Institutional responses to sexual harassment and misogyny towards women teachers from boys in Australian schools in the post-#metoo era

Abstract

ABSTRACT Sexual harassment and misogyny are historical experiences of the teaching workforce in Australia. While #metoo promised a moment of reckoning for all girls and women, this reckoning has been less acutely felt in Australian schools, evidenced by a persistence of sexual harassment and misogyny despite progress allegedly made in political and public discourse. In this paper, we draw on data from interviews with 30 women teachers and critically examine their reflections on responses from their school leadership to sexual harassment and misogyny from boys. We demonstrate that school-level responses to misogyny do not reflect broader attitudinal shifts initiated by #metoo, indicating that school leadership largely remains beholden to institutional norms and gender regimes that legitimate and consolidate practices of hegemonic masculinity that subordinate girls and women. We conclude by calling for a renewed focus on addressing cultures of misogyny and sexism in schools at both a policy and classroom level.