Beyond trainings: addressing workplace Sexual Harassment through Improvisational Theatre Interventions
Despite this recent increase in awareness, Sexual Harassment (SH) remains a highly prevalent issue in workplace environments worldwide (Dhanani et al., 2021). The negative effects of SH on individuals and organizations are well-documented, ranging from anxiety to PTSD for the former, and from decreased job performance to financial repercussions for the latter (Bondestam & Lundqvist, 2020; Henning et al., 2017; Au et al., 2023). Despite the high recognition of the issue in organizations, addressing workplace SH effectively remains a significant challenge (Buckner et al., 2014; Quick & McFadye, 2017). Therefore, the present study introduces a new and innovative tool of combating workplace SH: Improvisational Theatre Intervention (ITI). This study aims to evaluate the impact of ITI on students’ attitude toward SH, as well as the identification of and reactions to SH situations in the workplace.
To address the effectiveness of ITI, a waiting-list methodology was used on undergraduate students in HEC Lausanne. Participants were thus randomly assigned to either the treatment group or the control group, but all participants received the intervention at some stage. The effectiveness of the intervention was evaluated in the short and long run.
The results indicate that ITI decreases the acceptance of specific SH myths, the level of hostile but not benevolent sexism, and increases students’ beliefs in their ability to foster change regarding workplace SH. Moreover, ITI allows a better identification of specific SH situations and increases the intention to intervene as a witness is these situations. The implications for research and practice will be discussed.