Combating Sexual Harassment in Science Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1379 To provide for research to better understand the causes and consequences of sexual harassment affecting individuals in the scientific, technical, engineering, and mathematics workforce and to examine policies to re- duce the prevalence and negative impact of such harassment, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 27, 2021 Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Ms. SMITH, Mr. REED, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. HIRONO, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. BROWN, and Mr. PADILLA) in- troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To provide for research to better understand the causes and consequences of sexual harassment affecting individ- uals in the scientific, technical, engineering, and mathe- matics workforce and to examine policies to reduce the prevalence and negative impact of such harassment, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1379 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘Combating Sexual Harassment in Science Act of 2021’’. 3 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 4 this Act is as follows: 5 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings. Sec. 3. Definitions. Sec. 4. Research grants. Sec. 5. Data collection. Sec. 6. Responsible conduct guide. Sec. 7. Interagency working group. Sec. 8. National academies assessment. Sec. 9. Government Accountability Office Study. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 (1) According to the report issued by the Na- 8 tional Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Med- 9 icine in 2018 entitled ‘‘Sexual Harassment of 10 Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Aca- 11 demic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’’— 12 (A) sexual harassment is pervasive in insti- 13 tutions of higher education; 14 (B) the most common type of sexual har- 15 assment is gender harassment, which includes 16 verbal and nonverbal behaviors that convey in- 17 sulting, hostile, and degrading attitudes about 18 members of one gender; 19 (C) 58 percent of employees in the aca- 20 demic workplace experience sexual harassment, 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1379 IS the second highest rate when compared to the 1 military, the private sector, and Federal, State, 2 and local government; 3 (D) women of color are more likely to ex- 4 perience sexual harassment and to feel unsafe 5 at work than white women, white men, or men 6 of color; 7 (E) the training for each individual who 8 has a doctor of philosophy in the science, tech- 9 nology, engineering, and mathematics fields is 10 estimated to cost approximately $500,000; and 11 (F) attrition of an individual so trained re- 12 sults in a loss of talent and money. 13 (2) Sexual harassment undermines career ad- 14 vancement for women. 15 (3) According to a 2017 study led by Dr. Kath- 16 ryn Clancy at the University of Illinois, among as- 17 tronomers and planetary scientists, 18 percent of 18 women of color and 12 percent of white women 19 skipped professional events because they did not feel 20 safe attending. 21 (4) Many women report leaving employment at 22 institutions of higher education due to sexual har- 23 assment. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1379 IS (5) Research shows the majority of individuals 1 do not formally report experiences of sexual harass- 2 ment due to a justified fear of retaliation or other 3 negative professional or personal consequences. 4 (6) Reporting procedures with respect to such 5 harassment are inconsistent among Federal science 6 agencies and have varying degrees of accessibility. 7 (7) There is not adequate communication 8 among Federal science agencies and between such 9 agencies and grant recipients regarding reports of 10 sexual harassment, which has resulted in harassers 11 receiving Federal funding after moving to a different 12 institution. 13 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 14 In this Act: 15 (1) ACADEMIES.—The term ‘‘Academies’’ 16 means the National Academies of Sciences, Engi- 17 neering, and Medicine. 18 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 19 the Director of the National Science Foundation. 20 (3) FEDERAL SCIENCE AGENCY.—The term 21 ‘‘Federal science agency’’ means any Federal agency 22 with an annual extramural research expenditure of 23 over $100,000,000. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1379 IS (4) GRANT PERSONNEL.—The term ‘‘grant per- 1 sonnel’’ means principal investigators and co-prin- 2 cipal investigators supported by a grant award under 3 Federal law and their trainees. 4 (5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 5 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 6 meaning given such term in section 101 of the High- 7 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 8 (6) RECIPIENT.—The term ‘‘recipient’’ means 9 an entity, usually a non-Federal entity, that receives 10 a Federal award directly from a Federal awarding 11 agency. The term ‘‘recipient’’ does not include enti- 12 ties that receive subgrants or individuals that are 13 the beneficiaries of the award. 14 (7) SEXUAL HARASSMENT.—The term ‘‘sexual 15 harassment’’ means conduct that encompasses— 16 (A) verbal and nonverbal behaviors that 17 are severe and pervasive and convey, among 18 other things, hostility, objectification, ridicule, 19 exclusion, or second-class status about one’s sex 20 (including sexual orientation, gender identity, 21 gender presentation, or pregnancy status); 22 (B) unwelcome sexual advances; 23 (C) unwanted physical contact that is sex- 24 ual in nature, including assault; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1379 IS (D) unwanted sexual attention, including 1 sexual comments and propositions for sexual ac- 2 tivity; 3 (E) conditioning professional or edu- 4 cational benefits on sexual activity; and 5 (F) retaliation for rejecting unwanted sex- 6 ual attention. 