Penn State’s survey on sexual misconduct climate shows students’ trust in PSU is falling

Josh Moyer
Updated ·7 min read
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Penn State’s undergraduate students do not trust their university to take reports of sexual misconduct seriously — nor provide supportive accommodations, nor handle reports fairly — according to the results of a recently released universitywide survey.

According to University Park’s 2022 Sexual Misconduct Climate Survey, only 42.9% of female undergrads — and 24.6% of gender-diverse undergrads — believe Penn State would take a report of sexual misconduct seriously. That’s a significant drop from 2018, when 62.9% of female undergrads answered in the affirmative and from 2015, when 72.8% said the same.

“While the survey data at Penn State show results and trends similar to institutions across the country, the findings are troubling,” university spokesperson Lisa Powers said in a written statement. “These trends toward non-reporting and lower trust are a cause for concern and emphasize that more work is needed. One sexual assault is too many and we must continue to improve our processes and increase confidence and safety for our students.”

As Powers mentioned, it is possible students’ perceptions could reflect a national trend and might not be indicative of issues isolated to University Park. But the declining trust in the university was still among the biggest statistical changes in the survey, which last spring polled 2,799 undergrads and 1,233 graduate/professional students.

Other universities conduct similar — but different — surveys, and many have not yet made their most recent results public. Anecdotally, Michigan State’s 2022 survey found that 72.2% of female undergrads believe their school would take reports seriously. By contrast, Wake Forest’s 2022 survey revealed that only 39.7% of female undergrads believed it would be “very or extremely likely” their reports would be taken seriously.

Changes in trust

Undergraduate students’ lack of trust in the University Park campus wasn’t limited to just one question or example. It followed a recurring theme:

  • Safety distrust: Only 51.1% of female undergrads — and 40.5% of gender-diverse undergrads — believed Penn State would protect the safety of the person making a report. That compares to 67.1% of female undergrads in 2018 and 73.4% in 2015.

  • Support distrust: Some 39.4% of female undergrads — and 26.1% of gender-diverse undergrads — believed Penn State would provide accommodations to support the person making a report. That compares to 53.4% of female undergrads in 2018 and 55.9% in 2015.

  • Fairness distrust: Only 41.9% of female undergrads — and 20.2% of gender-diverse undergrads — believed Penn State would handle a report fairly. That compares to 57.5% of female undergrads in 2018 and 66.7% in 2015.

  • Overall distrust: Some 34.7% of female undergrads — and 18.8% of gender-diverse undergrads — believed Penn State would take action to address factors that led to a report. That compares to 51.1% of female undergrads in 2018 and 59.8% in 2015.

Typically, marginalized communities showed greater distrust than their white counterparts when it came to survey responses. And undergraduates showed greater distrust than graduate/professional students.

“These survey data are a first step in understanding our students’ perceptions and experiences, both at Penn State and across the country,” Powers said. “Results from national surveys and at other institutions have not been released so we currently lack the ability to compare, but we will be doing so to see if there is a national trend toward distrust in institutions/authority, lower response rates, and potential impact from the pandemic — all of which could be contributing factors.”

Other survey findings

Dozens of questions were asked in the survey, which Penn State organized into a 41-page report for University Park. Each commonwealth campus also conducted its own survey.

Among other highlights/lowlights found in the main campus report:

  • Female undergrads feel safer than they did in 2015 — but less safe compared to 2018: Some 62.5% of female undergrads said they felt safe from sexual harassment in 2022, 66.5% felt safe from sexual violence and 75.7% felt safe from stalking. That compares favorably to 2015, but not 2018. For example, when it came to safety from sexual violence, 71.8% of female undergrads said they felt safe in 2018 and 61.6% in 2015.

  • A rising number of female undergrads feel there isn’t much they can do to combat sexual misconduct: This number continues to climb. It stood at 17.8% of female undergrads in 2015, 33.8% in 2018 and 42.5% in 2022.

  • More than 4 in 10 gender-diverse undergrads say faculty/staff subjected them to “offensive sexist remarks”: Some 43.5% of such students said they were subject to the remarks. (It’s difficult to compare to past years, since Penn State previously grouped non-heterosexual and gender-diverse groups together.) That compared to 23% of female undergrads, which saw rises from 2015 (18.8%) and 2018 (20.4%).

  • Slightly more undergrad women say they’ve been sexually assaulted, compared to past years: Some 27.8% of female undergraduates say they’ve survived at least one instance of completed or attempted oral, vaginal or anal sexual assault, compared to 27.5% in 2015 and 27.1% in 2018. Some 32.7% also say they’ve survived an instance of non-consensual touching, fondling or kissing — compared to 30.2% in 2015 and 28.1% in 2018.

  • Fewer female undergrads are talking to others about personal incidents involving stalking, dating violence and/or non-consensual touching: In 2022, only 52.6% of female undergrads said they talked to anyone — including roommates or friends — about their firsthand experiences, compared to 62.9% in 2018. Instances of reporting were largely down across the board. The percentage speaking to an on-campus counselor was 5.8% in 2022 and 9.1% in 2018, compared to off-campus counselors at 3.5% in 2022 and 4.4% in 2018. Only 1.9% spoke to campus police in 2022, a decrease from 2.9% in 2015.

  • Campus police were considered least-useful in helping deal with reported incidents: Students were given seven options for resources in the survey — such as university faculty/staff, on-campus counselors/therapists, etc. — and were asked to rank the helpfulness of each resource. Of the seven choices, campus police were ranked last, as 26.7% of undergrads believed they were “moderately” or “very useful” in helping. That finished just behind the Office of Student Conduct (29.2%). The most helpful included residence advisers and Residence Life staff (77.8%), followed by University Health Services (61.5%).

  • The most-repeated reason female undergrads don’t report some incidents involving sexual misconduct is because they believe it’s more trouble than it’s worth: Some 47.7% of female undergrads said that was one reason they didn’t report. Although that was also the most-repeated reason in past surveys, the percentage has still significantly dropped. It stood at 73.6% in 2018.

In a news release announcing the publication of the 2022 Sexual Misconduct Climate Survey, the university said it plans to use the data as a guide to address problems and inform policy. Powers added Monday that conversations tied to the survey have already begun.

“As always, our goal is to engage students in conversation so that they can add their voices to the survey findings and also help inform programs and initiatives,” she said. “We have started the conversation with Coalition to Address Relationship and Sexual Violence (CARSV), a group of faculty, staff, and students, and will continue to seek out all our communities to make sure all are being heard.”

Resources

There are a number of local, state and national resources at the disposal of Penn State students and others in Centre County. Here is a list, much of which was compiled by the university:

On-campus

Off-campus