Presidential Session: What Is at Stake? The Impacts of Inequity and Harassment on the Practice of Archaeology

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Presidential Session: What Is at Stake? The Impacts of Inequity and Harassment on the Practice of Archaeology" at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Research and reporting on equity and harassment in the academy and across both public and private sectors has revealed the extent of chronic inequalities and significant problematic behaviors in a variety of workplace settings. Those most negatively affected by these often illegal behaviors are women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and underrepresented minorities (URM). For archaeologists, workplaces include many locales (offices, labs, classrooms, field sites, conferences) and thus many potential sites for inequity, harassment, and assault to occur. This is not a women’s problem, but a disciplinary issue affecting the very performance of archaeology. In addressing this looming and serious problem, this session brings together both students and professionals to consider (1) equity (e.g., gender pay gap, publication/citation practices), and (2) sexual harassment and assault (e.g., as experienced by different subgroups, effects on professional outcomes, effective training and reporting, resources for survivors, etc.). Wherever possible, papers include recommendations for future directions at several scales (e.g., individuals, workplaces, field settings, conferences). This session is timely, and we hope that highlighting these issues at the forefront of the SAA’s annual meeting broadens the dialogue to the larger archaeological community so that we may collectively consider preventative solutions in addition to post-hoc sanctions.