Is This Really Still Happening?!

Despite quotas, increased advocacy and movements like Me Too and Time’s Up, sexism in science and the wider world is as prevalent as ever. So why could this be? Is it the expectation that as women and minorities are more common in the workplace, the fight for equality and inclusivity has been “won” or the greater recognition of sexist behaviors and microaggressions? Or is it the rise of “incels” and the encouragement of “masculinity influencers” who subscribe to a brand of extreme misogyny?

Now in its seventh year, the Did This Really Happen?! project provides a safe space for the submission of anonymised testimonies documenting real lived experiences of everyday sexism in scientific environments, including sexist biases and a range of micro and macro aggressions. These are, in turn, converted into comic strips by the DTRH team, as a way to visualize the stories and start a conversation.

Since the project’s inception in 2016, we have received over 150 testimonies which have been turned into about 50 comics, with many more in various stages of preparation. Testimonial topics have ranged from treating women as objects to questioning female competencies and confining males to stereotypical roles (Bocher et al., 2020). 

In this presentation, we will assess if and how the topics of the stories received within our project have evolved since 2016, and we will attempt to reply to the following question, through the lenses of our project: how has the state of sexism evolved in academia since the start of Did this really happen?!. Using a quantitative analysis of all the stories we have received so far, we will prove that (sadly) our project is as relevant today as when it was started.