Enlarge / Shot of a male coworker acting inappropriately in the workplace (credit: Peopleimages.com via Getty Images)

Over the last year, there have been a series of revelations about research faculty that have sexually harassed students they were supposed to mentor. In two cases, the faculty got to keep their jobs, leaving future students unaware of potential risks. In the third, the researcher was hired by a series of prestigious universities, a trend that only ended when a University of Chicago investigation determined he had assaulted an unconscious student.

The one thing in common with these cases is that nobody was made aware of the outcomes of investigations, which are generally kept confidential. Even faculty, who could have acted to protect students, and students themselves, who could have been alerted to problems and made sure to report any additional issues, were kept in the dark. While the University of Chicago faculty who hired one of the harassers were aware of some past issues, the full extent of the problems are still unclear.

Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA) has helped publicize this issue, and she is now attempting to cut down on the confidentiality in order to make it a bit harder for people who engage in sexual harassment to continue careers in mentorship positions. Her effort relies on a key piece of the research machinery: the federal agencies that provide grants to many researchers.