30% of those working in academic medicine report sexual harassment (Jagsi et al., 2016).
2018 survey results of over 1,100 female emergency medicine physicians found a “majority (57.3%) felt harassed, diminished, uncomfortable, or discriminated against by a male colleague or superior at work based on sexual comment or innuendo and 22.3% experienced an unwanted sexual act or advance” (Maso & Theobald, 2022).
Women are often faced with sex discrimination, bias, and unequitable treatment in our professional roles and in general society. Some of this treatment is blatant and some is more subtle but stings just as much.
For blatant harassment, talk with trusted colleagues, supervisors, and mentors. Title IX can offer protection in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance. “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance” (U.S. Department of Education).
More subtle discrimination can come in the form of Microaggressions. Which are defined as, “a comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group” (Merriam-Webster). Microaggressions can occur against individuals based on many intersectional identities (e.g., race, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, age, sex).
Examples of microaggressions toward women in professional spaces include:
- Always being asked to take notes at meetings, when it is not part of your professional role.
- Being expected to get refreshments for others or tidy up after a meeting.
- Getting regularly talked over or ignored when sharing your thoughts in a meeting.
- Being introduced by your first name while your male counterparts are addressed by their titles.
- The expectation that you will move out of the way if a man and you are walking toward each other in a hallway.
Microaggressions are the subtle expressions of prejudice that others hold toward one or many of your intersectional identities. Those who hold these prejudices are not inherently evil. They are acting out the biases that they have learned from a patriarchal society. Sometimes they need a helpful nudge to notice their behavior so they can do better in the future. Your instincts may tell you to fight, flee, freeze, or faun when faced with any form of threat or aggression (micro or not). TRUST YOUR GUT AND KEEP YOURSELF SAFE.
If and when you feel safe enough (emotionally, physically, and mentally) to do so, it can feel empowering to call out microaggressions. This includes when you see them happening to others and when experiencing them yourself.
This can look like:
- Asking if another person in the group can take notes and/or suggesting that it could be more equitable for members of the group to alternate taking notes.
- Talking with your direct supervisor/person running the meeting related to tasks that have been asked of you that are not directly aligned with your role (e.g., getting refreshments). Ask for them to explain why the expectation has fallen to you and if a structure can be created to change this expectation.
- Speak up for other women in meetings and reiterate their points. Ask for them to do the same for you.
- If you have been addressed by your first name you can then address all others by their first names in that setting, making first names the norm. Also, you can gently call out this discrepancy when it occurs to yourself or other women around you in a public setting. For example, “I noticed Dr. Smith was addressed by her first name. To keep things consistent I ask that we address her with her title as well.”
- Don’t move out of the way or apologize when taking up space. If you walk confidently and keep on your path, others will move. You are allowed to take up space.
*To learn more about microaggressions consider listening to this Speaking of Psychology Podcast by the American Psychological Association:
How to combat microaggressions, with Derald Wing Sue, PhD
https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/microaggressions
He shares strategies for combatting microaggressions:
- Making the invisible visible.
- Educate the perpetrator.
- Disarm the microaggression.
- Seek outside support and validation.
You can read more in Dr Sue's Microintervention Toolkit: https://priceschool.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/microintervention.toolkit.brochure_part_1.pdf
References:
Jagsi R, Grifth KA, Jones R, Perumalswami CR, Ubel P, Stewart A. (2016). Sexual harassment and discrimination experiences of academic medical faculty. JAMA, 315(19): 2120-2121. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2016.2188
Maso, K., & Theobald, J. L. (2022). Qualitative description of sexual harassment and discrimination of women in emergency medicine: Giving the numbers a voice. AEM Education and Training, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/aet2.10727
Merriam-Webster. “Microaggression.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/microaggression.
U.S. Department of Education. Title IX and Sex Discrimination. https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/tix_dis.html