7 SEC. 4. RESEARCH GRANTS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall award grants, 9 on a competitive basis, to institutions of higher education 10 or nonprofit organizations (or consortia of such institu- 11 tions or organizations)— 12 (1) to expand research efforts to better under- 13 stand the factors contributing to, and consequences 14 of, sexual harassment affecting individuals in the 15 scientific, technical, engineering, and mathematics 16 workforce, including students and trainees; and 17 (2) to examine interventions to reduce the inci- 18 dence and negative consequences of such harass- 19 ment. 20 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Activities funded by a grant 21 under this section may include— 22 (1) research on the sexual harassment experi- 23 ences of individuals in underrepresented or vulner- 24 able groups, including communities of color, disabled 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1379 IS individuals, foreign nationals, sexual- and gender-mi- 1 nority individuals, and others; 2 (2) development and assessment of policies, 3 procedures, trainings, and interventions, with respect 4 to sexual harassment, conflict management, and 5 ways to foster respectful and inclusive climates; 6 (3) research on approaches for remediating the 7 negative impacts and outcomes of such harassment 8 on individuals experiencing such harassment; 9 (4) support for institutions of higher education 10 or nonprofit organizations to develop, adapt, imple- 11 ment, and assess the impact of innovative, evidence- 12 based strategies, policies, and approaches to policy 13 implementation to prevent and address sexual har- 14 assment; 15 (5) research on alternatives to the power dy- 16 namics and hierarchical and dependent relationships 17 in academia that have been shown to create higher 18 levels of risk for and lower levels of reporting of sex- 19 ual harassment; and 20 (6) establishing a center for the ongoing com- 21 pilation, management, and analysis of organizational 22 climate survey data. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1379 IS SEC. 5. DATA COLLECTION. 1 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 2 of this Act, the Director, through the National Center for 3 Science and Engineering Statistics and with guidance 4 from the Office of Management and Budget given their 5 oversight of the Federal statistical agencies, shall convene 6 a working group composed of representatives of Federal 7 statistical agencies— 8 (1) to develop questions on sexual harassment 9 in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 10 departments to gather national data on the preva- 11 lence, nature, and implications of sexual harassment 12 in institutions of higher education that builds on the 13 work conducted by the National Center for Science 14 and Engineering Statistics in response to rec- 15 ommendations from the Academies to develop ques- 16 tions on harassment; and 17 (2) to include such questions as appropriate, 18 with sufficient protections of the privacy of respond- 19 ents, in relevant surveys conducted by the National 20 Center for Science and Engineering Statistics and 21 other relevant entities. 22 SEC. 6. RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT GUIDE. 23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 24 date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall enter into 25 an agreement with the Academies to update the report en- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1379 IS titled ‘‘On Being a Scientist: A Guide to Responsible Con- 1 duct in Research’’ issued by the Academies. The report, 2 as so updated, shall include— 3 (1) updated professional standards of conduct 4 in research; 5 (2) standards of treatment individuals can ex- 6 pect to receive under such updated standards of con- 7 duct; 8 (3) evidence-based practices for fostering a cli- 9 mate intolerant of sexual harassment; 10 (4) methods, including bystander intervention, 11 for identifying and addressing incidents of sexual 12 harassment; 13 (5) professional standards for mentorship and 14 teaching with an emphasis on power diffusion mech- 15 anisms and preventing sexual harassment; and 16 (6) recommended vetting and hiring practices 17 scientific research entities are urged to implement to 18 increase diversity and eliminate serial harassers. 19 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—In updating the report 20 under subsection (a), the Academies shall take into ac- 21 count recommendations made in the report issued by the 22 Academies in 2018 entitled ‘‘Sexual Harassment of 23 Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1379 IS Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’’ and other relevant 1 studies and evidence. 2 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the ef- 3 fective date of the agreement under subsection (a), the 4 Academies, as part of such agreement, shall submit to the 5 Director and the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech- 6 nology of the House of Representatives and the Committee 7 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 8 the report referred to in such subsection, as updated pur- 9 suant to such subsection. 10 SEC. 7. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 12 Science and Technology Policy, acting through the Na- 13 tional Science and Technology Council, shall establish an 14 interagency working group for the purpose of coordinating 15 Federal science agency efforts to reduce the prevalence of 16 sexual harassment involving grant personnel. The working 17 group shall be chaired by the Director of the Office of 18 Science and Technology Policy (or the Director’s designee) 19 and shall include a representative from each Federal 20 science agency with annual extramural research expendi- 21 tures totaling over $1,000,000,000, representatives from 22 the Department of Education, and a representative from 23 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1379 IS (b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF WORKING GROUP.—The 1 interagency working group established under subsection 2 (a) shall coordinate Federal science agency efforts to im- 3 plement the policy guidelines developed under subsection 4 (c)(2). 5 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF OSTP.—The Director of 6 the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall— 7 (1) not later than 90 days after the date of the 8 enactment of this Act, submit to the Committee on 9 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 10 Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 11 Science, and Transportation of the Senate an inven- 12 tory of Federal science agency policies, procedures, 13 and resources dedicated to preventing and respond- 14 ing to reports of sexual harassment; 15 (2) not later than 6 months after the date on 16 which the inventory is submitted under paragraph 17 (1)— 18 (A) in consultation with outside stake- 19 holders, develop a set of policy guidelines for 20 Federal science agencies; and 21 (B) submit a report to the committees re- 22 ferred to in paragraph (1) containing such 23 guidelines; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.IS S1379 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1379 IS (3) encourage and monitor efforts of Federal 1 science agencies to develop or maintain and imple- 2 ment policies based on the guidelines developed 3 under paragraph (2); 4 (4) not later than 1 year after the date on 5 which the inventory under paragraph (1) is sub- 6 mitted, and every 5 years thereafter, the Director of 7 the [Text truncated for display. 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