While the vast majority of board directors don’t think that a general discussion of sexism and sexual harassment in the workplace should happen at the board level, directors for more heavily scrutinized venture capital companies are beginning to tackle the issues head on, according to the results of a survey by theBoardlist and Qualtrics.

The survey polled more than 600 board directors at private and public companies of all sizes, and found that 77 percent have not discussed accusations of sexism or sexually inappropriate behavior in the workplace. Most (88 percent) haven’t implemented a plan of action as a result of recent revelations in the media, and 83 percent haven’t re-evaluated the company’s risks.

Respondents cited a number of reasons for not discussing these issues, including “not an issue,” “not a focus area,” “not a concern for the company,” “just hasn’t come up,” “board members are men,” and the topic wouldn’t be “well received.”

However, 83 percent of respondents who are board members at venture capital firms say that their boards have talked about the accusations, possibly due to heightened scrutiny of both VC-backed companies and venture capitalists in the digital industry in recent months, according to the report.

Half (50 percent) of the VC directors say that their boards implementing plans as a result, 45 percent are re-evaluating current plans in place, and 43 percent have discussed the risk of certain behaviors in the workplace, such as drinking alcohol, that could lead to sexual harassment.

“It’s a positive development that we’re starting to see boards addressing these issues on culture and diversity, likely driven by the increased scrutiny that scandals in tech and Hollywood has spurred,” says Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, founder and chief executive of theBoardlist. “Compared to public companies, private venture-backed companies are much earlier in their practices around corporate governance.”

Many of the actions that VC board members report taking include creating formal policies and statements about conduct; creating reporting channels with independent or third-party options; staying away from notorious “bad actors” to be co-investors; getting more females into the ranks of VC’s and limited partnerships; talking to portfolio companies about implementing policies to prevent harassment.

“For every company — public and private — issues of culture, gender equality, discrimination and harassment are now rightfully coming to the attention of company boards, and addressing these issues needs to become a standard practice, not an afterthought,” Cassidy says.

Instant Insights /

Venture capital firms leading the sexual harassment discussion

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