A Culture of Silence

This week the Astronomy community was rocked by the news that Geoff Marcy was found to have violated campus sexual harassment policies after a six-month investigation by Berkeley's Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination.

Until Buzzfeed News broke the story last week, Marcy's habit of making women uncomfortable was an "open secret" in the Astronomy community. Yet many people are reacting with frustration, saying: "If everyone knew, why didn't we do something sooner?" or "I am a woman in astronomy, how come no one told me?" The Marcy situation highlights a larger problem we have within the structures of academia: a culture of silence.

Still Anonymous

 

Today's guest blogger is Still Anonymous. She can tell you her story in her own words.

 

On Friday, Buzzfeed’s article on Geoff Marcy’s serial sexual harassment – and UC Berkeley’s non-response – went live. The story has enough momentum behind it for Geoff to toss off a non-apology to the CSWA as if pleading ignorance and promising maturation and growth make any difference this time. As if they ever have.

 

Students, postdocs, faculty, and staff have since issued letters condemning Marcy’s behavior and the University’s handling on the Title IX investigation.

 

Maybe a public shaming is what it takes to get the attention of the university officials who couldn’t muster a slap on a wrist. Maybe it is still not enough.

 

I did not share my name and my story with Buzzfeed. But as the article points out, this is an open secret. You don’t have to know much about the problem to identify potential victims. Complainants. Survivors. I’ve struggled with whether it is worthwhile to offer my name.

CSWA Chair's Message to the Greater Astronomical Community on Harassment

Early last week, the Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy (CSWA) received a letter from Geoff Marcy, along with a request for publication in our newsletter.  On Friday, a buzzfeed article  describing the UC Berkeley Title IX investigation against Marcy for several alleged infractions of its sexual harassment policy was published.  The CSWA, through its leadership at the American Astronomical Society, declined to publish Marcy’s letter.  Later on Friday, an online petition was created for people to express their support for “the people who were targets of Geoff Marcy's inappropriate behavior and those who have spoken publicly about it.”  The event has been a key discussion point of the community through social media and various outlets throughout the weekend.

I’d personally like to thank those who brought the complaint forward for their courage to speak out and report the issues that were raised, and for continuing to speak out against the issue of harassment.  I also want to thank my fellow committee members and our previous chair for their work in making sure this issue is highlighted and addressed.  But the key group, for whom I intend to focus my comments, are the women (and men) who are encountering harassment within our field. I offer any assistance that they need. This post is meant for the greater astronomical community, and those who would like to help in fostering a safe and welcoming environment for all.

June AAS Town Hall: Addressing Sexual Violence on College Campuses (Tuesday, June 3, 12:45 pm)

Content note: This blog post and links within contain discussions of sexual violence which may be triggering to survivors. 

 

Our college campuses are not safe spaces. Sexual violence is endemic, with estimates of one in four college women experiencing a sexual assault during their time on campus. Disclosures by survivors of sexual violence to universities are often met with a culture of indifference, victim blaming, and even hostility. Survivors of color often experience racism when confronting university administrations, and members of the queer and trans* communities often have to deal with heterosexism and cissexism/transphobia. Male survivors often face skepticism. When disclosures of sexual violence are handled poorly, the results can have a disastrous effect on survivors (see the op/ed Dear Harvard: You Win).

At the June AAS meeting in Boston, the Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy (CSWA) is hosting a town hall on “Addressing Sexual Violence on College Campuses” (Tuesday, June 3, 12:45 pm in Staffordshire, Westin Copley Place). This town hall will be led by representatives from the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC) who will discuss how community awareness is instrumental in dismantling campus rape culture at our colleges and universities. They will counter harmful myths about sexual violence and discuss research on repeat perpetration and acquaintance rape.

There are currently fifty-five institutions with open Title IX investigations regarding mishandling sexual violence and harassment complaints. We therefore especially encourage department chairs, faculty, and university administrators to attend this important session. However, this work does not stop here. Many organizations worldwide provide education about how to address sexual violence on our campuses and in our communities. Some trainings may even be offered by your institution. If you are located near Boston, BARCC offers a variety of trainings that can be held at colleges and universities.  They have made available a useful guide for prevention of sexual violence on campus and on how to respond to disclosures of sexual assault. Another local group, The Network/La Red, provides community education and trainings to specifically address LGBTQ* partner abuse. Nationwide organizations such as SCESA and INCITE! are working to end sexual violence against women, gender non-conforming, and trans* people of color.

Please join us at the CSWA town hall on June 3. We have much work ahead of us to make our campuses safer spaces.

Christina Hoff Sommers hates women scientists

Christina Hoff Sommers is at it again: claiming that applying Title IX to science will ruin America, just as she did around this same time last year, as discussed in previous issues of AASWOMEN: see here, here, and here.

She starts off like this:

What's good for women's basketball will be good for nuclear physics. To most Americans, that statement will sound odd.

Well, yes, how can you possibly fairly compare a gender-segregated sport to a field of science? Apples and oranges, anyone?

(click on the "link to full post" to read the rest)

"Title IX has had an enormous impact on women's opportunities and participation in sports." Indeed, Title IX has contributed to significant progress in women's athletics -- but at what cost to male student athletics?

Okay, now we're getting somewhere: we are looking to open opportunities to women and increase their participation. What's wrong with that? And besides, men's college basketball does not seem to have suffered at all from the rise of women's college basketball. College basketball was all over the news last month, at least the men's tournament. Maybe once in a while you'd hear about the women's tournament, but it wasn't the big story.

Title IX could make "similar striking advances" for women in science and engineering. Indeed it could -- but at what cost to science?

Okay, now that's just insulting. She's basically just put right out there that she believes that women are not capable of doing math or science. Thank you, Ms. Sommers, for adding to the problem of gender bias in science.

Badly in need of an advocacy cause just as women were beginning to outnumber men on college campuses, well-funded academic women's groups alerted their followers that American science education was "hostile" to women.

Look, more insults! We women in science advocates are simply troublemakers looking for a cause. Gotta love the scare quotes around "hostile" too. Well, if people continue to assume that women cannot do good science, then American science education is going to continue to be hostile to women, won't it. I also love the idea of well-funded academic women's groups. And how much money does the American Enterprise Institute pay you, Ms. Sommers?

Is it true that women are being excluded from academic science programs because of sexist bias? Some researchers agree that bias is to blame; others, perhaps a majority, suggest that biology and considered preference explain why men and women gravitate to different academic fields. But researchers who dispute the bias explanation played little or no role in the Title IX conferences, summits or congressional hearings.

Oh really? And which studies are these? Do these studies actually definitively point to biological differences rather than cultural upbringing, because those are notoriously difficult to separate. Or perhaps it's all stereotype threat?

American scientific excellence, though, is an invaluable and irreplaceable resource. The fields that will be most affected -- math, engineering, physics and computer science -- are vital to the economy and national defense.

Look, a statement I can actually agree with. But that means we need to bring more people into STEM fields. If you limit those people to just the white males, you're not taking advantage of all your resources. This is not a zero-sum game. Believe it or not, women and minorities can make significant contributions to STEM, too. The white male culture of STEM does not necessarily produce the best science, and just because it's always been that way doesn't mean that it can't change.

Title IX is not just about sports: it's about ending sexual discrimination in universities as a whole. It just so happens that the only realm where this has been successful is sports. Title IX was passed 37 years ago: it's high time that it was applied more widely.


Hat tip to A, who alerted me to this article and ruined my morning.  I forgive you, though.