She and many other women in astronomy have been tweeting about similar experiences using the hashtag #astroSH. The outpouring has surged since Tuesday, when Representative Jackie Speier, Democrat of California, announced a push for legislation to address sexism at universities.

Image Representative Jackie Speier, Democrat of California, is pushing for legislation to address sexism at universities. Credit... Chris Usher/CBS, via Associated Press

Ms. Speier’s proposal comes amid two high-profile incidents of accusations against male university professors. Last fall, Geoffrey Marcy, a prominent astronomer at Berkeley resigned after he was found guilty of sexually harassing students in a campus investigation.

On Tuesday, Science, Nature and BuzzFeed reported a case involving a California Institute of Technology professor placed on unpaid leave for “unambiguous gender-based harassment.”

Ms. Speier envisions rules that would ensure better information sharing between universities about problem professors. “We’re developing legislation that would first require that any investigation at one university where the professor either resigns or is fired, that information would follow them,” she said in an interview with Wired.

On the House floor, beside a poster of the moon with the words “Stop Sexism in Science!,” Ms. Speier said, “Some universities protect predatory professors with slaps on the wrist and secrecy just like the Catholic Church protected child molesting for many decades.”