Quantifying the #metoo Narrative: Incidence and Prevalence of Sexual Harassment in Academic Libraries

The recent #metoo and #timesup movements have shifted the national narrative about workplace sexual harassment, finally bringing it into the light to be recognized and combatted. What is the place in this narrative for libraries? Social science research suggests that female-dominated professions experience a high degree of sexual harassment in the workplace, not only from coworkers but also from clients.1 Do libraries fall into these patterns seen in other fields? Anecdotal evidence suggests that librarians experience sexual harassment, but the most vetted and widely-used tool for measuring incidence and prevalence of harassment had not been applied in the library context. A research team of librarians and social scientists recently administered a survey to academic librarians to measure how widespread sexual harassment is within our field.</p

#MeToo in the Academic Library: A Quantitative Measurement of the Prevalence of Sexual Harassment in Academic Libraries

The #metoo movement has prompted national discussions about workplace sexual harassment. Social science research suggests that female-dominated professions experience a high degree of workplace sexual harassment from supervisors, coworkers, and clients. Anecdotal evidence suggests that librarians experience sexual harassment. The authors administered a vetted, widely used survey to quantitatively measure for the first time how widespread sexual harassment is within academic libraries.</div

Skunk River Review Fall 1995, Vol 7

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Sexual Harassment in Academic Libraries - Sexual Experiences Questionnaire including Client Sexual Harassment Component

This data file includes the responses of a&nbsp;survey measuring the incidence and prevalence of&nbsp;sexual harassment in academic&nbsp;libraries. The researchers administered the Sexual Experiences&nbsp;Questionnaire to&nbsp;employees of academic libraries. The survey was distributed via listservs, and&nbsp;received 618 responses over 24 days in April 2018, and asked only about the&nbsp;most recent 5&nbsp;years. Since a respondent can have more than one sexual&nbsp;harassment experience, the unit of&nbsp;analysis is not persons, but experiences.&nbsp;The data measure the incidence of 54 different&nbsp;behaviors encompassing gender&nbsp;hostility, unwanted sexual attention, and sexual coercion. &nbsp;</p