Sexual Harassment Experiences of Psychologists and Psychological Associates During Their Graduate School Training‪.‬

Abstract: This study investigated the relationship between past experiences of sexual harassment behaviours while in graduate school and the present behaviour of female and male registered psychologists and psychological associates in Ontario, Canada. The Sexual Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ) designed by Fitzgerald, Gelfand, and Drasgow (1995) was used to assess sexual harassment experiences. A majority of respondents reported experiencing at least one sexual harassment behaviour exhibited by a faculty member during their graduate school education. However, females were more likely to be targets of sexual harassment behaviours than were males and male faculty were more likely to exhibit these behaviours. Sexual harassment behaviours were more prevalent in settings where it was the norm for students and faculty to socialize, where there was no apparent sexual harassment policy, and where there were relatively low proportions of female faculty. The encouragement of mentoring relationships between students and faculty had no influence on sexual harassment behaviours. Respondents who reported experiencing more sexual harassment behaviours were more likely to report that they, themselves, had engaged in gender harassment in their professional life. Some suggestion are made for increasing the validity of the SEQ. The implications of these findings are explored. Key words: Sexual harassment Psychologists Graduate training