Gender Harassment: A Technology of Oppression in Organizations w/ Lilia Cortina

When people hear the term sexual harassment, they picture unwanted sexual pursuit. This behavior, however, has little to do with sexuality and everything to do with gender. In this talk, Professor Lilia Cortina will highlight findings on gender harassment: conduct that disparages employees based on gender but implies no sexual advance. Using evidence on the incidence and impact of gender harassment in organizations, she will show how this phenomenon puts pressure on all employees to conform to a narrow standard of gender “appropriate” behavior. As a result, gender oppression is maintained in society and replicated on the job.

Lilia M. Cortina is University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor of Psychology, Women’s and Gender Studies, and Management and Organizations at the University of Michigan. Her research revolves around the psychology of victimization in organizations. One line of this work addresses workplace experiences of harassment based on sex, sexuality, and gender. Another focuses on workplace incivility: everyday rude, condescending, and ostracizing acts that violate social norms of respect. To date, Professor Cortina has published over 100 scientific articles on topics. Citations to this work number over 25,000, and she is listed in the top 2% of the world’s most influential scientists. In addition, she served on a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine panel that produced a landmark report on sexual harassment (National Academies Press, 2018). She has been recognized with various awards, including the 2026 Academy of Management Advancing Women in Leadership Award, 2023 Gwendolyn Puryear Keita Award for Social Justice and the Welfare of Working People, and 2019 Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology Raymond A. Katzell Public Impact Award. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology.