NAS adopts policy to expel sexual harassers

Membership in the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) can now be revoked for sexual harassment or other unacceptable behaviors. NAS announced the change to its bylaws on 3 June, following a landslide vote by members, with 84% in favor of the proposal.

Under the new policy, the NAS Council will consider complaints of and repercussions for harassment, bullying, scientific misconduct, discrimination, and any other “egregious violations” of the organization’s recently adopted code of conduct. The council is composed of 5 NAS officers, including president Marcia McNutt, and 12 academy members who are elected by the membership.

The adoption last December of the code of conduct —NAS’s first— and the recent vote to throw out transgressors are among a broader set of actions that NAS has taken in response to the June 2018 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report , Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. NAS is also teaming up with more than 40 institutions of higher learning to address and prevent sexual harassment .

Forty percent of this year’s newly elected NAS members are women, the highest percentage ever. Even so, women make up only 18% of the academy’s 2347 members.

Upon the 2018 report’s release, McNutt noted in a video that “far too often, women end up being bullied or harassed out of career pathways in academia. This is a shameful waste of precious human resources . . . and it can be devastating for the women who are harassed, undermining their professional and educational attainment and their mental and physical health.” McNutt noted the propitious timing of the report given the #MeToo movement and pointed to the report’s recommendations of “specific, evidence-based actions that can reduce or eliminate harassment by fostering a culture of diversity, inclusion, and respect.” The report concludes that a “systemwide change to the culture and climate in higher education is required to prevent and effectively address” sexual harassment, and it provides a road map for institutions to make such changes.

Other major scientific groups have made similar efforts to combat harassment. The American Association for the Advancement of Science adopted a policy that enables the organization to revoke the distinction of fellow from those who do not meet “commonly held standards of professional ethics and scientific integrity.” And NSF announced new measures to punish harassers, including removing them from a grant or reducing or terminating an award.

NAS was created in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln to provide unbiased advice to inform policy. “The credibility of the advice from the NAS rests on its reputation, which depends on the reputation of its members,” states the code of conduct. By accepting membership in the academy, NAS members agree to abide by that code.