Sexual Harassment: A Common Sample for the University and the Workplace

The purpose of the researcher was to investigate sexual harassment, for the same sample of women, in the university and the workplace. The sample consisted of 154 students. The following independent variables were investigated: student classification, age, major, and occupational type. The dependent variables were scores from the following scales of the Sexual Experience Questionnaire: Gender Harassment, Unwanted Sexual Attention, and Sexual Coercion. Six composite null hypotheses were tested at the .05 level of significance. Four employed three-way analysis of variance (general linear model), one by t-test for related data sets, and one by t-test for single correlation coefficient. A total of 78 comparisons were made plus 96 recurring. Of the 78 comparisons, 30 were for main effects and 48 were for interactions. Of the 30 comparisons for main effects, 13 were statistically significant at the .05 level. Of the 48 interactions, 7 were statistically significant at the .05 level. The results of the present study appeared to support the following generalizations: 1. There is greater Gender Harassment in the workplace setting than in the university setting; 2. There is greater Unwanted Sexual Attention in the workplace setting than in the university setting; 3. There is greater Sexual Coercion in the workplace setting than in the university setting; 4. There is a relationship between employed female students reporting Gender Harassment in the university and reporting Gender Harassment in the workplace; 5. There is a relationship between employed female students reporting Unwanted Sexual Attention in the university and reporting Unwanted Sexual Attention in the workplace; 6. There is a relationship between employed female students reporting Sexual Coercion in the university and reporting Sexual Coercion in the workplace; 7. Employed female student classification, age, and major should be interpreted concurrently for Gender Harassment in the workplace setting; 8. Employed female student classification, age, and major should be interpreted concurrently for Unwanted Sexual Attention in the workplace setting; 9. Employed female student classification and age should be interpreted concurrently for Sexual Coercion in the workplace setting; 10. Employed female student classification and occupational type should be interpreted concurrently for Sexual Coercion in the university setting; 11. Employed female student age and occupational type should be interpreted concurrently for Sexual Coercion in the university setting; 12. Employed female student major and occupational type should be interpreted concurrently for Gender Harassment in the university setting; and 13. Employed female student major and occupational type should be interpreted concurrently for Sexual Coercion in the university setting.