Race, Threat and Workplace Sexual Harassment: The Dynamics of Harassment in the US, 1997-2016

• In Event: 2442 - Men and Masculinities in the #MeToo Era

Abstract

Sexual harassment continues to be an important problem in the workplace, with consequences for economic, psychological (Fitzgerald et al. 1997; Gruber and Fineran 2008; Houle et al. 2011) and physical (McDonald 2012; Willness, Steel and Lee 2007) well-being of victims that can last for decades (Houle et al 2011). Despite how much we know about the effects of sexual harassment on individuals, there is much that we do not know, and this paper aims to fill in some of the gaps through the use of macro-level workplace sexual harassment data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). By examining the dynamics of workplace sexual harassment in the United States over the past 20 years, we test findings about sexual harassment that have arisen from the existing micro-level research, and look for the effects of societal level factors on rates of harassment. In particular, we explore the effects of men’s unemployment rates on the reported rates of women’s sexual harassment in the workplace. Our results on the effects of unemployment support the notion that sexual harassment in the workplace is about establishing power and dominance. When men feel threatened – in this case, by economic factors out of their own control – they become more likely to engage in sexual harassment. The causes of sexual harassment that have been identified in the micro-level literature seem well supported in the macro-level data. Most importantly, we show that women of color are much more likely to experience sexual harassment in the workplace, and the benefits that have come from greater awareness of sexual harassment have benefitted white women more than others.

Authors

• Yasemin Besen-Cassino, Montclair State University

• Dan Cassino, Fairleigh Dickinson University