12/10/2026
Silence is often framed as professionalism in the workplace. In reality, it is frequently the mechanism through which harm is allowed to persist.
Genevieve Cheung shares some more on this in Chapter 12, “When Silence Becomes Complicity: Harassment, Power, and the Cost of Being ‘Professional’” in the latest Empowering Women in STEM book, “Building a culture of resilience”.
https://strategicreliabilitysolutions.com/empowering-women-in-stem-building-a-culture-of-resilience/
Genevieve Cheung examines how harassment in STEM does not always originate within formal workplace structures — and how institutional silence can enable escalation far beyond them. Drawing on her experience as an engineer and consultant in male-dominated technical environments, she explores the unspoken rules women are expected to follow: be competent but unthreatening, engaged but not familiar, assertive but never disruptive.
Through careful reflection and systems-level analysis, Cheung exposes how informal power, reputational protection, and avoidance of discomfort can override formal responsibility. She challenges the belief that professionalism guarantees safety and reframes escalation not as troublemaking, but as record-keeping in environments that rely on silence.
This chapter offers a clear-eyed examination of power, accountability, and what professionalism truly costs women in STEM — particularly when no one intervenes.
Thank you: Charli Matthews Carruth, Patty Mecheal, Bonnie Tsim, Stuart Naismith, Martha Wittler, Shane Woods, Verima Pereira, Naailah Ali, Helen Sara Johnson, Viktoria Ilger, Cindy Gross, Christopher Gray, Susan L**ell, Dr Chloe Lim, Daniele Fiandaca, Dr Emma Charters, Selen Demir, Gabriela Coe, Alexandra Knight, Priya Iyer, Angelica González-Gomez, Linda Perry, Karrie Liu, Dr Ludmilla Derr, Desirée Squires, Heather Campbell, Eman Martin-Vignerte, Leyla Alieva, Dr Sophie Jablonski, Sanjay Bahadoorsingh
CRC Press, Taylor & Francis
