As social workers, we value social justice and strive to uphold equal rights and opportunities for all. Nevertheless, harassment and discrimination still occur at social work academic conferences, impeding a person's ability to safely and equitably conduct their job. In response to an incident of harassment that occurred at the 2022 Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting, we conducted a rapid response methodological approach utilizing feminist theoretical frameworks. We received N = 290 responses to an anonymous, online survey distributed at social work conferences and through national social work organization mailing lists. The survey included quantitative questions on the prevalence and nature of harassment and discrimination experienced at social work conferences, how experiences vary based on identity, as well as an open-ended qualitative question to better understand the experiences of harassment and discrimination. To our knowledge, this study marks the first investigation into experiences of harassment and discrimination at social work conferences. Based on our findings, we provide recommendations for academic organizations, social work programs, and individual academics for dismantling the structures and culture that support harassment and discrimination at social work conferences.
AguilarS. J.BaekC. (2020). Sexual harassment in academe is underreported, especially by students in the life and physical sciences. PLoS One, 15(3), e0230312. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230312
ArdoviniJ. (2015). Consciousness-raising: A tool for feminist praxis in research and granting voice. Theory in Action, 8(1), 51–59. https://doi.org/10.3798/tia.1937-0237.15003
BhattacharyaA.CaseyE. A. (2024). Help-seeking patterns among students experiencing sexual harassment: A latent class analysis. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 39(15-16), 3543–3565. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605241233269
8.
BjörklundC.JensenI. (2025). A darkside of academia. A study of bullying and its prevalence, causes, and perpetrators in an academic setting. Frontiers in Education, 10, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2025.1528899
CarrE. S. (2003). Rethinking empowerment theory using a feminist lens: The importance of process. Affilia, 18(1), 8–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109902239092
12.
CollinsP. H. (2020). Intersectionality as critical social theory. Duke University Press.
CrenshawK. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory, and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989(1), 139–167. https://www.genderandeducation.com/files/archive/credti.pdf
FenwickK. (2018). Why social workers should care about changes to Title IX under Trump. Social Work (New York), 63(3), 269–271. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swy021
FoxxA.BarakR.LichtenbergerT.RichardsonL. K.RodgersA. J.WilliamsE. (2019). Evaluating the prevalence and quality of conference codes of conduct. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(30), 14931–14936. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1819409116
21.
GoodkindS.KimM. E.ZelnickJ. R.Bay-ChengL. Y.BeltránR.DiazM.GibsonM. F.HarrellS.KanuhaK.MouldingN.MountzS.SacksT. K.SimonB. L.ToftJ.WaltonQ. L. (2021). Critical feminisms: Principles and practices for feminist inquiry in social work. Affilia, 36(4), 481–487. https://doi-org.unr.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/08861099211043166
GutierrezE.LewisE. (1999). Empowering women of color. Columbia University Press.
24.
HeatonB.StreszoffD.FoxC. H.KayeE. A.GebelC. M.QuintilianiL. M.GarciaR. I. (2020). Survey of dental researchers’ perceptions of sexual harassment at AADR conferences: 2015 to 2018. Journal of Dental Research, 99(5), 488–497. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022034520908504
HerethJ. (2021). “Where is the safe haven?” Transgender women’s experiences of victimization and help-seeking across the life course. Feminist Criminology, 16(4), 461–479. https://doi.org/10.1177/15570851211010951
JacksonL. (2019). The smiling philosopher: Emotional labor, gender, and harassment in conference spaces. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 51(7), 693–701. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2017.1343112
KaramiA.WhiteC. N.FordK.SwanS.SpinelM. Y. (2019). Unwanted advances in higher education: Uncovering sexual harassment experiences in academia with text mining. ArXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2001.11552
39.
LincolnY. S.GubaE. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Sage Publications.
40.
MennickeA.CoatesC. A.JulesB.Langhinrichsen-RohlingJ. (2021). Who do they tell? College students’ formal and informal disclosure of sexual violence, sexual harassment, stalking, and dating violence by gender, sexual identity, and race. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(21-22), NP20092–NP20119. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211050107
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2018). Sexual harassment of women: climate, culture, and consequences in academic sciences, engineering, and medicine. National Academies Press.
43.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2020). Harcèlement sexuel des femmes: Climat, culture et conséquences dans les filières universitaires de sciences, d'ingénierie et de médecine. The National Academies Press.
PalinkasL. A.ZatzickD. (2019). Rapid assessment procedure informed clinical ethnography (RAPICE) in pragmatic clinical trials of mental health services implementation: Methods and applied case study. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 46(3), 255–270. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-018-0900-9
YoonE., et al. (2010). Sexual harassment experiences and their psychological correlates among Asian American women. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 57(1), 62–76. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109909354979
