women are being hired in fair proportions, and/or to improve the climate for women already in physics. This "what you can do" list of suggestions concentrates on the latter, because climate also affects the rate at which women enter and leave the field. Only when women are able to learn and work as comfortably in a physics community as men can we expect to see the number of women in physics increase. Below is a list of -- sometimes tiny, sometimes dramatic -- individual actions each of us can take to help make that happen.

Keep in mind that a climate respectful to women and minorities is one that is more respectful and inclusive to everyone, men and majorities as well. In this spirit, in the discussion below no assumption is made about the gender or race of the people involved.


What You Can Do As A (Male, Female, Graduate, or Undergraduate) Student:

Encourage an atmosphere of healthy competition. Challenge your peers and yourself to learn more and learn deeply; everyone does their best when expectations are high. Be respectful of everyone's contribution. If you like working with others, be collaborative not only in discussing problem sets but in seeing if there are research projects you can enter jointly with a peer.

If one of your classmates is shy, insecure, and/or frequently ignored or cut off by others in physics discussions, lead by example: involve that person and listen carefully -- this is someone who may have much to contribute. Is one of your classmates a "physics bully" who is disrespectful to other students? Let him/her know that few students do well when belittled and that everyone does better when there is positive encouragement instead of added stress.

How do you deal with your own insecurities? Physics is hard and most people struggle with it. If you are confused you are likely not the only one, and your time as a student is the best time in your life to ask questions! Try not to turn your own feelings of anxiety into either self-doubt or aggressiveness toward others. It really will not make you feel better, and it certainly will make your classmates feel worse, if you attempt to denigrate them in hopes of increasing your own sense of self-worth.

If a classmate, teaching assistant, faculty member or staff member is behaving in a manner you think is harassing or discriminatory – tell someone! Act early and often. You have the responsibility to treat others with respect and to insist that you are treated with respect.

Take the following example. Suppose one of your professors pats you on the head. You may find this demeaning, and it may not be clear to you whether the act was meant to be an awkward show of approval or a demonstration of dominance. If you tell the professor that the pat makes you uncomfortable, hopefully that will be sufficient to stop the behavior. Most of us do not want to cause discomfort to others. If you think the professor would, for example, give you a lower grade or a poor letter of recommendation because you spoke up, that would make the professor a seriously disturbed person who cannot be left unchallenged. Either way, it is your responsibility to act -- either in conversation with the professor or by bringing the matter to the attention of someone whose job it is to do something about it. Nobody can rise to their full potential in a climate of fear. If you are too uncomfortable to insist that you be treated with a minimum level of civility, then you are attempting to learn and work in a climate of fear. At this point, you can leave the field for greener pastures (but be aware that you will encounter people who behave inappropriately everywhere in life), you can try to muddle through and leave the problem for the next generation to fix, or you can ask for help so the problem can be solved. Few faculty wish to create or maintain an atmosphere where students do not feel valued.


What You Can Do As A Faculty Member:

Play the following game with yourself. The next time you are answering a physics question posed by a student, pretend for a moment that the student is of the opposite gender than he/she really is (or the opposite race, or the opposite in level of attractiveness, etc). See if this changes the way you see and/or react to this person. If it does, you may have some thinking to do. Remember that learning is best facilitated when everyone is treated as a valued member of the community. Differential treatment of one member of the group, especially in front of the group, will cause disturbances for all.

Here is another game. The next time a student or colleague speaks to you about a behavior of yours that may be perceived as inappropriate or unfair, pretend you have just been told that some students find your writing on the blackboard too small to be understood from anywhere but the front row of class. Hopefully your response is something along the lines of "Oh...I don't want to make learning any harder than it has to be .. I will fix this." Imagine if your response was, "That could not possibly have happened ... the students are being too sensitive. I am a good person and will not be unfairly accused. Who says I write too small? Can they prove it? Where are the witnesses?We need to have a finding of guilt before anyone can be asked to change their writing size." Hopefully you find the former response reasonable and the latter ridiculous. Keep in mind that it is all about education. Just because you have inadvertently or unthinkingly offended someoneis not a signal that you are a criminal, so there is no need to behave defensively. You want people to be comfortable enough around you so that you can be an effective teacher, advisor, and mentor. So act like one! Be responsible for your own behavior and consider how it might be affecting others.

While I am careful to list as a student responsibility the necessity of speaking up, the responsibility of the faculty member is much greater. Do not assume that your behavior is fine just because no one has brought it to your attention. As a faculty member you may be scarier than you think you are. You may be perceived as having a great deal more power, and capriciousness, than you believe you have. As the "dominant" figure in the relationship, it is up to you to carefully observe boundaries and to not make the student feel unnecessarily uncomfortable. By unnecessary I mean anything which does not forward the learning of physics.

