Advancing Equality: Addressing Workplace Harassment through Policy Change in the STEM Sector is an initiative aimed at raising awareness and driving collective action to tackle systemic challenges faced by women in STEM across Ontario. Women in STEM face persistent barriers, including gender bias, discrimination, and sexual harassment, which hinder their success and career progression. This project emphasizes cross-sector collaboration, bringing together industry leaders, survivor advocates, and gender equity experts to conduct research and co-develop impactful, evidence-based solutions. By fostering partnerships across diverse systems, the initiative seeks to create safer, more inclusive workplaces for women.
This project has been funded through Women and Gender Equality Canada’s Women’s Program
The rise of the #MeToo movement has shifted dramatically society’s awareness of gender and sexual harassment, but global rates of gender and sexual harassment remain high. While there are many contributing factors, time and time again male-dominated workplaces are found to have higher rates of workplace gender and sexual harassment than spaces that have greater gender parity. This is particularly important for STEM fields, where women are a low percentage of the workforce.
This literature review explores the knowledge available on the subject of preventing and responding to gender and sexual harassment in the workplace, with a focus on STEM workplaces. It explores strategies for workplace prevention, training and response systems in addition to examples of best practices.