42 U.S.C. § 19191 — Findings

Congress states these findings. (1) A 2018 report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, called "Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine," found: (A) Sexual harassment happens throughout colleges and universities. (B) The most common kind is "gender harassment" — that means put-downs, insults, or hostile treatment based on someone's sex. (C) 58 percent of people working in academic science experience sexual harassment. That is the second-highest rate compared to the military, private companies, and federal, state, and local government. (D) Women who belong to racial or ethnic minority groups are more likely to be sexually harassed, and to feel unsafe at work, than White women, White men, or men from minority groups. (E) Training one person to a Ph.D. in a STEM field (science, technology, engineering, or math) costs about $500,000. (F) When a trained person leaves the field because of harassment, that talent and money are lost. (2) A 2017 University of Illinois study found that among astronomers and planetary scientists, 18 percent of women from racial or ethnic minority groups, and 12 percent of White women, skipped professional events because they didn't feel safe going. (3) Federal research agencies don't handle harassment reports the same way. Some are easier to access than others. (4) Federal research agencies don't communicate well with each other, or with the schools and organizations that get their money, about harassment reports. Because of this, people who harass others can move to a new institution and still get federal funding.