Because God Said So: Religious Facets of Sexual and Gender Harassment in Christian Academia (Report‪)‬

The present study explored experiences of sexism (sexual and gender harassment) in a Christian university student population. This study assessed the frequency of sexism, documented how sexism is expressed in a Christian context, and evaluated the relationships between sexism and two outcomes, campus climate and college satisfaction. Additionally, it was hypothesized that attribution of gender harassment to the perpetrator's religious belief system would potentiate the negative effects of harassment. 187 female students completed an online questionnaire, including the Sexual Experiences Questionnaire--Short Form (SEQ), the General Campus Climate Scale (GCCS), and the MMPI-2 College Maladjustment Scale (CMS). Results indicated very low rates of sexual harassment. Also, religious attributions for gender harassment had a significantly negative relationship with the outcome variables although they did not moderate these outcomes. Qualitative descriptions of students' experiences with gender harassment were recorded, shedding light on what gender harassing behaviors look like in Christian academia. In 1972, former president Richard Nixon signed Educational Amendment Title IX making it illegal for academic institutions to exclude participation, deny benefits, or subject students to discrimination based on gender (United States Department of Labor, 1972). Although this amendment was prompted by frustration regarding unequal athletic opportunities, students outside of athletic programs also benefited as it became illegal for teachers to discriminate based on gender in any academic setting. This landmark case both signified the government's recognition of sexism's presence in academia and also encouraged research to explore students' experiences of sexism within academia. Research on students' experiences of sexual harassment and gender harassment (two subcategories of sexism) will be briefly reviewed. While some categorize gender harassment as a subset of sexual harassment (e.g., Huerta, Cortina, Pang, Torges, & Magley, 2006), given its unique role in a Christian population (Hall, Christerson, & Cunningham, 2010), it will be discussed separately here. While previous research has focused on sexual harassment and gender harassment in secular settings, the current study is interested in examining how gender harassment and sexual harassment are experienced by undergraduate students in a Christian higher education setting.