USENIX 2022-2023 Conference Climate and Harassment Survey

INTRODUCTION

We are conducting this survey to examine behaviors such as harassment and discrimination that might be experienced at computer science academic conferences. The survey is aimed at people who have experienced this directly - or witnessed such behavior – while participating in conferences from paper submission, through reviews and attendance.  This is an anonymous survey, and respondents will not be identified.  
 
Harassment and discrimination can take many different forms, occur in a variety of circumstances, and can be experienced in many different ways, but one thing remains the same: it is never the victims’ fault.  
 
While it is not the intention, these questions may cause emotional, physical, or health reactions. Please exercise the highest form of self-care by taking a break, exiting the survey, or seeking professional assistance. 
 
  • If you or someone that you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, you can reach someone trained to help by calling 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or chatting online at SAMHSA.
Part 1. BACKGROUND
1.What type of academic conferences do you attend most frequently?  (Check all that apply)
2.What is your current primary job role?
3.To which gender do you most identify?
4.Do you consider yourself to be gender non-conforming, gender diverse, gender variant, or gender expansive?
5.Do you consider yourself to be transgender?
6.How many in-person academic conferences have you attended in your career?
7.How many remote academic conferences have you attended in your career?
Part 2. GENERAL CLIMATE
8.To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: “I feel welcome when I participate in academic computer science conferences.”
9.To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: “People from different backgrounds have equal opportunities to participate in the computer science academic community.”
10.To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement:  “I feel included and my opinion is valued by senior leaders of the computer science academic community.”
11.Please indicate that you are not a bot (check only one)
12.Have you felt like your identity has affected the ability to reach your goals within the computer science academic community?
Part 3. HARASSMENT
We recognize that both harassment and discrimination can negatively impact participation in research conferences. 

This section will focus on harassment.  

Harassment is generally defined as unwelcome conduct that annoys, threatens, intimidates, alarms, or puts a person in fear of their safety.  Anyone can be a victim of harassment, regardless of age, gender, or status within the community.  

Discrimination occurs when you have been treated differently based on one’s race, color, religion, sex (e.g., sexual orientation, gender identity, or pregnancy), national origin, older age, or disability.  

