The Trump administration has revoked the Obama administration requirement that US colleges and universities treat sexual assault as a Title IX violation, that is, as a gender-based form of violence that limited access to education. The Clery Act requirement that colleges and universities report the number of sexual assaults remains in effect. The Clery Act data is criticized as severely underrepresenting the number of sexual assaults because so few are actually reported to campus authorities. Are the differences among colleges and universities in the number of sexual assaults they report under the Clery Act a result of differences in rates of assault or in differences in rates of reporting sexual assault? We analyzed data from US Department of Education, CollegeBoard, and NCAA to compare institutional factors that predict the average rate of sexual assault per 10,000 students (SAR10K) with those that predict the sexual assault reporting ratio (SARR) at 939 four-year colleges and universities. Our results suggest that research using Clery Act data may largely be studying reporting behaviors rather than assaulting behaviors. The differences in predictors (percent first year students living in dormitories) for SAR10K and both estimates of SARR (percent women students) and in the magnitude of three predictors (being a public institution, acceptance rate, and being a member of NCAA Division III) suggest that the Clery Act data does more than simply reveal differences in reporting behaviors. Students attending smaller more elite private colleges tend to report sexual assaults at a higher rate than students attending larger less selective public universities. The policies and programs at these smaller elite institutions may be more successful in encouraging reporting and discouraging assaulting. The more privileged students who attend these elite institutions may be more likely to report sexual assault than their less privileged counterparts at less selective institutions.
The Trump administration has revoked the Obama administration requirement that US colleges and universities treat sexual assault as a Title IX violation, that is, as a gender-based form of violence that limited access to education. The Clery Act requirement that colleges and universities report the number of sexual assaults remains in effect. The Clery Act data is criticized as severely underrepresenting the number of sexual assaults because so few are actually reported to campus authorities. Are the differences among colleges and universities in the number of sexual assaults they report under the Clery Act a result of differences in rates of assault or in differences in rates of reporting sexual assault? We analyzed data from US Department of Education, CollegeBoard, and NCAA to compare institutional factors that predict the average rate of sexual assault per 10,000 students (SAR10K) with those that predict the sexual assault reporting ratio (SARR) at 939 four-year colleges and universities. Our results suggest that research using Clery Act data may largely be studying reporting behaviors rather than assaulting behaviors. The differences in predictors (percent first year students living in dormitories) for SAR10K and both estimates of SARR (percent women students) and in the magnitude of three predictors (being a public institution, acceptance rate, and being a member of NCAA Division III) suggest that the Clery Act data does more than simply reveal differences in reporting behaviors. Students attending smaller more elite private colleges tend to report sexual assaults at a higher rate than students attending larger less selective public universities. The policies and programs at these smaller elite institutions may be more successful in encouraging reporting and discouraging assaulting. The more privileged students who attend these elite institutions may be more likely to report sexual assault than their less privileged counterparts at less selective institutions.
The Trump administration has revoked the Obama administration requirement that US colleges and universities treat sexual assault as a Title IX violation, that is, as a gender-based form of violence that limited access to education. The Clery Act requirement that colleges and universities report the number of sexual assaults remains in effect. The Clery Act data is criticized as severely underrepresenting the number of sexual assaults because so few are actually reported to campus authorities. Are the differences among colleges and universities in the number of sexual assaults they report under the Clery Act a result of differences in rates of assault or in differences in rates of reporting sexual assault? We analyzed data from US Department of Education, CollegeBoard, and NCAA to compare institutional factors that predict the average rate of sexual assault per 10,000 students (SAR10K) with those that predict the sexual assault reporting ratio (SARR) at 939 four-year colleges and universities. Our results suggest that research using Clery Act data may largely be studying reporting behaviors rather than assaulting behaviors. The differences in predictors (percent first year students living in dormitories) for SAR10K and both estimates of SARR (percent women students) and in the magnitude of three predictors (being a public institution, acceptance rate, and being a member of NCAA Division III) suggest that the Clery Act data does more than simply reveal differences in reporting behaviors. Students attending smaller more elite private colleges tend to report sexual assaults at a higher rate than students attending larger less selective public universities. The policies and programs at these smaller elite institutions may be more successful in encouraging reporting and discouraging assaulting. The more privileged students who attend these elite institutions may be more likely to report sexual assault than their less privileged counterparts at less selective institutions.
Keywords
gender
higher education
sexual assault
violence
