Sexual Harassment Complaints in Academia Are Up Since 2018

The NIH shared new data detailing complaints it has received in recent years, the latest in a series of steps taken by funding agencies and professional organizations to address misconduct.

Written byAmanda Heidt

| 4 min read

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The National Institutes of Health has received more than 300 complaints against NIH-funded scientists since 2018, the majority of which relate to sexual harassment. As a result, 75 investigators have been removed from their grants, the agency reported on June 10.

The data were presented during a meeting of the NIH’s Advisory Committee to the Director, and included complaints received in the years since the NIH made changes to its complaint process in response to growing pressure to address sexual and racial harassment by the scientists it funds. Prior to 2018, no principal investigator had been removed from an NIH grant for sexual harassment, Science reports, and the agency has increasingly urged victims to bring their complaints forward.

“As the largest single funder of biomedical research in the world, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) bears a responsibility to take action to put an end ...

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Meet the Author

Amanda Heidt
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Amanda first began dabbling in scicom as a master’s student studying marine science at Moss Landing Marine Labs, where she edited the student blog and interned at a local NPR station. She enjoyed that process of demystifying science so much that after receiving her degree in 2019, she went straight into a second master’s program in science communication at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Formerly an intern at The Scientist, Amanda joined the team as a staff reporter and editor in 2021 and oversaw the publication’s internship program, assigned and edited the Foundations, Scientist to Watch, and Short Lit columns, and contributed original reporting across the publication. Amanda’s stories often focus on issues of equity and representation in academia, and she brings this same commitment to DEI to the Science Writers Association of the Rocky Mountains and to the board of the National Association of Science Writers, which she has served on since 2022. She is currently based in the outdoor playground that is Moab, Utah. Read more of her work at www.amandaheidt.com.
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