Sexual Harassment…Some See It…Some Won’t
In the spring of 1980, Redbook magazine invited HBR to conduct a joint survey on the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace. Among the questions that needed to be addressed: How critical is the problem? Is it pervasive? How difficult is it for top management to spot and prevent harassment? Will it be easy to implement the newly issued EEOC guidelines? We surveyed more than 7,000 HBR subscribes, of whom 25% responded. (In its March 1981 issue, Redbook is publishing a separate article on the survey.)
The major conclusions discussed include the following. Most people agree on what harassment is. But men and women disagree strongly on how frequently it occurs. The majority correlate the perceived seriousness of the behavior with the power of the person making the advance. Top management appears isolated from situations involving harassment. Many women, in particular, despair of having traditionally male-dominated management understand how much harassment humiliates and frustrates them, and they despair of having management’s support in resisting it. Most people think that the EEOC guidelines—although reasonable in theory—will be difficult to implement because they are too vague.
The survey clearly shows that management should address this problem, which affects the morale, self-confidence, and efficiency of many workers. On a positive note, respondents suggest specific policies and approaches for management to confront the issue.
https://hbr.org/1981/03/sexual-harassmentsome-see-itsome-wont&cm_sp=Article-_-Links-_-Top%20of%20Page%20Recirculation