The
AAUW Educational Foundation
released its newest research
report, Drawing the
Line: Sexual Harassment
on Campus, on Jan.
24, 2006.
This report presents
the most comprehensive
findings to date on sexual
harassment on college campuses.
It is the first of a
series of research reports
that will focus on the
issue of higher education
as the gateway to women's
economic security.
Main Findings
1.
Sexual harassment is
widespread on college
campuses.
-
Nearly two-thirds of college students (62 percent) say they have
encountered some type of sexual harassment while at college.
- Nearly one-third of
students (35 percent
of female students
and 29 percent of male
students) say they
have experienced physical
harassment, such
as being touched, grabbed,
or pinched in a sexual
way.
- Sexual comments and
jokes are the most common
form
of harassment. More
than half of female students
(57 percent) and nearly
half of male students
(48
percent) say they have
experienced this type
of harassment.
2. Sexual harassment takes an especially heavy toll on female students.
- More than two-thirds
(68 percent) of female
students who experience
harassment feel very
or somewhat upset by
it. Conversely,
only one-third (35
percent) of male students
admit to being very
or somewhat upset.
- More than half of
female students who
were harassed (57 percent)
say they felt self-conscious
or embarrassed, and
a similar number (55
percent) said they
felt angry. Among
female students who
encountered harassment,
one-third (32 percent)
say they felt afraid
and one-fifth (18 percent)
say that they were
disappointed in their
college experience
as a result of sexual
harassment.
3.
Most students don't
report sexual harassment
to a college employee,
and many tell no one.
- Only 7 percent of
students say they reported
sexual harassment to
a faculty member or
other college employee.
Almost no one spoke
with a college employee
who they knew was a
Title IX officer.
- More than half of
students (57 percent)
would like their college
or university to offer
a web-based, confidential
method for submitting
complaints about sexual
harassment. Nearly
half (47 percent) would
like their college
or university to designate
an office or person
to contact about sexual
harassment.
- More than one-third
of students (35 percent)
tell no one. Almost
half (49 percent) tell
a friend.
Other Important Findings
1. Harassers are most likely male, and tend to think harassment is funny.
- Forty-one percent
of all students admit
that they have sexually
harassed someone on
campus.
- Male students are
more likely than female
students to have ever
sexually harassed someone
on campus (51 percent
versus 31 percent).
Private college students
are
more likely than their
public college peers
to have ever sexually
harassed someone on
campus (47 percent
versus. 38 percent).
- The most common rationale
for harassment (59
percent) is "I thought
it was funny." Less
than one-fifth (17
percent) of those who
admit to harassing
others say they did
so because they wanted
a date with the person.
2. Sexual harassment occurs at all types of institutions and all over campus.
- Among students who
have been harassed,
more than a third are
harassed in the dorms
or student housing
(39 percent) or outside
on campus grounds (37
percent). One-fifth
are harassed in classrooms
or lecture halls.
- Students from private
colleges are more likely
than college students
from public colleges
to say they have been
sexually harassed (68
percent versus 59 percent).
Despite this, private
college
students
are more likely to
say that sexual harassment
is not occurring on
their
campus (15 percent
versus 10 percent).
- Students at large
schools (population
of 10,000 or more)
are more likely than
students
at small schools
(population of 5,000
or fewer) to say
they have experienced
sexual harassment
(67 percent versus
58 percent).
3.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual,
and transgender (LGBT)
students are more likely
than heterosexual students
to be sexually harassed.
- Nearly three-quarters
(73 percent) of LGBT
students report harassment
versus 61 percent of
heterosexual students.
-
LGBT students are more likely than heterosexual students to be harassed
often —18 percent versus 7 percent.
- LGBT students are
more likely than heterosexual
students to be angry
(67 percent versus
42 percent), embarrassed
(61 percent
versus 45 percent),
less confident (42
percent
versus 25 percent),
and afraid (32 percent
versus 20 percent)
as a result of sexual
harassment.
Methodology
Harris
Interactive® conducted
the Drawing the
Line: Sexual Harassment
on
Campus study online
on behalf of the AAUW
Educational Foundation
between May 5 and 25,
2005, among 2,036 U.S.
undergraduate college
students ages 18 to
24. The
sample included students
enrolled
in public and private
postsecondary schools,
including institutions
offering two-year as
well as four-year degrees.
Figures for age, sex,
race,
education,
region, and household
income were weighted
where necessary to
bring them into line
with their actual proportions
in the population.
A post-weight was also
applied to adjust qualified
respondents to
more accurately reflect
the proportions of
male and female students
between the ages of
18 and 21 and 22 and
24 years old. In
theory, with probability
samples of this size,
one could say with 95
percent certainty that
the overall results have
a sampling error of +/-2
percentage points. Sampling
error for the subsamples
of males (940), females
(1096), males who have
been sexually harassed
(566), and females who
have been sexually harassed
(659) is higher and varies.
This online sample is
not a probability sample.
Frequently Asked Questions
What
plans does AAUW have
to help campuses address
these issues?
In response to these research findings, AAUW has launched a new initiative,
Building a Harassment-Free Campus, and is currently funding 11 campus-based
projects around the country that will examine and address sexual harassment
on campus. In addition, a Summit on Sexual Harassment is planned for June 7-10,
2006, as part of the AAUW National Conference for College Women Student
Leaders. (See http://www.aauw.org/campus_connection/cap.cfm and http://www.aauw.org/nccwsl/2006/index.cfm for
more details.)
How
does sexual harassment
on campus affect young
women's careers
and lifelong economic
security?
A college education is increasingly becoming a prerequisite for many career
paths and for lifelong economic security. Sexual harassment on campus disrupts
the college experience in large and small ways. Young adults on campus are
shaping behaviors and attitudes that they will take with them into the workforce
and broader society. A campus environment that encourages — even tolerates — inappropriate
verbal and physical contact and that discourages reporting these behaviors
undermines the emotional, intellectual and professional growth of millions
of young adults. AAUW's research shows that sexual harassment on campus
takes an especially heavy toll on young women, making it harder for them to
get the education they need to take care of themselves and their families in
today's
economy.
What other work has AAUW done on sexual harassment?
AAUW has been at the forefront of sexual harassment research for more than
a decade. In 1993, AAUW released Hostile Hallways: The AAUW Survey on
Sexual Harassment in America's Schools, which revealed that four out
of five students in grades eight to 11 had experienced some form of sexual
harassment. In 2001,
the AAUW Educational Foundation released the follow-up report, Hostile
Hallways: Bullying
Teasing and Sexual Harassment in School, which found that nearly a decade
later, sexual harassment remained a major problem and a significant barrier
to student achievement in public schools. In response, AAUW developed a resource
guide, Harassment-Free Hallways (2002), which provides guidelines
and recommendations to help schools, students, and parents prevent and combat
sexual harassment.
All of these publications, including Drawing the Line, are available at www.aauw.org/research.
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