Sexual harassment: The nexus between gender and workplace authority: Evidence from the Australian public service

Jan Wynen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Sexual harassment in the workplace is commonly portrayed as the male supervisor harassing female subordinates. Within this popular characterization, the unequal distribution of formal, organizational power is believed to be a necessary precondition for sexual harassment. The traditional cultural image of harassers and targets has however not kept pace with changing workplace realities. Research has indeed found that female supervisors may in fact be more likely to be subjects of sexual harassment. This article uses survey data from the Australian Public Service to explore this kind of contrapower harassment. Results indicate that a strong link between gender, workplace authority, and sexual harassment exists, but also that this relationship is strongly influenced by age.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)345-358
JournalAustralian journal of public administration
Volume75
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • inequality
  • power
  • sexual harassment
  • POWER
  • WOMENS
  • MODELS
  • WORK
  • ORGANIZATIONS
  • CONSEQUENCES
  • PERCEPTIONS
  • ANTECEDENTS
  • CONTEXT
  • AGE

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