Sarah Cohodes, associate professor of public policy at the Ford School, recently coauthored "The consequences of faculty sexual misconduct," the latest in a series of working papers from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). The study investigates how faculty sexual misconduct influences students’ choice of major, higher education degree completion, and in turn, their future careers.
"This research was inspired in part by encountering papers on the gender wage gap that ignored the role of sexism and patriarchy in shaping women’s occupational ‘preferences’", Cohodes explained. "The interaction between faculty and students is one dimension of school quality—a key component of my research program on school choice and college quality."
Sexual misconduct by faculty is a significant issue in higher education: 19% of college students surveyed reported experiencing sexual harassment, with faculty members responsible for 11% of cases. Despite its prevalence, research has rarely examined long-term consequences for students’ academic and career outcomes.
To address this gap, Cohodes and co-author Katie Leu, PhD candidate in sociology and IES Fellow at the Ford School, measured how faculty misconduct affects degree completion in the field or major where the incidents occurred.
The study found that degree completion drops 3.4% in fields where faculty misconduct is reported. That number increases to 7% after 2015, a statistic the authors attribute to the rise of the #MeToo movement. Changing majors can increase the time and money spent on a college education and even change career and wage outcomes.
"Faculty sexual misconduct may contribute to academic field-based gender segregation if, for example, a faculty gender-based misconduct incident in history shifted men toward economics majors (a field dominated by men) and women toward education (a field dominated by women)," the authors noted. "Students who change majors generally move to more gender segregated fields, and women’s anticipation of workplace discrimination, including sexual harassment, influences their major choice."
Despite serious implications for students, incidents rarely have a long-term effect on the reputation of the involved college or university. Public "scandals" have no impact on enrollment or donations, and even high-profile cases only reduce application volume for a couple of years. Senior faculty perpetrators are less likely to face institutional consequences than their junior counterparts, making it difficult for victims to get real, meaningful justice.
"Most importantly, I hope that this project will motivate universities to swiftly address gender-based faculty misconduct and to act to reduce its occurrence," Cohodes said.
Read the study:
The consequences of faculty sexual misconduct, NBER
Read Cohodes' other work on college quality:
STEM Summer Programs for Underrepresented Youth Increase STEM Degrees | NBER
The Consequences of Faculty Sexual Misconduct | NBER
