Materials from November 2018 EWF COI meeting

Abstract

Materials from November 2018 EWF COI meeting

Featured Topic:  "Sexual Harassment in Government Agencies – MSPB Survey/Report and Agencies"

Session Background

As part of its mission to conduct Government-wide studies and report on the health of Federal merit systems, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) has collected data on sexual harassment in the Federal workplace. In 1979, a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives asked MSPB, which has the statutory responsibility to evaluate adherence to the Federal merit system principles and avoidance of prohibited personnel practices, to conduct a thorough and scientific study on the prevalence of sexual harassment among Federal employees.

MSPB conducted surveys in the 1980’s and 1990’s and most recently in 2016. These surveys solicited Federal employees’ views on various issues, including what behaviors constitute sexual harassment and whether they had experienced any of these behaviors in the prior 2 years. Both questions are important to ask because Federal employees need to have a shared understanding of sexual harassment to cease behaviors that can be problematic. 

In March 1981, MSPB issued the report Sexual Harassment in the Federal Workplace: Is It a Problem? and published follow up reports in 1988 and 1995. Although some stakeholders might have assumed that sexual harassment had decreased to the point that it no longer warranted focused leadership attention or further research, sexual harassment continues to be a problem for both Federal employees and Federal agencies. Therefore, in 2015, MSPB included an update on sexual harassment in its Research Agenda for 2015-2018.

The panel discussion will highlight the results of the MSPB research with discussion from the agencies represented as well as best practices and recommendations to prevent this behavior.

Panelists:

  • Dr. Cynthia H. Ferentinos, Office of Policy and Evaluation, U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board
  • Rhonda Davis, Head of Office of Diversity and Inclusion, National Science Foundation
  • Brigid Schulte, Director of the Better Life Lab, New America
  • Alieza Durana, Senior Policy Analyst, New America
  • Bob Clarke, Clarke Sales Consulting (Moderator)

 

Document Date
Author (organization)
ACT-IAC Evolving the Workforce COI
Document type
Presentation
Interests
Workforce Management
Interests
Workforce Management