Doctoral Dissertation Research: Does Speaking Out Against Harassment Lead Women to be Negatively Stereotyped at Work?

Stanford University, Stanford CA

Investigators

Abstract

Understanding the barriers faced by women who are harassed at work is critical to analyzing gender equality in the United States, because harassment severely handicaps women’s ability to thrive and advance socioeconomically. This project seeks to build a better understanding of the barriers that women face when they experience harassment. Specifically, it tests whether women who speak out against harassment are negatively stereotyped and therefore disadvantaged at work. A better understanding of these barriers can help women strategize how to best navigate existing biases when they wish to speak out against harassment. Findings can also be used by organizations to craft policies that take into account the barriers to speaking out against harassment. Finally, this research can be used to educate the general public about the subtle biases that women face when they confront or speak out against harassment in order to influence cultural beliefs about harassment and erode biases. Some individuals experience harassment at work, and we know little about how speaking out against harassment can exacerbate workplace inequality. This project uses two online survey experiments to test for possible discrimination against women who speak out against harassment. In Study 1, (run on YouGov, N=1,000) the project will use a conjoint experiment to test whether a woman who does not fit the cultural archetype of the “ideal” harassment target in various ways – for example, a Black or Latina woman, or a woman who had previously been in a relationship with her harasser – may be negatively stereotyped and therefore viewed as less employable. The project will use statistical tests, including t-tests and regression analyses, to determine whether variations in a harassment target’s identity and story influence her perceived employability, and will use formal mediation analysis to test whether any differences are mediated by perceptions of her. In Study 2 (run on Amazon Mechanical Turk, N=580), the project will examine how a different form of speaking out against harassment – confronting the person who instigated unwanted behavior – may also cause women to be negatively stereotyped and penalized on employment outcomes. This project will analyze the double bind that women who experience harassment may face when they consider speaking out against it. Although speaking out may help to limit the harassing behavior, it may simultaneously damage the employment outcomes of many women who do so. This project advances sociological theories of labor market inequality by linking harassment to perceptions of employability. It also contributes more broadly to theories regarding gender inequality at work and in society more generally. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.