ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the research and discourse on sexual harassment in academe. Studies of sexual harassment have been generally marked by their atheoretical nature. The uncritical application of conflict, role and organizational behavior theory to the understanding of sexual coercion in the academy has several problems, the foremost of which is the lack of recognition that the contemporary academy is a very different world from the academy of the 1960s and early 1970s. Research on female professors harassing male students point to male students being flattered by the sexual attention of their professors, or if offended, being more embarassed or ashamed in reporting it. Additionally, male students are more likely to interpret unwanted sexual attention from female professors as relatively expressions of maternal/nurturing behaviors rather than sexual. Sexual harassment of students does occur in academe, but the available evidence reveals that it is not as pervasive as it is in the workplace and is definitely not a major problem.