We will cover discrimination in the section following Harassment - Part  4. Discrimination. 
13.During the course of participating in academic conferences, from paper submission, to reviews and attendance, have you ever experienced any of the following directed at you?
Never
Rarely
Sometimes
Often
Always
Experienced inappropriate behavior (e.g., sexual advances, academic misconduct, etc) that made you feel uncomfortable, unwelcome, or not want to return to the conference
Experienced inappropriate behavior that made you feel like you were being subtly bribed with some sort of reward (e.g., career advancement or improvement, future research collaborations, tenure letters)
Experienced inappropriate behavior that made you feel threatened with some sort of retaliation for not being cooperative (e.g., the mention of an upcoming evaluation or review, or implying you would be treated poorly)?
Experienced inappropriate behavior that made you feel it was necessary for you to respond positively to inappropriate advances or social invitations in order to access career opportunities (e.g., internships, speaking invitations, research collaborations)
Been subjected to sexual remarks (e.g., crude jokes) or inappropriate comments on your appearance
Been touched without your consent or in a way that made you feel uncomfortable (i.e. touching your hand, leg, neck, etc.)
14.If you were subjected to any of the above-mentioned behaviors, please indicate whether you believe the behavior was based on any of the characteristics listed. (Check all that apply)
15.While attending an academic conference, have you ever witnessed any of the following behaviors directed at another person? (Not including something directed at you).
Never
Rarely
Sometimes
Often
Always
Witnessed inappropriate behavior (e.g., sexual advances, academic misconduct, etc) that made you feel uncomfortable or unwelcome on behalf of the other person?
Witnessed inappropriate behavior that made the other person feel like they were being subtly bribed with some sort of reward (e.g., career advancement or improvement, future research collaborations, tenure letters)
Witnessed inappropriate behavior that made the other person feel threatened with some sort of retaliation for not being cooperative (e.g., the mention of an upcoming evaluation or review, or implying that person would be treated poorly)?
Witnessed inappropriate behavior that made the other person feel it necessary to respond positively to inappropriate advances or social invitations in order to access career opportunities (e.g., internships, speaking invitations, research collaborations)
Overheard someone make sexual remarks (e.g., crude jokes) or inappropriate comments on the other person’s appearance
Witnessed someone being touched without the other person’s consent in a way that made you feel uncomfortable (i.e. touching the other person’s hand, leg, neck, etc.)
16.If you have experienced or witnessed harassment, what were the characteristics of the perpetrator? (Check all that apply)
17.If you have witnessed harassment, what were the characteristics of the victim/subject? (Check all that apply)
18.When a person experiences or witnesses harassment, the responses vary widely. There are no right or wrong responses. We want to understand your experience, no matter how you responded. What did you do when you experienced or witnessed harassment while attending an academic conference? (Check all that apply)
19.People make many different choices when it comes to reporting their experiences.  There are many factors that influence one’s personal decision to report or not.  We’re interested in your experiences. If you reported harassment, do you feel that you: (check all that apply):
20.People make many different decisions about reporting harassment. If you did not report harassment, please indicate why. (Check all that apply)
21.For the conferences you frequently attend, have you ever received (check all that apply):
22.To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: “Policies and measures at computer science academic conferences are effective at preventing harassment from taking place.”
23.To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: “Academic conferences I attend have clear policies on how to make a report of harassment‍.”
24.To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: “When participating in academic conferences (e.g., attending, the review process, shepherding, etc.). I am knowledgeable about what happens when someone reports an incident of harassment.”
25.To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement:  “I feel empowered to report harassment by another conference attendee.”
26.To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement:  “I feel empowered to report harassment by a conference attendee of a higher position in the research community.”
27.To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement:  “I feel that when there is a report of harassment, appropriate actions are taken to address the behavior.”
28.Please indicate that you are not a bot (check only one)
29.How would you feel discussing experiences of harassment with any of the following:
Very Uncomfortable
Uncomfortable
Neither Comfortable nor Uncomfortable
Comfortable
Very Comfortable
The perpetrator
A colleague or fellow student
Conference organizers (e.g., PC chairs)
Advisor or Department Chair 
Legal counsel
Security or Law Enforcement
University Title-IX/EOA (Equal Opportunity Access) office
30.To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: “ I feel that conference organizers and research leaders tolerate or turn a blind eye to harassment.”
31.To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: “I feel unsafe or uncomfortable at academic conferences because of harassment by some individuals.”
DISCRIMINATION

This section will focus on discrimination.  

Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong such as race, color, religion, sex (e.g., sexual orientation, gender identity, or pregnancy), national origin, older age or disability may experience harassment.
32.During the course of participating in academic conferences, from paper submission, to reviews and attendance, have you ever experienced any of the following directed at you?
Never
Rarely
Sometimes
Often
Always
Experienced discriminatory behavior that made you feel uncomfortable, unwelcome, or not want to return to the conference
Experienced behavior that made you feel “put down,” mistreated, slighted, ignored, or inferior based on aspects of your identity (e.g., race, gender, age, class, sexual orientation) or ranking of your graduate/undergraduate institution
Experienced discriminatory remarks (e.g., suggesting that women are too emotional to be computer scientists or research from particular global regions is always low quality or poorly written).
Been mistaken for a student, recruiter, hotel/event staff, or as significantly less senior than your current role?
33.If you were subjected to any of the above-mentioned behaviors, please indicate whether you believe the behavior was based on any of the characteristics listed. (Check all that apply)
34.While attending an academic conference, have you ever witnessed any of the following behaviors directed at another person? (Not including something directed at you).
Never
Rarely
Sometimes
Often
Always
Witnessed discriminatory behavior that made you feel uncomfortable or unwelcome on behalf of the other person?
Witnessed  behavior that made you feel “put down,” mistreated, slighted, ignored, or inferior someone as inferior based on aspects of the other person’s identity (e.g., race, gender, age, class, sexual orientation) or ranking of that person’s graduate/undergraduate institution
Witnessed discriminatory remarks towards the other person (e.g., suggesting that women are too emotional to be computer scientists or research from particular global regions is always low quality or poorly written).
Witnessed another person being mistaken for a student, recruiter, hotel/event staff, or as significantly less senior than their current role?
35.If you have experienced or witnessed discrimination, what were the characteristics of the perpetrator? (Check all that apply)
36.If you have witnessed discrimination, what were the characteristics of the victim/subject? (Check all that apply)
37.When a person experiences or witnesses discrimination, the responses vary widely. There are no right or wrong responses. We want to understand your experience, no matter how you responded.  What did you do when you experienced or witnessed discrimination while attending an academic conference? (Check all that apply)
38.People make many different choices when it comes to reporting their experiences.  There are many factors that influence one’s personal decision to report or not.  We’re interested in your experiences. If you reported discrimination, do you feel that you: (check all that apply):
39.It is acceptable if you made the personal choice not to report discrimination. People make many different choices when it comes to reporting their experiences. We’re interested in your experiences. If you did not report discrimination, please indicate why. (Check all that apply)
40.Please indicate that you are not a bot (check only one)
41.For the conferences you frequently attend, have you ever received (check all that apply):
42.To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: “Policies and measures at computer science academic conferences are effective at preventing discrimination from taking place.”
43.To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: “Academic conferences I attend have clear policies on how to make a report of discrimination.”
44.To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: “When participating in academic conferences (e.g., attending, the review process, shepherding, etc.). I am knowledgeable about what happens when someone reports an incident of discrimination.”
45.To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement:  “I feel empowered to report discrimination by another conference attendee.”
46.To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement:  “I feel empowered to report discrimination by a conference attendee of a higher position in the research community.”
47.To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement:  “I feel that when there is a report of discrimination, appropriate actions are taken to address the behavior.”
48.How would you feel discussing experiences of discrimination with any of the following:
Very Uncomfortable
Uncomfortable
Neither Comfortable nor Uncomfortable
Comfortable
Very Comfortable
The perpetrator
 A colleague or fellow student
Conference organizers 
Advisor or Department Chair 
 Legal counsel
 Security or Law Enforcement
 University Title-IX/EOA (Equal Opportunity Access) office
49.To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: “ I feel that conference organizers and community leaders tolerate or turn a blind eye to discrimination.”
50.To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: “I feel unsafe or uncomfortable at academic conferences because of discrimination or potential discrimination by some individuals.”
RECOMMENDATIONS
51.How likely would you be to attend an academic conference with the following:
More Likely
Less Likely
Would not impact my decision
A code of conduct
A D&I chair
Diversity/inclusivity statement
Pronoun stickers
Advocacy group (e.g., CARES committee or SafeToC)
Clear guidelines on enforcement of code of conduct 
Child care
Closed captioning
Code of conduct training for conference attendees
Bystander training for conference attendees
Quiet room
Remote participation/Hybrid format
Thank you for taking the survey!

Enter to Win!
If you would like to be entered into a drawing to win one of twenty-five $100 cash awards, please enter your information here. Your information will be entered into a separate platform and will not be linked to your survey responses in any way. Drawings will take place in April 2023 once the survey closes.  

For Additional Support
  • If you or someone that you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, you can reach someone trained to help by calling 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or chatting online at SAMHSA. 
  • Some conferences have volunteers to support people who have experienced harassment in a professional capacity. While these volunteers are not trained mental health professionals, they are members of the research community that can provide advice and support on incidents related to harassment.
    • SafeToC provides support to members of the theory community.
    • SIGARCH CARES (and other CARES committees) offer support to members of ACM SIGs.
  •