PEAR uses the 8 levers framework to think about the ways in which more inclusive and respectful climates might be intentionally cultivated at the unit level. Individuals can engage the following levers to positively affect climate in their work and learning environments. PEAR is deeply indebted to Dr. Sara Armstrong from the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) and the ADVANCE RISE committee for piloting this framework.
Environment
The physical surroundings or conditions in which a person operates. An academic environment includes the configuration of space and the presence of photos, signage, artwork, and other artifacts.
- Does your unit’s environment communicate that all community members will be respected in the identities they hold (gender, race, sexuality, etc.)?
- Are there elements of your environment that contradict that message?
Expectations
Beliefs that something will happen. Expectations are shaped implicitly and explicitly through words, actions, community demographics, and other environmental and social cues.
- How does your unit communicate its expectations related to sexually harassing behaviors to community members?
- Is its messaging consistent across all domains? Where might it be being undermined?
Interaction
The dynamic phenomena that emerge when two or more people have an effect on one another. Interactions are the basis for relationships and set their tone.
- How would you characterize the interactions that occur in your unit?
- Are interactions occurring that marginalize members of your community and disallow their full participation? How would you know?
Language
The system of communication a community uses. Language negotiates shared meaning and builds group coherence and understanding around ideas, behaviors, and actions.
- Is language used in your environment–intentionally unintentionally–to exclude or devalue people based on the identities that they hold
- What intentionally inclusive language practices does your unit use?
Modeling
The way an individual’s behavior in a shared environment becomes an example of expected and acceptable behavior to others in the space. This occurs regardless of one’s intent to act as a model to imitate.
- What kinds of behavior do you model for the members of your community?
- Do your actions align with your unit’s stated ideals or undermine them?
- What do the actions of unit leadership model for community members?
Opportunities
The sets of conditions or circumstances that make it possible to do or achieve something. Some opportunities are predictable; others emerge unexpectedly.
- What opportunities are you creating (or seizing upon) to help community members develop the knowledge and skills they need to cultivate a climate that is resistant to sexual harassment?
- How are you leveraging the opportunities built into the routines of your unit?
Routines
Practices that constitute a group’s regular way of doing things. When formalized, routines become structural elements that enforce particular ways of acting or available paths of action.
- What routines and or formalized structures are in place in your environment to support inclusive practices? To address harassing behaviors when they occur? To support those who have been targeted by harassment?
Time
The measured or measurable period during which an action, process, or condition exists or continues. This includes when something occurs, how often it occurs, and the length of any occurrence.
- How are you using time to cultivate a climate that is resistant to sexual harassment?
- How long is any single engagement with this topic? How often do you return to this topic to reactivate it?
- Whose time are you requiring?