PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AND PRACTICES - COLUMN 171
Topical Index-Table of Contents to the Professional Ethics and Practices Columns
A topically based Index-Table of Contents, “pe&p index.xls” cov ering columns, articles,
and letters to the editor that have been referred to in the PE&P columns in Excel format is on the AIPG web site in the Ethics section. This Index-Table of Contents is updated as each issue of the TPG is published. You can use it to find those items addressing a particular area of concern. Suggestions for improvements should be sent to David Abbott,
dmageol@msn.com
Compiled by David M. Abbott, Jr., CPG-04570 5055 Tamarac Street, Denver, CO 80238 303-394-0321,
dmageol@msn.com
Navigating “Me, too” in the geosciences The title of this topic is the title of
Robbie Gries’ 2018 GSA Presidential Address published in the February 2019 issue of GSA Today, p. 16-18, http://
geosociety.org/gsatoday/archive/29/2/ flip/mobile/
index.html. Gries’ article is a thoughtful reflection on sexual harass- ment and discrimination in society in general and the geosciences in particu- lar. Gries points out that “The largest contributor to sexual harassment is organizational environment. This puts the geosciences in jeopardy because geoscience inherently has many of these organizational hazards. These are:
1. Institutions where men out- number women;
2. Where there is an absence of organizational sanctions—mean- ing complaints not taken seriously;
3. Where leadership provides a
model for inappropriate behavior; and
4. Where there are large power differentials.”
Tolerance and habit support organi-
zational harassment. I recall that early in my career the weekly meetings of one of the Denver area’s geological organiza- tions began with a seemingly obligatory off-color joke ± a Texas Aggies joke. I recall writing a letter to the organiza- tion’s president asking that these jokes be stopped as they were inappropriate for women members of the organization, most of whom at the time were young professionals like me. The practice even- tually stopped although I have no idea whether my letter had anything to do with it. But the point is, when you see or hear something, say something. This interrupts the tolerance and thought- less habit.
A particularly interesting part of
Gries’ article was her recounting of Jackson Katz’ class exercise of asking first the men and then the women in the class, “What steps do you take, on a daily basis, to prevent yourselves from being sexually harassed?” Men usually have no answers; it’s not a question that occurs to them. Women readily answer with a number of steps regularly taken to protect themselves.
“
Standard 4.4 of the AIPG Code of Ethics states, “A respectful
and fruitful working envi- ronment is fundamental for maintaining a high level of professionalism. Therefore, discrimination or harass- ment, either sexual or of any other kind, is unacceptable because it offends the dig- nity of persons and seriously undermines the atmosphere of trust essential to the work of all geologists.
Gries also recounts specific experi-
ences during her career when sexual harassment occurred, along with similar accounts from other women geoscien- tists. While I’d like to think that things are better now than they were 40+ years ago, clearly sexual harassment and bias continues to be a problem. Eve
Sprunt, 2017-2018 AGI President had a short article on harassment in the Apr/May/Jun ′19 TPG that addressed AGI’s May 2018 announcement of the AGI Statement on Harassment in the Geosciences,
www.americangeosciences. org/content/agi-statement-harassment- geosciences. Read Gries’ and Sprunt’s articles and do something when you see instances of harassment of any type.
As a specific AIPG example, one of
our Section Presidents recently wrote the following in a letter to Section members:1 “Being born is hard on our mothers. Growing to adulthood requires abundant food and transformed materi- als won at great cost to our fathers.” While this statement describes the com- mon situation in which the baby-boom generation grew up, it also reflects the sexism and gender discrimination of that time. Although there were many women during the 50s and 60s who headed households and families for a variety reasons, Ozzie & Harriet, Leave it to Beaver, and Father Knows Best were popular shows that reflected the “ideal” family of the time. The inherent sexism and gender discrimination in the Section President’s statement is no longer acceptable. Standard 4.4 of the AIPG Code of Ethics states, “A respectful and fruitful working environment is fun- damental for maintaining a high level of professionalism. Therefore, discrimina- tion or harassment, either sexual or of any other kind, is unacceptable because it offends the dignity of persons and seriously undermines the atmosphere of trust essential to the work of all geolo- gists. Such actions should be denounced immediately to authorities. It is unpro- fessional and unethical to condone any kind of discrimination or harassment or to disregard complaints of harassment from colleagues or staff. AIPG’s anti- harassment policy provides more explicit examples of acceptable and unacceptable
1. An article by Jessica Davey addressing this issue appears elsewhere in this issue. Ms. Davey was not the only Section member who objected to the statement.
www.aipg.org Jul.Aug.Sep 2019 • TPG 39
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