SEXUAL HARASSMENT - CROSS-CULTURAL CROSS-LINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVES

With the increasing numbers of international graduate students and fac ulty on US university campuses have come increasing reports of communi cation problems between these instructors and their US students, inclu ding accusations of sexual harassment. We investigate here the key rol e that culture-specific interpretations of verbal and nonverbal behavi or play in effectively communicating in the context of the classroom d iscourse of US higher education. We extend these interpretations to th e area of what verbal and nonverbal behavior might have sexual implica tions and therefore what teacher (and peer) behavior might be perceive d as sexual harassment. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were car ried out on the reactions of US undergraduates and international teach ing assistants (ITAs) to 12 scenarios based on naturally occurring (an d potentially problematic) interactions. Results of the study indicate that (1) language and behavior that is perceived as sexual in nature in the US may not be so perceived in other societies; and (2) certain sexually tinged verbal and nonverbal behaviors may be more tolerated i n societies other than US society, given the present state of heighten ed sensitivity to the issue of sexual harassment in the US. We investi gate here the dangers that ITAs may face given both these factors.