Whisper networks in organizations: Sexual harassment protection through informal connections
Date
2022-08
Authors
King Johnson, Carrie Ann
Major Professor
Advisor
Tye-Williams, Stacy
Rood, Craig
LaWare, Maggie
Kretsinger-Harries, Anne
Odenweller, Kelly
Committee Member
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Altmetrics
Abstract
This dissertation aimed to explore the communication networks women use to share information about sexual harassment and sexual harassers in their organizations. This study examined how women form and use whisper networks in their organizations. Whisper networks are the ‘informal chain[s] of conversations among women about men who need to be watched because of rumors, allegations, or known sexual misconduct, harassment, or assault incidents” (Meza, 2017). This dissertation fills gaps in the research on communication and sexual harassment by examining ways women learn to warn one another about sexual harassment and sexist behavior by co-workers. To that point, I created two research questions to guide the study: What purposes do whisper networks serve in organizations, and how do whisper networks form in organizations?
To answer these questions, I conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with participants who had experience participating in whisper networks in their organizations and used grounded theory and thematic analysis to establish three emergent theories about the purposes whisper networks serve in organizations. Whisper networks 1) serve as protection in organizational cultures of harassment and 2) serve to help women make sense of their harassment experience through sensemaking. Whisper networks also serve the purpose of 3) identifying harassers because harassers are not apparent when entering a new situation. In answer to question two, five theories emerged that indicate 1) whisper networks form in risky situations or toxic organizations, and 2) when women perceive the information and people forming the network as trustworthy. Whisper networks also form by choice when 3) women observe the actions and interactions, and 4) whisper networks are largely formed through verbal, non-verbal, and coded messages that require understanding from both the sender and receiver of the whisper network messages. Finally, 5) whisper networks do not protect everyone equally. These findings establish a baseline of emergent theories that explain the purposes whisper networks serve and how whisper networks are formed and have implications for future research on sexual harassment, whisper networks, and informal communication networks. The results from this study also have practical implications because as women learn more about whisper networks, they can use these communication systems more purposefully and effectively.
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English
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article