Okay, here we go. Kristin and I have had a chance to look over the results of the karenfreberg.com Sexual Harassment Survey, and we wanted to share some preliminary results. After we both finish up some midterms and finals (Kristin is getting a Masters in Engineering Management), we'll post all the statistics. But we wanted you to be able to see some of the main points right away.

Based on some of the responses to the survey, there seems to be a lot of confusion about where sexual harassment fits in Title IX.

Here is what the U.S. Office of Civil Rights says:

Hmmm, I definitely understand the part about opportunities in the school's program....

Who Took the Survey?

Thank you for the great response to our survey!

Based on our hits log, over 1,000 people viewed the survey, and 126 filled it out completely, so this was over a 10% return rate. This was surprising, because the research literature says that online surveys usually get a lower return rate than surveys that are presented through more traditional methods (mail, etc.). I guess this is a topic people are really interested in!

Nearly half of the respondents were still in college, but we had respondents in all age categories from high school to over-60s.

Nearly 2/3 of the respondents were male. This is not too surprising, because males are still more likely to use the Internet.

Most of the respondents were athletes, but 16% were coaches. We were really happy about the representative characteristics of our sample. Thank you for participating!

How Common is Sexual Harassment in Track and Field?

25% of total experienced harassment (blue)

33% of coaches experienced harassment (blue)

Twenty-five percent of our respondents reported that they personally had experienced sexual harassment. Fifty percent of the female respondents had experienced harassment and 10% of the males had experienced harassment.

Thirty-three percent of the high school respondents had experienced harassment, and about 30% of the college athletes had experienced harassment.

About a third of the coaches reported that they had been harassed, although we do not know if that occurred while they competed, coached, or both.

Nearly 9% of the respondents had dated a coach. Interestingly, the vast majority of these people also reported that they had been harassed, too.

Forty-two percent of respondents had witnessed another person being sexually harassed while involved with track and field activities.

Responses to Sexual Harassment

Only 9% who experience it... report it!

Only 27% of Coaches who witnessed it... report it!

People who were more familiar with the legal definition of harassment were more likely to say that they had witnessed sexual harassment. Awareness is important!

A surprisingly small number of people actually reported the harassment they experienced or witnessed. Fewer than 9% of those who experienced harassment reported it.  Only 27% of the coaches who witnessed harassment reported it.

The most frequently cited outcome was that reporting the harassment produced no change. In less than a third of reported cases, respondents said that harassment stopped following a report to an appropriate authority.

Impacts of Sexual Harassment

32% believe preferential treatment occurs

83 % believe coach-athlete dating hurts the team

Nearly 32% of the respondents believed that others they knew had received preferential treatment due to a possible sexual relationship with the coach.

83% percent agreed that a coach dating an athlete he/she supervises would have a negative impact on the team.

Even among athletes who had dated a coach, nearly half believed that coach-athlete relationships would have a negative impact on the team.

Awareness of Sexual Harassment

About 39% of the respondents said that they were aware of the laws or policies regarding coach-athlete dating that applied to their age and level of competition. Females were more aware (46%) than males (35%).

Only half of the coaches reported that they were aware of laws and policies governing coach-athlete dating relationships that applied to their level.

Awareness influenced reporting of sexual harassment. Twice as many informed as uninformed respondents had reported sexual harassment.

Among high school students, none of the individuals reporting that they dated their coach said that they were aware of the laws that applied to coach-athlete dating at their age level. (It's totally against the law--the coach will go to jail for having a sexual relationship with a minor.)

Conclusions and Recommendations

Sexual harassment is not a rare phenomenon in track and field, particularly for females.

Awareness increased recognition and reporting of sexual harassment, but relatively few instances are formally reported to authorities. Even when reporting occurs, it appears that little effective action is taken. Obviously, we'd like to see school authorities take these reports more seriously.

Raising awareness could be achieved by explicitly discussing legal definitions of sexual harassment in orientation sessions for athletes, in coaches' training sessions, and by including information in student-athlete handbooks.

We are going to try to compile a database of existing university policies regarding coach-athlete dating relationships. Most that we have seen so far are surprisingly vague....like "use good professional judgment." Yale, the University of Michigan, and the University of Iowa are examples of schools that have clear, complete bans on professor-student dating. These are good models for athletic departments to implement.

We are also looking at some of the really interesting research that is already out there. For instance, one study polled student-athletes about "problem" behaviors from coaches. You might think that only really overt stuff like unwanted touching would be listed, but these athletes had some other ideas.

For the coaches out there, these behaviors might seem really routine, but from the perspective of athletes, you may be crossing their boundaries. Because of the tremendous power coaches have over scholarships, play time, and other resources, most athletes don't like to speak up. Here are some coach behaviors that athletes reported that they didn't like at all:
 

Number 1 -- Frequent nightly telephone contact  Believe it or not, there are coaches out there who call their athletes every night or expect their athletes to call them. Many athletes report that they feel this is an intrusion into their scarce "private" time. When this behavior is coming from a coach who actively discourages dating, it's perceived as even worse.    Number 2 -- Closing office door during a meeting When a Coach closes their door, it creates a difficult environment for the athlete. Professors don't do it and neither should coaches.    Number 3 -- Pet names When a coach uses pet names, it forces a familiarity that may not be welcomed.    Number 4 -- Comments about personal appearance, especially weight! Personal comments regarding weight should be left to the team nutritionist or doctor. Personal comments about appearance except regarding team standards are usually inappropriate.    Number 5 -- Invasion of personal space (sitting or standing closer than is comfortable to the other person)  In America, we are accustomed to keeping people about the length of an arm and a half away. Other cultures may be closer or farther away, but intruding on a person's space until they pull back is not okay.

We still have a lot of work to do before submitting our paper for publication, but we thought you'd like to see what we have so far. Please let us know if you have any questions or suggestions.

Thanks again for your help, and stay tuned! -- Karen :)

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