Though many organizations turn to reporting systems and training programs to try and solve the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace, the only way to truly change this culture is to promote more women into leadership roles, researchers wrote in an op-ed for the Harvard Business Review.
Alexandra Kalev, PhD, a professor at Tel Aviv (Israel) University, and Frank Dobbin, PhD, a professor at Cambridge, Mass.-based Harvard University, argue that harassment flourishes when men hold management positions and do not crack down on employees' inappropriate behavior. However, this culture of complicity changes when women hold leadership positions.
"Reducing power differentials can help, not only because women are less likely than men to harass but also because their presence in management can change workplace culture," the authors write.
One reason they argue this hasn't already happened is because women often leave workplaces where harassment thrives, though these are the places that could probably benefit the most from female leadership.
Drs. Kalev and Dobbin say an anti-harassment culture must come from the top-down in any organization, and both male and female CEOs must take a strong public stance against harassment for any organization to truly eliminate it.
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