Reporting Harassment and Discrimination at Social Work Conferences: Perceptions, Intentions, and Barriers

Background: Recent studies of experiences of harassment and bias at academic conferences in law, geography, sciences, engineering, math, and dental research report that many attendees feel uncomfortable or uncertain reporting these incidents, and identify potential barriers to reporting related to unclear processes, offender status, victim identity/status, unclear bystander role, and uncertain outcomes (Cuomo et al, 2019; Gottfried, 2020; Heaton et al, 2020; NASEM, 2018; Sapiro & Campbell, 2018) . This study explores these issues at social work conferences, assessing both attendees’ beliefs about likelihood of reporting discrimination and perceived barriers to reporting, and how these reporting intentions and perceived barriers vary based on race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and/or academic position.

Methods: An anonymous online survey (N=290) recruited participants between September 2023 and January 2024. Questions for this analysis included Likert scale questions about reporting beliefs and barriers to reporting, and categorical demographic data. Quantitative data were analyzed in SPSS v.29 using descriptives and t-tests.

Results: While about half of participants (56.4%) reported they would feel comfortable reporting an incident of discrimination or harassment at a conference, fewer (46.2%) reported being likely to report such an incident. Participants (88.8%) overwhelmingly agreed that implementing a clear process for reporting discrimination or harassment at a conference should be a top priority for an academic social work organization. Sixty percent of participants reported that the identity or prestige of the alleged offender would dictate the nature of the academic social work organization’s response. Over half of the participants indicated confidentiality concerns. Less than half of the participants reported that conference organizational leadership would support and protect the safety of the person reporting. Less than a third of participants (31.6%) indicated that conference leadership would protect them from retaliation, and 37.3% felt that the reporter's career would suffer. Non-binary individuals (t=2.85, p=.002) and cisgender women (t=1.94, d=.36, p=.03) were more likely to believe they would be considered “trouble-makers”, and that reporting would harm their education or career (Non-binary t=1.80, p=.01, cisgender women t=2.02, p=.03). Non-binary (t=-3.17, p<.001) and queer-identifying individuals (F=2.83, p=.01) were less likely to think they would be taken seriously. Non-binary individuals were less likely to think they would be supported (t=-2.55, p=.01). Cisgender women felt they would be less likely to be protected (t=-2.11, p=.02), especially against retaliation (t=-2.38, p=.01). Pre-tenure individuals were more likely to feel they would be protected (F=2.71,p=.01). Individuals with disabilities reported that they believed conference leadership would be more likely to be taken seriously (t=-2.86, p=.01) supported, and that conference leadership would take corrective action.

Conclusion and Implications: Only half of our sample reported feeling comfortable reporting incidents of discrimination or harassment, and fewer were likely to report such incidents. Barriers to reporting included concerns that they would not be taken seriously or supported, that they would face retaliation, and that reporting would hurt their educational attainment or career. These barriers are especially pronounced among non-binary and queer-identifying individuals, pre-tenure faculty, and cisgender women.