WASHINGTON — Sexual harassment is rampant in academic science, and colleges and universities that train new scientists need a systemwide culture change so women won’t be bullied out of the field, a national advisory group said Tuesday.

In fact, it’s time to treat sexual harassment as seriously as research misconduct, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine concluded in recommendations aimed at U.S. institutions of higher education and the groups that fund them.

While women are still outnumbered by men, universities are recruiting more women to science-related fields than ever before. The new report makes clear that pervasive sexual harassment puts those gains at risk.

“If we are losing talent in science, engineering and medicine, then that is something that is detrimental to our country and quite frankly to the world,” Wellesley College President Dr. Paula Johnson, who co-chaired the report, said in an interview.

Assault or unwanted sexual advances are making #MeToo headlines but don’t tell the whole story, the report found. Most common in science is what the National Academies termed gender harassment, a hostile environment rife with sexist commentary and crude behavior that can negatively impact a woman’s education and career, as well as her mental and physical health.

“Even when the sexual harassment entails nothing but sexist insult without any unwanted sexual pursuit, it takes a toll,” said University of Michigan psychology professor Lilia Cortina, a member of the committee that spent two years studying the problem. “It’s about pushing women out.”

How common is sexual harassment in science education? The report cited a University of Texas system survey that found about 20 percent of female science students, more than a quarter of female engineering students and more than 40 percent of female medical students said they had experienced sexual harassment from faculty or staff. In a similar survey in the Pennsylvania State University system, half of female medical students reported such harassment.

Minority women experience “a double whammy of discrimination,” Cortina added.

The hierarchical nature of science can make it difficult to report and root out such behavior, with scientists-in-training often dependent on a single high-profile mentor for research funding, job recommendations and fieldwork in remote locations.

To escape the denigration, women may change majors, advisers or labs or just drop out, Cortina said.

Most academic policies consist of “symbolic compliance” with anti-discrimination law.