Gender Harassment: A Technology of Oppression in Organizations

The #MeToo campaign has launched sexual harassment to the forefront of public awareness. When people hear this term, however, they typically think only about unwanted sexual pursuit. The term is misleading, because oftentimes “sexual” harassment has little if anything to do with sexuality - instead it’s about gender. This talk will highlight findings on gender harassment: conduct that disparages employees based on gender but implies no sexual advance. I will present evidence on the pervasiveness of gender harassment, work environments associated with it, and its implications for worker wellbeing. This harassment puts pressure on all employees to conform to a narrow standard of gender “appropriate” behaviour. As a result, gender oppression is maintained in society and replicated on the job.

Lilia M. Cortina, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology, Women’s Studies, and Management & Organizations at the University of Michigan. An organizational psychologist, she investigates the many ways in which people are subordinated, violated and relegated to the margins of organizational life. These interpersonal indignities range from subtle social slights to general incivility to blatant harassment and violence. Professor Cortina’s scholarship spans the full spectrum, with a particular focus on incivility and harassment based on gender/sex. To date, she has published over 80 scientific articles and chapters on these topics. In recognition of unusual and outstanding contributions to the field, Professor Cortina has been named Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology.

Professor Cortina’s research on workplace harassment has won awards, but its impact stretches beyond academia and into other professional spheres. She has served as an expert witness in a range of venues, translating findings from social science to inform policy and legal decision-making. For example, she provided expert testimony to the U.S. Department of Defense Judicial Proceedings Panel; commissioned by Congress, this Panel conducted an independent review of American military judicial procedures surrounding sexual assault. She also testified to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace. In addition, Professor Cortina recently joined colleagues in co-authoring a landmark report on sexual harassment for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Lilia Cortina earned her A.M. and Ph.D in Psychology (with a minor in Quantitative Methods) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.