Becker's Hospital Review

59 WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP Sexual harassment can cost victims up to $1.3M By Hannah Mitchell S exual harassment doesn't just affect sur- vivors' emotional well-being, it can cost them up to $1.3 million over their lifetime, according to a July 21 report by e Institute for Women's Policy Research. To assess the financial costs of sexual harassment, the researchers conducted in-depth interviews with 16 survivors, consulted with experts in the field, drew on existing research and used com- monly accepted practices for estimating mone- tary damages in discrimination lawsuits. Five things to know: 1. e lifetime costs of workplace sexual harass- ment for victims were higher for those pushed out of organizations where employees were well- paid and in male-dominated occupations. If fe- male-dominated organizations, the lifetime costs were significantly lower. Overall, costs ranged from approximately $125,000 to $1.3 million. 2. Job loss and unemployment from workplace sexual harassment were major factors in costs to individuals. For example, a female appren- tice in construction who spends one year out of work may lose $230,864 in lost wages and foregone benefits. 3. Sexual harassment widens the gender wage gap. Research demonstrated that women can be pushed out of well-paying careers into low- er-paid employment to avoid harassment. Sexual harassment victims sometimes faced lower credit ratings, mounting student loan debt and reduced retirement security. 4. Researchers found that employees who worked in physical isolation may be more vulnerable to harassment. For example, healthcare workers who spend time alone in a patient's room may be more at risk. 5. Many sexual harassment victims report- ed working in male-dominated industries, in physically isolated workplaces, in situations with substantial power imbalances and in industries where there aren't clear channels for reporting harassment. n How Penn Medicine is promoting surgical equity By Mackenzie Bean P enn Medicine is seeking to connect patients who typically rely on the emergency room for elective procedures with surgical care via its Cen- ter for Surgical Health, the Philadelphia-based system said July 26. "Many uninsured patients from marginalized groups — particularly immigrant communities in Philadelphia — use the ER for their surgical needs, regardless of the condition, which can lead to costly care and worse outcomes," Jon Morris, MD, director of the center and a professor of surgery at University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, said in a news release. The center includes a program to help patients navigate their surgical care, along with research, policy and medical education arms focused on expanding this model beyond Philadelphia. Penn Medicine has treated 154 patients at the center as of July of this year. The health system said it's on track to treat 175 by the end of 2021 and expects this number to grow in subsequent years as the center expands. n Viewpoint: Despite optics, the tech industry still fails to recognize women's achievements By Katie Adams T ech companies often showcase their female workforce to seem in- clusive or defend themselves against criticism, but women in the industry still sometimes don't have their contributions recognized or expertise taken seriously, technology historian Mar Hicks, PhD, wrote in an opinion piece published Aug. 3 in MIT Technology Review. In the article, Dr. Hicks argues the tech industry often fails to give women credit for their work and lays out several examples. Two examples involve female voice actors whose work became the basis for voice tools that millions use without their knowledge or consent. The two women are Susan Bennett, the first voice for Siri, and Bev Standing, whose voice TikTok used to read captions aloud before she sued its parent company in May. Another example focused on the former female co-leads of Google's artificial intelligence ethics team, Timnit Gebru, PhD, and Margaret Mitchell, PhD. Dr. Gebru said she was fired for studies critical of Google's AI approach, and Dr. Mitchell was removed from her position after speaking up about Dr. Gebru's firing and allegedly sharing internal documents outside the company. Dr. Hicks also wrote that whistleblowers such as Sophie Zhang at Face- book and Susan Fowler at Uber are often silenced and/or fired after they try to mitigate nefarious practices they witnessed at their companies. "These incidents reflect a troubling and common pattern in the tech indus- try. The way that people's accomplishments are valued, recognized, and paid for often mirrors their position in the wider society, not their actual contributions," Dr. Hicks wrote. n

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