Your colleagues who are least self-aware are likely not reading the CSWP Gazette. Your job, since you are already among those who would like to improve the situation for women in physics, is to share at least one idea to help them be part of that effort. You have the responsibility to make sure that your colleagues behave in a manner that makes you proud to be a member of your department. If you are not, you share part of the blame for any shortcomings your department may have.


What You Can Do As An Administrator:

Lead by example. Let your community know that it is a priority for you that students, faculty, staff, and administrators treat each other with respect. Obtain or create, and then publicize, a set of bestpractices. And then actually hold people to them! The point is to provide the best atmosphere for learning and working. You do not need proof of misbehavior before speaking to your employees about how to provide the most positive climate possible.

Create an office where students, faculty, and staff who feel they are being harassed or discriminated against can find help and advice. This is not the same as your equity compliance office (more about that below). Instead, this office is staffed with advocates for potential victims.

Anytime people work together, there will be misunderstandings and tensions. The more people you have at your university, the more likely it is that offensive behavior will occur from time to time. As a leader, it is up to you to see that this is dealt with appropriately. People sometimes behave in ways that are thoughtless and disrespectful. Some people are going to do whatever they are allowed to get away with doing. There are a few who will be sexual predators. This is just statistics. It may not be the university's fault that such people are in their midst, but it most certainly is the responsibility of its leaders to deal effectively with events as they occur. Trying to hide the problem will only exacerbate it. In today's political climate we are more aware than ever that sometimes the cover-up is worse than the crime. Acknowledge that you are a university full of humans, and that humans will misbehave on occasion. Put policies in place and be sure these policies are adequate and adequately enacted . The goal is to protect the most vulnerable members of your community from those who would take advantage of them.

Speak directly with your employees. Tell them when they are behaving in ways you think are positive for your community, and tell them when they are behaving in ways you think are negative. Ask them if they are being treated with respect, and ask them what they have done lately to improve the climate for those around them. Provide an annual report for your employees. Included in this report might be the number of events (from misunderstandings all the way up to harassment) brought to your attention, the number that were resolved, improvements your community has made since the last annual report, etc. If you are in charge of even a medium-sized community and you are not dealing with a substantial number of such "events" every year, find out why your employees are not talking to you.

On Learning Inhibiting Behaviors:

I will use the phrase "learning inhibiting behavior" (LIB) to be any act, however mild, which interferes with the learning/working/teaching environment.  There will be reasonable disagreement over exactly what acts this encompasses.  For instance, there are probably legitimate teaching techniques that work for some and do not work for others. Even though some students may not respond positively to, for instance, a group learning environment, I do not count that as a LIB on the part of the instructor using that technique.  LIBs refer to those disruptive practices and behaviors which are unnecessary to the learning of physics, and which often single out a particular subgroup of people.  Any student, faculty, staff, or administrator who experiences, observes, or is informed about the possibility of LIBs in their vicinity or under their purview should take steps to stop them. Giving feedback about LIBs can be daunting. It may help to consider how you would proceed were you to witness an instructor mumbling into the chalkboard so that students were unable to hear the lecture. The barrier to giving feedback about this sort of action does not seem so difficult, and many of the arguments for behavior change are the same.
 

Examples of LIBs on the part of lecturers in the presence of students may include:
 
-- Helping women more or less than men.
 
-- Calling on men in class more or less than women.
 
-- Butt, cleavage, or crotch staring.
 
-- Delaying the start of class for the arrival of a select group of people.
 
-- Excessive attention to or consistent neglect of minority students.
 
-- Head-patting, shoulder squeezing, hugging, etc.
 
-- Condescending attitude towards anyone.

 -- Letting students behaving disrespectfully towards each other.
 
Examples of LIBs on the part of students may include:
 
-- Ignoring or belittling the contribution of colleagues.
 
-- Being disrespectful to classmates or the instructor.
 

On Harassment:
 

Harassment is such a loaded word that I wish I could think of one that is not seen as so incendiary.  In the "harassing behaviors" category sits a rather large list of actions, from low-level annoyances perpetrated by people who are basically good but severely socially challenged to those trying to trade sex for the lab equipment you need to do your work.  Fortunately, most harassment falls towards the low-level part of the spectrum.  Unfortunately, it can happen pretty much anytime and anywhere.  But we do not have to tolerate it. All we need is a critical mass of people willing to stand up for themselves and insist on an adequate work environment.
 
The first reaction of many students and junior faculty when faced with harassment and/or discrimination is to avoid objecting to it for fear of reprisals.  The students fear poor grades, bad letters of recommendation, etc.  The junior faculty fear a negative tenure decision, negative ramification to careers, etc.  All these are definite dangers.  But consider this.  If, for example, you are an untenured faculty member being harassed, and if by complaining your tenure possibility is put in jeopardy, the very best thing you can do is complain early.  The situation where complaining would make things worse for you is identical to the situation where you will not be judged fairly on your own merits.  Hence you have no reason to believe that even the strongest tenure portfolio will be judged favorably.  A university which holds complaining about harassment against you is a university in violation of federal statutes.  If you do not get tenure, it may be difficult to get a complaint of harassment after the fact taken seriously as there will be the added hurdle of demonstrating that the complaint is not motivated by your rejection. Complaining early not only gives you a chance to create the environment you deserve and which the university is obligated to provide for you, but whistleblower laws protect you from retaliation.

Some universities do not provide much assistance to students and junior faculty faced with harassment.  But keeping your experience a secret is what your harasser is counting upon so that he/she can continue harassing you and others for years to come.  You are unlikely to be his/her first victim.  But you have a chance to be the last.  The best protection available to you is to speak up early and often.  The more people you tell the more likely you are to find one who will help you. Those who will not help you become part of the problem themselves, legally as well as morally.

So to whom do you turn?  First, talk to someone you trust.  If the situation involves assault (and remember that by definition assault need only involve the threat of physical contact and does not require contact itself) I recommend calling the police.  Calling the police will afford you levels of protection that many universities do not offer.  It is not as dramatic as it sounds.  Or maybe I should say that assault is worthy of whatever drama is involved.  I have heard countless women regret that they did not call the police when the situation warranted it, and nobody has regretted calling the police when they did. Sometimes this is because the police are more objective; they are less worried about protecting tenured faculty members or the school's reputation at your expense.  Many universities have offices charged with ensuring compliance with various equity laws and policies.  I do not recommend relying on them.  Their priority is to keep the university from being sued, and the best way for them to do that is to hide the problem. Students and junior faculty are a lot easier to hide than tenured professors, so guess who gets sacrificed.  Note the inherent conflict of interest in asking a university to investigate itself, which is what the compliance offices claim to do.  If the alleged harasser is a senior faculty member, in whom the university has presumably many years invested, the administration may be tempted to support that senior faculty member over the more "disposable" members of their community. And the people in the compliance office are hired and fired by these same administrators.

Instead, look for an office which is staffed by trained professionals (but not just lawyers) who will act as advocates for you.  Find out if there is a designated person, such as an ombudsperson, who can act as your advocate if you are being harassed.  That person should know (or be able to find out) how to proceed.  If you do not find such a person (or find that person unhelpful), go to the nearest common supervisor that you share with the person who is bothering you. If that supervisor does not help, continue up the chain of command until you find someone who will help.  If you know a faculty member you can trust, turn to him/her for advice on how to navigate your organization's system.  If you are a student, there may be student advocates on campus who can provide support.  If you are a junior faculty member, depending upon the circumstances you may first want to talk to a faculty member you trust who is outside your own department.

What should leaders do when a complaint of harassment is brought to them?  Typically, those who behave inappropriately towards one or more people do not behave inappropriately towards everyone in their community, in particular their own leaders.  For this reason, it is easy for leaders to have no inkling that one member of their community is behaving inappropriately towards others.  Leaders should remember that just because they themselves (and maybe all of their closest friends) are treated well by a particular person has no bearing on problems that person may be creating for others.  It is a leader's job to create and maintain an appropriate climate for everyone over whom they have responsibility.  A leader may be tempted to ignore actions and/or words which are considered to be ambiguous.  But it is exactly when interactions between humans are ambiguous that a conversation is most needed.


When faced with the suspected (or known) presence of sexual harassment, some universities are overwhelmed by a desire to protect the harassers (or "the school's reputation") rather than a desire to protect the community -- and indeed its most vulnerable members -- from abuse.  Fortunately, this never works indefinitely.  The problem will see the light of day, first by word of mouth, then in newspapers, in lawsuits, etc.   So let us openly address our problems now, creating conditions for the next generation of physicists that are more inclusive than our own.

 If you need help, the CSWP members are here for you.
 
Additional resources on this topic are available from the American Association of University Professors www.aaup.org/Issues/WomeninHE/sexhar.htm and from the American Association of University Women www.aauw.org (see publication "Tenure Denied").


RPS acknowledges professors T.J. Allen, Naomi Quinn, and Ronen Plesser for helpful comments and suggestions.