"The corporate ‘cure’ for sexual harassment only feeds the disease"

NY Post:  The last time you had to sit through a training program, you probably thought you were just wasting your time. You were wrong: Research suggests that efforts to raise awareness and train employees about sexual harassment may be worse than a waste. They may actually lead to more tolerance for sexual harassment, as well as greater reliance on stereotypes and more animosity between the sexes.

A research team at Stanford, for example, used an experiment in which one group of men heard a sexual-harassment policy before conducting a task with an unseen female partner.

The researchers found, compared to a control group, these men were more likely to believe “most people think both men and women are lower status, less competent, and less considerate,” and personally thought “everybody was lower in status.”

Another study of participants in a sexual-harassment training seminar found “male participants were less likely than other groups to perceive coercive sexual harassment, less willing to report sexual harassment, and more likely to blame the victim.”

So much for sensitivity training. These findings seem pretty obvious. Few people forced to read legalese or watch stilted programming about Johnny and Jane learning appropriate office behavior feel affirmed and inspired to be more respectful to others.

Rather, such programs tend to remind us of everything that’s wrong with our culture, with people assuming the worst of each other and forcing everyone to walk on eggshells lest they offend someone else. (read the whole thing)