Caltech Releases Results of AAU Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct

Caltech Releases Results of AAU Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct

In Spring 2015, Caltech, along with 26 other colleges and universities, participated in the Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct organized by the Association of American Universities (AAU). The statistical survey research firm Westat administered the web-based questionnaire, compiled the data, and provided individual and aggregate results.

The AAU Campus Climate Survey queried concerns related to the incidence and prevalence of sexual assault and sexual misconduct on college campuses. The survey also assessed the overall climate of each campus with respect to perceptions of risk, knowledge of resources available to victims, and perceived reactions to an incident of sexual assault or sexual misconduct. The information gathered will help to inform policies created by member universities to both prevent and respond to sexual assault and sexual misconduct.

What follows here is drawn from both the Caltech report and the AAU aggregate report, provides a summary of key findings and compares Caltech results to the aggregate AAU findings. With the exception of two items, noted below, all results reported here differ in a statistically significant way from the aggregate AAU results.

“I am encouraged that for the most part our students find the campus to be a comparatively safe environment in which to live and learn,” says Thomas F. Rosenbaum, president of Caltech. “The climate survey results also show us there are areas where added vigilance is warranted, and Caltech is committed to addressing these issues and maintaining a healthy and supportive environment for all members of our community.”

Caltech conducted a census of its 2,116 students (941 undergraduates). Every student was invited to participate and was offered a $5 Amazon gift card for doing so. In the end, 997 students (527 undergraduates) completed the survey, for a Caltech response rate of 47.1%. For comparison, a total of 779,168 students in the AAU were invited to participate in the survey. The overall AAU results include 150,072 completed surveys for an AAU response rate of 19.3%.

The survey assessed: (1) the campus climate around sexual assault and sexual misconduct; (2) the frequency and nature of sexual assault and sexual misconduct; (3) the frequency and nature of sexual harassment, intimate partner violence, and stalking; and (4) what students know and think about resources related to sexual assault and sexual misconduct.

Campus climate around sexual assault and sexual misconduct

Overall, Caltech students reported a campus climate supportive of individuals who report sexual assault or sexual misconduct:

More Caltech students believe other students would be very or extremely likely to support a student who filed a sexual assault or sexual misconduct complaint (72% compared to 55% across the participating AAU schools);

More Caltech students believe Institute officials would be very or extremely likely to take the sexual assault or sexual misconduct complaint seriously (78% compared to 63% across the participating AAU schools);

More Caltech students believe Institute officials would be very or extremely likely to protect the complainant (72% compared to 57% across the participating AAU schools);

More Caltech students believe Institute officials would be very or extremely likely to conduct a fair investigation (59% compared to 49% across the participating AAU schools);

More Caltech students believe Institute officials would be very or extremely likely to take action (57% compared to 45% across the participating AAU schools);

More Caltech students believe Institute officials would be very or extremely likely to address environmental factors contributing to the sexual assault or sexual misconduct (49% compared to 39% across the participating AAU schools); and

Fewer Caltech students believe that the offender would be very or extremely likely to retaliate against the complainant (13% compared to 22% across the participating AAU schools).

Caltech students also reported perceptions of a safe campus environment:

Fewer Caltech students believe that sexual assault or sexual misconduct is very or extremely problematic at the Institute (2% compared to 20% across the participating AAU schools), and

Fewer Caltech students believe that the likelihood of sexual assault or sexual misconduct on campus is very or extremely high (2% compared to 5% across the participating AAU schools).

Frequency and nature of sexual assault and sexual misconduct

The forms of sexual misconduct surveyed included both the type of sexual contact (penetration or sexual touching) and whether it involved physical force or coercion, incapacitation (alcohol or drugs), or occurred absent affirmative consent. Results are presented below by enrollment status.

Undergraduate Students

Fewer female undergraduates at Caltech reported sexual assault and sexual misconduct due to physical force, threats of physical force, or incapacitation since enrolling at Caltech (13% compared to 23% across the participating AAU schools; this includes 6% who experienced penetration compared to 11% across the participating AAU schools);

Female undergraduates at Caltech reported statistically equivalent rates of sexual assault and sexual misconduct by absence of affirmative consent since enrolling at Caltech (13% compared to 11% across the participating AAU schools); and

Of female students at Caltech who experienced instances of sexual touching as a result of force or incapacitation, more victims reported the events (33% of victims at Caltech compared to 8% of victims across the participating AAU schools).

Frequency and nature of sexual harassment, intimate partner violence, and stalking

The survey considered three other forms of sexual misconduct: sexual harassment, intimate partner violence, and stalking.

Sexual Harassment

More female students at Caltech reported experiencing harassment (72% of undergraduate female students compared to 62% of undergraduate female students across the participating AAU schools, and 52% of female graduates students compared to 44% across the participating AAU schools).

The most common behaviors reported were making inappropriate comments about bodies, appearance, or sexual behavior and making sexual remarks or insulting or offensive jokes or stories. The data indicate that, in the overwhelming majority of these cases, it was another student who made the inappropriate remarks.

Intimate Partner Violence

While fewer female undergraduate students at Caltech experienced intimate partner violence (9% compared to 13% across the participating AAU schools), more female graduate students at Caltech experienced intimate partner violence (11% compared to 7% across the participating AAU schools).

Undergraduate students were more likely to report intimate partner violence than their peers across the participating AAU schools and were more likely than graduate students to report intimate partner violence.

Stalking

Stalking at Caltech occurs at a statistically similar rate as at participating AAU schools (8% of female undergraduate students compared to 7% across the participating AAU schools; 9% of female graduate students compared to 5% across the participating AAU schools).

In the cases of undergraduate stalking victims at Caltech the offender is almost always another student. Graduate student stalking victims report that the offender is another student half of the time, with staff, administrators, and others comprising the other half.

What students know and think about campus resources

Questions gauging student awareness of services and resources offered by Caltech to victims of sexual assault and sexual misconduct were also posed. More than 75% of the students reported attending the Institute’s initial orientation, which included information about sexual assault and sexual misconduct.

Data indicate that undergraduate students are generally more knowledgeable about the Institute’s sexual assault policies and procedures. Half of the female undergraduates at Caltech indicate being very or extremely knowledgeable about where to get help if they or a friend are a victim of sexual assault or sexual misconduct. Only a third of the female graduate students responded similarly.

Undergraduate females are also more knowledgeable than other subsets of students about where to report a sexual assault or sexual misconduct.

Almost 30% of the students who attended an orientation that included this information reported that it was very or extremely useful.