by Mary Adams, AWC The Hague & Therese Hartwell, FAUSA
The Facts
In June 2018, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine published a research report with the findings that “women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) endure the highest rate of sexual harassment of any profession outside of the military.”
In November 2018, seven STEM female graduate students sued Dartmouth University for $70 million, claiming that the institution had repeatedly ignored reports of sexual harassment against three male professors in the Department of Psychological and Brain Studies.
The lawsuit alleged that the three professors “leered at, groped, sexted, intoxicated and even raped female students.” It also asserted that the professors, among other suggested abuses, “conducted professional lab meetings at bars.” The suit further alleged that Dartmouth “has known about bad behavior by these professors for more than sixteen years,” but that it failed to take action, “thereby ratifying the violent and criminal acts of its professors.”
In August 2019, in a ruling against Dartmouth, a judge awarded a $14 million settlement to the students. After litigation fees, the primary seven plaintiffs each received a $75,000 service award. The remainder of the settlement was distributed to an additional 65 plaintiffs (past and present students). Remaining funds were donated to the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic Violence. In addition to the monetary awards allocated in the settlement, Dartmouth also committed to pursuing reforms in its Campus Climate and Culture Initiative (C3I).
Are you curious about the fate of the three professors? During Dartmouth’s investigations into their conduct in 2017, the professors were barred from campus and placed on paid leave. In the summer of 2018, each either resigned or took retirement before Dartmouth could fire them. No criminal charges or civil actions were taken against any of the professors. While they apparently are not currently teaching at any other institution, they are not legally barred from doing so.
Case closed. As a reader, that sounds like a happy ending. Or is it? Has the real work for equal education in STEM just begun?
The Voices
In April 2021, FAUSA sponsored a viewing of the LUNAFEST® film festival featuring short documentaries about women by women. The Scientists Versus Dartmouth film followed the experiences of the seven primary Dartmouth plaintiffs. Director Sharon Shattuck’s insider view revealed the ivy walls of Dartmouth were becoming a “21st Century Animal House.”.
In Therese Hartwell’s Q&A session with Sharon about the film, the director discussed the impact of the Dartmouth lawsuit on the women filing it. Fortunately, some of the plaintiffs have continued their science careers, but others have changed fields due to the negative impact on their careers from the suit.
Listening to the voices of the young women who experienced such a hostile academic environment was haunting because each student originally considered herself the only victim. Susan Matthews, News Director of Slate Magazine and herself a Dartmouth graduate, shared an insight: “What struck me about the Dartmouth case was the pairing of selflessness and self-worth. By demanding action on behalf of others and compensation for themselves, the plaintiffs forced us to hold both victimhood and strength in our heads at the same time.”
Educational Response
As the Education Team supports women in STEM, we need to take a pause as we celebrate the number of female students studying to pursue a career in science. But we also need to accept that education on its own will not resolve gender discrimination for students. The institutions themselves must take an active and accountable role beyond infrastructure to guarantee a safe learning environment for all students.
After the lawsuit was filed, more than 250 academic institutions offered mentorship and professional advice to the Dartmouth women, as well as to any young scientists who felt they were working in toxic environments. Speaking up as a science community is a good start; hopefully Dartmouth’s C3I program will set a benchmark in developing and implementing sexual misconduct policies for university faculty, staff and students.
In 2018, the Houston FAUSA chapter spoke up when they learned that female STEM graduate students at Houston’s Rice University were vulnerable to sex discrimination and sexual harassment. Local and national FAUSA members provided Rice with a $2000 grant to fund a survey and panel discussion about the prevalence of, and solutions to, these issues in Rice’s STEM graduate programs. This included adoption of a new sexual misconduct policy at the university.
After institutional policies, the second solution for women in STEM is to encourage the hiring of female professors at equal pay. The short film illustrated how under-representation of female professors and mentors in STEM programs makes female graduate students especially vulnerable.
Learn More
Sharon Shattuck’s feature length film, Picture a Scientist, depicts challenges faced by three women in their academic careers that almost forced them out of their fields. Nevertheless, they persisted! The film considers the trauma to the women as individuals; but also, the cost to science when women cannot contribute. This film also addresses the subconscious biases that must be addressed for gender equity in STEM to become a reality. FAUSA and the Environment Team hosted an exclusive free screening of Picture a Scientist June 4 - 7.
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References
1 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29894119/
2 https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2018/11/college-faces-70-million-federal-class-action-lawsuit
3 https://vtdigger.org/2020/07/17/settlement-in-dartmouth-sexual-misconduct-lawsuit-gets-final-approval/
4 The Scientists Versus Dartmouth was produced as part of Docs by the Dozen, in partnership with LUNAFEST®
5 https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/08/dartmouth-class-action-sexual-harassment.html
