Date of Award

Spring 1996

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychology

Program/Concentration

Psychology

Committee Director

Michelle L. Kelley

Committee Member

Debra A. Major

Committee Member

Raymond H. Kirby

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.P65 P287

Abstract

The present research examined the relations between students' and employees' knowledge of the university's sexual harassment policy/grievance procedure and their reporting behavior. The present research also examined the position of the complainant (i.e., undergraduate student, graduate student, staff, faculty, and administrator) with respect to the incidence of sexual harassment and the response of filing a sexual harassment complaint. A survey assessing the various aspects of interest was sent to all full-time female employees (n = 954) of a medium sized, southeastern university. The response rate was 42% for administrators, 43% for faculty, and 36% for staff. In addition, 178 undergraduate students were surveyed. Surveys were also sent to a stratified sample of female graduate students at the university (n = 496). The graduate student response rate was 19%. Overall, 28% of the respondents reported that they had been sexually harassed. However, too few complaints were filed for statistical analysis. However, the majority of complaints filed were against administrators and faculty compared to the other groups. Correct knowledge of where to file a compliant on campus differed by the position of the respondent. Staff, faculty and administrators knew where to report a complaint more often than students. A major finding was the large percentage of respondents who said they intended to file a complaint if sexually harassed, yet few respondents who filed a complaint when they thought they were sexually harassed. The implications of the findings and avenues for future research are discussed.

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DOI

10.25777/zvny-1z54

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