Have you been sexually harassed in school? What female high school students regard as harassment

Sexual jokes at school and psychological complaints: Student- and class-level associations

Background: Students who are subjected to sexual harassment at school report lower psychological well-being than those who are not exposed. Yet, it is possible that the occurrence of sexual harassment in the school class is also stressful for those who are not directly targeted, with potential negative effects on well-being for all students. Aim: The aim was to examine whether exposure to sexual jokes at the student level and at the class level was associated with students’ psychological complaints, and if these associations differed by gender. Method: Data from the Swedish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) of 2017/18 was used, with information from students aged 11, 13 and 15 years (N=3720 distributed across 209 classes). Psychological health complaints were constructed as an index based on four items. Exposure to sexual jokes at the student level was measured by one item, and at the class level as the class proportion of students exposed to sexual jokes, in per cent. Two-level linear regression analyses were performed.Results: Students who had been exposed to sexual jokes at school reported higher levels of psychological complaints, especially boys. Furthermore, the class proportion of students who had been exposed to sexual jokes was also associated with psychological complaints, even when adjusting for student-level exposure to sexual jokes, gender, grade and class size. Conclusions: Sexual jokes seem to be harmful for those who are directly exposed, but may also affect indirectly exposed students negatively. Thus, a school climate free from sexual jokes may profit all students.

Helping and Hindering Undergraduate Women’s STEM Motivation: Experiences With STEM Encouragement, STEM-Related Gender Bias, and Sexual Harassment

Prior research indicates many women either leave or pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees because the social climate undermined or strengthened their motivation and career aspirations. We investigated whether women’s experiences of sexual harassment and STEM-related gender bias negatively predicted their STEM motivation (task value, competence beliefs, and perceived costs) and STEM career aspirations. We also tested whether STEM encouragement from friends and family positively predicted motivation and aspirations. To consider domain-specific effects, we also tested the predictors in relation to non-STEM motivation and career aspirations. Students’ grade point average was controlled in all analyses. The sample was undergraduate women enrolled in gateway biology courses for majors ( N = 685; M = 19.67 years of age; 35% Asian, 31% White, and 27% Latinx). A majority experienced gender bias (60.9%) or sexual harassment (78.1%) at least once in the past year. STEM-related gender bias from classmates and sexual harassment from instructors (faculty, teaching assistants, or graduate students) were negatively related to STEM motivation and career aspirations. Perceived STEM encouragement from friends was positively related to motivation, and STEM encouragement from friends and family predicted STEM career aspirations. Finally, domain-specific effects were indicated. Our research highlights the need for programs that increase awareness of discrimination, combat bias and harassment, and affirm students’ STEM interest. Additional online materials for this article are available on PWQ's website at https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/0361684318806302

Perceived experiences with sexism among adolescent girls

This study investigated predictors of adolescent girls' experiences with sexism and feminism. Girls (N = 600; M = 15.1 years, range = 12-18), of varied socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds, completed surveys of personal experiences with sexual harassment, academic sexism (regarding science, math, and computer technology), and athletics. Most girls reported sexual harassment (90%), academic sexism (52%), and athletic sexism (76%) at least once, with likelihood increasing with age. Socialization influences and individual factors, however, influenced likelihood of all three forms of sexism. Specifically, learning about feminism and gender-conformity pressures were linked to higher perceptions of sexism. Furthermore, girls' social gender identity (i.e., perceived gender typicality and gender-role contentedness) and gender-egalitarian attitudes were related to perceived sexism.