James E. Gruber

Blue-Collar Blues: The Sexual Harassment of Women Autoworkers.

Harassment frequency, severity, response, and effect were analyzed for a sample of 138 women who work mostly in unskilled jobs in the auto industry. It was hypothesized that these would be related to several social and work-related characteristics: specifically low social of work status, or low numerical representation in a work area. Our analysis found that blacks, unmarried, or young (under 25) women, or those with low job status, or who worked in an area where women were a sizable minority were more likely to be the targets of frequent harassment. Black women, or those who were a sizable minority in a work area, were also likely to be severely harassed. Harassment response, however, was not related to either social or work-related characteristics. In other words, women who are the targets of harassment do not respond differently than women who are less frequently or severely harassed. Several consequences of sexual harassment were found. Feelings toward coworkers and supervisors were adversely affected by harassment; overall job satisfaction, feelings of job competence, and work mobility aspirations were not influenced. Finally, there was some evidence that harassment generalized beyond the workplace: Harassed women reported lower self-esteem and experienced less global life satisfaction.

The Impact of Male Work Environments and Organizational Policies on Women's Experiences of Sexual Harassment

Womens experiences with sexual harassment were analyzed with three types of variables: occupational and workplace sex ratios, organizational policies and procedures for dealing with sexual harassment problems, and womens cultural status (age and marital status). Regression analyses revealed that extent of contact with men was a key predictor of incidence of harassment, number of different types of harrassment, sexual comments, sexual categorical remarks, and sexual materials. Gender predominance was a significant predictor of physical threats and sexual materials. Informational methods were less successful than proactive methods in reducing incidents of sexual harassment. The analyses support two generalizations. The “contact hypothesis” tested and verified by Gutek and her colleagues provides a substantive understanding of our findings on workplace and occupational numerical predominance. Second, organizations that take a variety of steps to address sexual harassment are more apt to be successful in curtailing the problem than those relying mainly on “get out the word” techniques.

A typology of personal and environmental sexual harassment: Research and policy implications for the 1990s

Most of the research conducted on sexual harassment over the last decade and a half has used categories that are neither mutually exclusive nor exhaustive. This has created problems for researchers: it is difficult to compare results from one study to another, harassment types that have scholarly and legal-policy relevance are omitted, and the ability of researchers to inform legal and policy decisions is diminished as a result of these problems. A comprehensive categorization of harassment types that addresses these methodological problems is presented. Specifically, 11 specific types of harassment—4 types of Verbal Requests, 3 Verbal Remarks, and 4 Nonverbal Displays—are presented with examples from research and legal literatures. Recommendations for reconceptualizing research definitions of harassment as well as for diversifying the methodological approaches to the topic are made.

The Impact of Bullying and Sexual Harassment on Middle and High School Girls

The impact of bullying and sexual harassment on six health outcomes among middle school girls were compared to these outcomes among high school girls. High school girls experienced more bullying and sexual harassment and poorer health outcomes than their middle school counterparts, but the impact of these experiences was less among high school students. Differences in outcomes may be the result of better support systems and coping mechanisms among high school girls and/or challenging developmental changes during middle school. Sexual orientation, race, and disability had some notable relationships to bullying and sexual harassment experiences as well as health outcomes.

Methodological problems and policy implications in sexual harassment research

This paper argues that the ability of social research to influence legal arguments and policy decisions on sexual harassment in the workplace has been stymied by several methodological problems which are shared by most major studies on the topic. Determination of the incidence of harassment and its major sub-types is difficult because of problems with sampling (e.g., response rate, sample size) and instrument construction (e.g., number or variety of harassment categories). Additionally, severity of harassment is rarely treated as a variable.Several resolutions to these problems are presented. First, estimates of the proportion of women who have experienced harassment, as well as the proportion having experienced the major sub-types of harassment, are derived. Second, a mutually exclusive and exhaustive set of sexual harassment categories, which includes harassment types that have evolved recently from legal decisions and policy developments, is discussed. Finally, an outline of factors which might be used to assess harassment severity is presented. Resolving these issues will provide social scientists and non-scientists alike with clearer answers to the ‘How much?’, ‘Which types?’ and ‘How serious?’ questions about harassment.

Antecedents and Outcomes of Woman-Unfriendly Experiences A Study of Scandinavian, Former Soviet, and American Women

Predictors and outcomes of male harassment and hostility toward women (woman-unfriendly experiences) were analyzed for professional and blue-collar women (N = 805) in three geographic regions. Two central questions were addressed by using multiple regression: Do the same types of variables predict woman-unfriendly experiences across regions? Are there similar job-related and psychological outcomes of woman-unfriendly experiences across regions? Americans reported more such experiences and they affected more outcomes. Scandinavians had fewer woman-unfriendly experiences than Americans, fewer job-related or psychological problems, more autonomy, and better work environments. Former Soviet professionals reported more unfriendly experiences than workers but less than their peers in the other regions. Differences among the regions were attributed to general social and economic policies that have attempted to eradicate gender inequality (Scandinavia), occupational status levelling and traditional gender stereotypes (former USSR), or cultural values of competitiveness and individualism and heightened sensitivity to the issue of sexual harassment (United States).

Sexual Harassment, Bullying, and School Outcomes for High School Girls and Boys:

A comparison of the impact of bullying and sexual harassment on five school outcomes was conducted on a sample of high school students. Results revealed that sexual harassment was a stronger predictor than bullying of all school outcomes for both sexes, but especially for girls. This study suggests that sexual harassment, which activates sexist and heterosexist stereotypes, erodes school engagement, alienates students from teachers, and adversely affects academic achievement, to a greater degree than bullying does.

ROUTES TO A FEMINIST ORIENTATION AMONG WOMEN AUTOWORKERS

This article analyzes the orientation of 150 women autoworkers toward feminism. Demographic variables had no significant independent effects when considered with other variables. Age, marital status, and education did have noteworthy mediated effects. Seniority level, workplace threat, and job skills were significant determinants of feminist orientations. Womens feelings of being trapped in a job, their feelings of job competence, and their self-esteem were also important factors. The interrelationships among the variables suggested that there are two routes to profeminist attitudes. One route is followed by older, higher-seniority women who develop a positive stance toward feminism as a result of mostly positive work-related experiences (high skills, high job competence, high self-esteem). The other route is followed by younger, divorced, or college-educated women whose negative work-related experiences (low seniority, low job skills, high job entrapment, low job competence) apparently sensitize them to feminist issues.