Balancing power at work
Workers in many fields, from video game engineers to journalists and actors, are actively organizing and winning fights against on-the-job discrimination and harassment. As academic workers, we often confront pronounced challenges around job insecurity, low pay, access to affordable housing, paid family leave, and more. We are also subject to a unique power dynamic, with our career prospects in the hands of one or two powerful professors or supervisors. For these reasons, academia is second only to the military in rates of discrimination and harassment in the U.S.
How unions make a difference
Equalizing the employee/employer power structure & offering recourse through the grievance process.
our stories improving equity
Fighting racial discrimination, sexual harassment and pregnancy discrimination – and winning.
are you experiencing inequity?
Looking to fight harassment or discrimination at work? See the library of resources we’ve collected.
72%
OF AFRICAN AMERICANS REPORT UNEQUAL ACCESS TO ADVANCEMENT
In STEM fields nationwide, nearly half of women and 72% of African Americans report unequal access to promotions and career advancement.
58%
OF WOMEN EXPERIENCE HARASSMENT in academia
Fifty-eight percent of women in academia experience harassment and other forms of discrimination, and studies have found similarly high rates of bullying.
33%
faculty positions HELD BY WOMEN
In biomedical fields, women outnumber men in attaining Ph.Ds. but hold only 33% of faculty positions. For researchers from underrepresented minority backgrounds, this gap is even larger.