Dive Brief:
- Sexual harassment and assault are pervasive in academia, and a survey by Karen L. Kelsey, the director of The Professor Is In, a consulting firm, illustrates the breadth of the issue, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. More than 1,600 people responded to Kelsey's survey about their experience with sexual harassment and assault in higher education. She said she was not surprised by the number of people who responded, but was dismayed by the "severity" of many of their stories.
- The institutional structure of academia can make it easier to commit sexual harassment and abuse, Kelsey said. Graduate students and advisers/professors find themselves working together for long hours, and the "hierarchical" nature of the relationship can make it easier for harassers in positions of power to wield that power in a predatory manner.
- The pervasiveness of harassment and abuse is having profoundly negative impacts on female academics, Kelsey said, bemoaning the fact that women are leaving higher education due to uncomfortable situations. For graduate students who experience harassment, they often change advisers or lose funding due to changing schools, which can hinder their research. Victims also spoke about mental health issues, including post traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety.
Dive Insight:
Kelsey's survey supports research indicating that sexual harassment of graduate students by faculty professors is a more pervasive problem than many realize, both in the severity of the harassment and the number of incidents. A study published in the Utah Law Review earlier this year found that more than 50% of harassment cases of graduate students involved "alleged serial harassers." The report also found that a “disturbingly high proportion of available cases indicate evidence of higher-severity sexual harassment that includes unwelcome physical contact and/or a pattern of serial sexual harassment of multiple victims by the same faculty member,” according to Inside Higher Ed.
Sexual harassment is also pervasive for female administrators. Some female college presidents report being catcalled at their institutions by male students who were not aware of who they were. Others admitted they amend their style of clothing when attending board meetings where they may be the only woman in the room. (The number of female college presidents is around 30%.)
Discussions about sexual assault and harassment on has campus have mushroomed with the #MeToo movement, which was sparked by increased public discussion of sexual abuse and abusers in numerous industries. While attention is focused on harassers and the women who they preyed upon, President Donald Trump's administration also wants to protect the rights of the accused. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has said she would likely overturn guidelines established by President Barack Obama's administration, which pledged to create a transparent and sympathetic process for victims.
The PROSPER Act, House Republicans' proposed legislation reauthorizing the Higher Education Act, addresses sexual assault issues on several fronts, and proponents claim it offers more due process rights to the accusers and accused in a given situation. The bill moves away from the notion that a "preponderance of evidence" is required in an investigation, but it faces strong opposition as the nation is increasingly concerned with hearing and valuing the stories of assault survivors.