Harassment In The Sciences

The Combating Sexual Harassment in Science Act would compel America's science agencies to hold taxpayer-funded labs accountable for harassment.

A few years into science's #MeToo movement, the government agencies that fund American science are still working on solidifying rules meant to keep harassers from working with students, and to deter harassment in the future.

National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins joins men from many fields, both in the sciences and beyond.

The change is a sign of the progress anti-harassment activists have made—and it's been a long time coming.

What happens to taxpayer money when scientists are faced with accusations or findings of wrongdoing?

Advocates see this as a concrete signal to the scientific community that bad behavior won't be tolerated.

Some members of the science community are fighting to ensure that a finding of harassment leads to consequences far beyond whatever the university decides—including their removal from the National Academy of Sciences.

Meanwhile, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is struggling with its own controversy over whether it properly punishes member harassers.

Scientists found to have harassed colleagues or subordinates are now open to having their NSF grants revoked.