Sexual harassment in academia: From individual harm to collective action

Background: Sexual harassment remains a widespread problem in academia, both internationally and in Sweden, despite preventive efforts such as policy development, reporting systems, and training initiatives.This highlights the need for more effective, evidence-based strategies.However, research on workplace sexual harassment is complicated by definitional ambiguity and contextual variation, which limits the generalisability of findings and underscores the need for more context-specific studies. Aim:The overarching aim of this thesis is to examine experiences of sexual harassment among university employees at a large Swedish university.It examines mental well-being outcomes, cooccurrence of other types of mistreatments as well as contextual-level risk and protective factors.Gender-stratified analyses were conducted to identify differences between men and women.The findings aim to inform preventive measures at the organisational level.Methods: Papers I-III are based on cross-sectional survey data collected from employees at Lund University.Logistic and Poisson regression models were used to examine associations between sexual harassment and mental well-being, other types of harassment as well as contextual factors.Paper IV draws on qualitative data from focus groups and employs content analysis to explore perceptions of workplace culture and prevailing norms related to sexual harassment. Results:Paper I shows that workplace sexual harassment is associated with poor mental health and low vitality in women, and with low vitality in men.Women who reported exposure to both non-soliciting and soliciting behaviours experienced the most adverse outcomes, whereas for men, only exposure to non-soliciting behaviours were significantly associated with negative outcomes.Paper II reveals a strong co-occurrence between sexual harassment and other forms of mistreatment, suggesting that sexual harassment is part of a broader pattern of harmful behaviours that disproportionately affect women.Paper III identifies perceived relational injustice and authoritarian leadership as contextuallevel risk factors for sexual harassment.Paper IV demonstrates that perceptions of sexual harassment are shaped by organisational silence and inaction, ambiguous and inconsistent institutional response, and a lack of a shared understanding of what constitutes sexual harassment. Conclusion:Workplace sexual harassment harms university employees but often involves, or cooccurs with, ambiguous behaviours that are difficult to define and interpret.These behaviours are embedded within organisational structures, hierarchies, and prevailing norms, and are more frequently reported by employees who perceive management as authoritarian and unjust.Addressing the issue requires organisational accountability, deliberate structural change, and collective action.