Dimensions of Disrespect: Mapping and Measuring Gender Harassment in Organizations

The current study broadens our understanding of workplace gender harassment (a subdomain of sex-based harassment) by developing an expanded taxonomy and measurement instrument. We move beyond sexual insults to include hostility targeting one’s gender, gender role (non)conformity, and motherhood status. In Study 1, we convened a panel of seven subject matter experts to brainstorm behaviors covering the full content domain of gender harassment, which they later grouped into categories in an open card-sorting task. To tap these categories, we combined survey items from the existing literature with a pool of new items. In Study 2, we administered these items to 425 working women. Exploratory principal axis factoring and confirmatory factor analyses revealed an underlying five-factor structure in these data, reflecting both new and extant themes from the literature. This work culminated in a 20-item scale, the Gender Experiences Questionnaire, assessing five dimensions of gender harassment: Sexist Remarks, Sexually Crude/Offensive Behavior, Infantilization, Work/Family Policing, and Gender Policing. This multidimensional conceptualization of gender harassment, coupled with the new measure, offers a more nuanced view of women’s experiences of hostile work environments. This can further the work of researchers, human resources personnel, managers, educators, policy makers, law scholars and practitioners, and other specialists seeking to understand (and scale back) harassment based on sex and gender. This understanding can potentially inform intervention and prevention efforts in any organized setting (e.g., work, school, and politics) where gender may be devalued.