Frazier Benya: "Sexual Harassment within Higher Education"

"Sexual Harassment: Where It Thrives and How to Prevent and Address It within Higher Education"

In 2018, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released the report Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which provides a research-based summary of what sexual harassment is, how it impacts individuals and communities, and what factors predict harassment and enable it to thrive. In this forum, Dr. Frazier Benya will review the relevant research findings, share the report’s recommendations on how higher education can make necessary systemwide changes to prevent and address sexual harassment, and provide examples of work developed since 2018 of ways higher education institutions are moving beyond basic legal compliance toward evidence-based policies and practices.

The lecture will be held from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Student Community Center. A short reception will follow from 4:30 to 5 p.m. on the south patio of the Multi-Purpose Room. Light refreshments will be provided.

This event will also be held virtually using Zoom Webinar. You can register for the online event here.

Dr. Benya is a Senior Program Officer at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and is part of the staff team that supports the Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine. She oversees and manages the National Academies Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education and is responsible for the overall strategy and outcomes of the Action Collaborative. She recently served as the Study Director for the National Academies consensus study report Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2018). From 2011 to 2017, she worked with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) on projects related to improving and enhancing engineering ethics education and on analyzing the pathways engineers take from education to the workforce. Dr. Benya holds a B.A in Science, Technology and Society from the University of Puget Sound and an M.A. in Bioethics and a Ph.D. in History of Science, Technology, and Medicine from the University of Minnesota. She was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2017.

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