Sexual Harassment of Undergraduate Students in STEM: Exploring the Role of Student and Faculty/Staff Perpetrators on Sense of Belonging and Academic Outcomes.

Abstract

Undergraduate students in the United States report high rates of sexual harassment (SH) from both peers and faculty and staff. In science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, SH poses a major obstacle to the retention and advancement of women. The role of the perpetrator can impact the consequences of SH (e.g., academic disengagement) and how students respond to the harassment. The current study examined the prevalence of SH perpetrated against undergraduate students majoring in STEM disciplines and whether responses to harassment and student outcomes (i.e., perceptions of academic support, sense of belonging, and college persistence) varied based on the status of the perpetrator (i.e., peer or faculty/staff). Approximately 60% of students in STEM reported SH from peers, compared to 46% from faculty/staff. Survivors of faculty/staff-perpetrated SH were more likely to use internally (e.g., ignoring the SH) rather than externally focused strategies (e.g., reporting the SH, confronting harasser) to respond to the harassment. Although survivors of peer- and faculty/staff-perpetrated SH reported lower perceptions of academic support compared to participants who did not report any SH, survivors of peer-perpetrated SH reported significantly lower sense of belonging and survivors of faculty/staff-perpetrated SH reported significantly lower college persistence. Implications for prevention and response efforts are discussed.