Considerations for Supporting Postdoctoral Scholars Experiencing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education: Issue Paper (2025)
Chapter: Appendix C: Statement of Task
Appendix C
Statement of Task
SUPPORTING POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLARS EXPERIENCING SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION: ISSUE PAPER
Building on the findings and recommendations in the National Academies’ 2018 report on the Sexual Harassment of Women, individual scholars, higher education leaders, and practitioners from the Response Working Group within the Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education will author an issue paper that describes key institutional considerations and challenges in supporting postdoctoral scholars experiencing sexual harassment in higher education. Specifically, the authors will
- Review and synthesize the existing research on factors contributing to the sexual harassment of postdoctoral scholars, including power dynamics based on career status, financial status, or citizenship status, dyadic relationship models, social isolation, and lack of structural resources;
- Describe the landscape of campus policies and practices and federal and state-level laws and regulations that influence postdoctoral scholars’ vulnerability to sexual harassment and willingness to seek resources and pursue institutional interventions;
- Analyze examples from institutions of higher education of efforts to prevent, respond to, remediate, or otherwise address the sexual harassment of postdoctoral scholars; and
- Explore ways in which existing efforts to address the sexual harassment of graduate students may be applicable to postdoctoral scholars.
Where data exist, the analysis of all items above will describe (a) the experiences of postdoctoral scholars with marginalized identities (e.g., women of color and sexual and gender diverse people); (b) the compounding effects of sexual and other forms of harassment; and (c) the experiences and needs of international scholars, who are estimated to make up over 50% of all postdoctoral scholars in the United States. The paper will serve as a research-based resource for higher education administrators; practitioners; faculty, staff, and student leaders. It will not offer consensus recommendations.
