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This article presents the current state of research on confronting and reducing sexism. We first provide a systematic overview about prior work on confronting sexism. We identify gaps in the literature by outlining situational and contextual factors that are important in confronting sexism and introduce how these are addressed in the current volume. Second, we review prior work on reducing sexism. Compared to research on reducing other forms of prejudice, research on interventions to reduce sexism is rare. We explain why mechanisms that are successful in reducing other forms of prejudice cannot simply be adapted to reducing sexism. We then outline how the articles of this issue promote research, theory, and policy on reducing sexism. In conclusion, the aim of this issue is to bring together novel theoretical approaches as well as empirically tested methods that identify key antecedents and consequences of diverse ways of confronting and reducing sexism.

The harms of subtle sexism tend to be minimized despite negative cumulative effects, thus people may be less motivated to address subtle sexism. We tested the effectiveness of an experiential learning intervention, WAGES-Academic (Workshop Activity for Gender Equity Simulation-Academic), to educate about the harms of subtle sexism in the academic workplace. Across two studies, WAGES increased the recognition of everyday sexism as harmful and promoted behavioral intentions to discuss and seek information about gender inequity compared to a control condition that provided identical information as WAGES but without experiential learning. These effects were due to WAGES limiting reactance and promoting self-efficacy. Moreover, WAGES did not differ in reactance or self-efficacy compared to a control condition that provided no gender inequity information. This suggests that WAGES buffers the potential negative effects of simply presenting gender inequity information. Results suggest that WAGES, and experiential learning more broadly, has the potential to change attitudes and behaviors about everyday sexism.