Graduate Students are “Making a Big Fuss”: Responding to Institutional Betrayal Around Campus Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment

Abstract

ABSTRACT Research on sexual violence and sexual harassment (SVSH) in academia has grown since the 1980s; however, the needs of graduate student survivors have received comparably little attention, which contributes to forms of institutional betrayal that specifically impact graduate students. As part of a multi-campus study on experiences of SVSH and campus resources, graduate student researchers conducted in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with 43 fellow graduate students. Using thematic analysis, we identify three mechanisms that lead to graduate students’ feelings of institutional betrayal: “passing the harasser;” shifting responsibilities for SVSH-related prevention and response onto graduate students; and inadequate resources for preventing and responding to SVSH. Building on combined analytical frameworks, the Socio-Ecological Model and Whole School Approach, we offer student-centered and evidence-based multi-level imperatives for combatting graduate student SVSH and reducing institutional betrayal. Finally, we share a flowchart we designed to model how individuals can respond to SVSH within university settings.