Sexual Violence against Women in STEM: A Test of Backlash Theory Among Undergraduate Women

Abstract

It has been argued that increasing the number of women in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields could mitigate violence against women by advancing gender equality. However, some research points to a “backlash” effect wherein gains in gender equality are associated with heighted sexual violence (SV) against women. In this study, we compare SV against undergraduate women majoring in STEM disciplines to those majoring in non-STEM disciplines. Data were collected between July and October of 2020 from undergraduate women (N = 318) at five institutions of higher education in the United States. Sampling was stratified by STEM versus non-STEM majors and male-dominated versus gender-balanced majors. SV was measured using the revised Sexual Experiences Survey. Results indicated that women majoring in STEM disciplines that are gender balanced reported more SV victimization in the form of sexual coercion, attempted sexual coercion, attempted rape, and rape compared to their peers in both gender-balanced and male-dominated non-STEM and male-dominated STEM majors. These associations held even after controlling for age, race/ethnicity, victimization prior to college, sexual orientation, college binge drinking, and hard drug use during college. These data suggest that the risk of repeated SV victimization within STEM populations may be a threat to sustained gender parity in these fields and ultimately to gender equality and equity. Gender balance in STEM should not be furthered without addressing the potential use of SV as a potential means of social control over women.

Keywords

sexual assault sexual violence violence against women

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abbey

McAuslan

(2004). A longitudinal examination of male college students’ perpetration of sexual assault. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72(5), 747.

Allen

Dancy

Stearns

Mickelson

Bottia

(2022). Racism, sexism and disconnection: Contrasting experiences of Black women in STEM before and after transfer from community college. International Journal of STEM Education, 9(1), 1–21.

Austin

R. L.

Kim

Y. S.

(2000). A cross-national examination of the relationship between gender equality and official rape rates. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 44(2), 204–221.

Bailey

W. C.

(1999). The socioeconomic status of women and patterns of forcible rape for major US cities. Sociological Focus, 32(1), 43–63.

Baron

Straus

M. A.

(1987). Four theories of rape: A macrosociological analysis. Social Problems, 34(5), 467–489.

Basile

K. C.

DeGue

Jones

Freire

Dills

Smith

S. G.

Raiford

J. L.

(2016). STOP SV: A technical package to prevent sexual violence. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Berdahl

J. L.

(2007). The sexual harassment of uppity women. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(2), 425–437.

Black

M. C.

Basile

K. C.

Breiding

M. J.

Ryan

G. W.

(2014). Prevalence of sexual violence against women in 23 states and two US territories, BRFSS 2005. Violence Against Women, 20(5), 485–499.

Blickenstaff

J. C.

(2005). Women and science careers: Leaky pipeline or gender filter? Gender & Education, 17(4), 369–386.

10.

Breiding

M. J.

Smith

S. G.

Basile

K. C.

Walters

M. L.

Chen

Merrick

M. T.

(2014). Prevalence and characteristics of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence victimization—National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, United States, 2011. American Journal of Public Health, 63(8), 1–18.

11.

Cantor

Fisher

Chibnall

Harps

Townsend

Thomas

Lee

Kranz

Herbison

Madden

(2020). Report on the AAU campus climate survey on sexual assault and misconduct. Association of American Universities.

12.

Casad

B. J.

Franks

J. E.

Garasky

C. E.

Kittleman

M. M.

Roesler

A. C.

Hall

D. Y.

Petzel

Z. W.

(2021). Gender inequality in academia: Problems and solutions for women faculty in STEM. Journal of Neuroscience Research, 99(1), 13–23.

13.

Cheryan

Ziegler

S. A.

Montoya

A. K.

Jiang

(2017). Why are some STEM fields more gender balanced than others? Psychological Bulletin, 143(1), 1.

14.

Chon

D. S.

(2013). Test of impacts of gender equality and economic development on sexual violence. Journal of Family Violence, 28(6), 603–610.

15.

Chon

D. S.

Clifford

J. E.

(2021). Cross-national examination of the relationship between gender equality and female homicide and rape victimization. Violence Against Women, 27(10), 1796–1819.

16.

Clewell

(2000). The impact study of the national science foundation’s program for women and girls. The Urban Institute Education Policy Center Summary Report.

17.

DeGue

DiLillo

Scalora

(2010). Are all perpetrators alike? Comparing risk factors for sexual coercion and aggression. Sexual Abuse, 22(4), 402–426.

18.

DeRoma

V. M.

Leach

J. B.

Leverett

J. P.

(2009). The relationship between depression and college academic performance. College Student Journal, 43(2), 325–335.

19.

Diekman

A. B.

Weisgram

E. S.

Belanger

A. L.

(2015). New routes to recruiting and retaining women in STEM: Policy implications of a communal goal congruity perspective. Social Issues and Policy Review, 9, 52–88.

20.

D’Inverno

A. S.

Kearns

M. C.

Reidy

D. E.

(2016). The potential role of science, technology, engineering, and math programs in reducing teen dating violence and intimate partner violence. Journal of Women’s Health, 25(12), 1199–1203.

21.

Dortch

Patel

(2017). Black undergraduate women and their sense of belonging in STEM at predominantly White institutions. NASPA Journal About Women in Higher Education, 10(2), 202–215.

22.

Fitzgerald

L. F.

Gelfand

M. J.

Drasgow

(1995). Measuring sexual harassment: Theoretical and psychometric advances. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 17(4), 425–445.

23.

Glass

Cook

Pierce

(2020). Do women in leadership reduce sexual harassment claims on college campuses? Journal of Women and Gender in Higher Education, 13(2), 193–210.

24.

Glass

Minnotte

K. L.

(2010). Recruiting and hiring women in STEM fields. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 3(4), 218.

25.

Gressard

L. A.

Swahn

M. H.

Tharp

A. T.

(2015). A first look at gender inequality as a societal risk factor for dating violence. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 49(3), 448–457.

26.

Hart

T. C.

(2013). The violent victimization of college students: Findings from the National crime victimization survey. In Fisher

B. S.

John III

J. S.

(Eds.), Campus crime: Legal, social and policy perspectives (3rd ed., pp 141–157). Charles C Thomas.

27.

Heise

L. L.

Kotsadam

(2015). Cross-national and multilevel correlates of partner violence: An analysis of data from population-based surveys. The Lancet Global Health, 3(6), e332–e340.

28.

Howard

R. M.

Potter

S. J.

Guedj

C. E.

Moynihan

M. M.

(2019). Sexual violence victimization among community college students. Journal of American College Health, 67(7), 674–687.

29.

Jewkes

Sen

Garcia-Moreno

(2002). Sexual violence. In Krug

Dahlberg

Mercy

Zwi

Lozano

(Eds.), World Report on Violence and Health (pp. 147–181). World Health Organization.

30.

Jordan

C. E.

Combs

J. L.

Smith

G. T.

(2014). An exploration of sexual victimization and academic performance among college women. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 15(3), 191–200.

31.

Kann

McManus

Harris

W. A.

Shanklin

S. L.

Flint

K. H.

Queen

Lowry

Chyen

Whittle

Thornton

Lim

Bradford

Yamakawa

Leon

Brener

Lim

(2018). Youth risk behavior surveillance—United States, 2017. MMWR Surveillance Summaries, 67(8), 1–114.

32.

Kearns

M. C.

D’Inverno

A. S.

Reidy

D. E.

(2020). The association between gender inequality and sexual violence in the US. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 58(1), 12–20.

33.

Kilpatrick

D. G.

Resnick

H. S.

Ruggerio

K. J.

Conoscienti

L. M.

McCauley

(2007). Drug facilitated, incapacitated, and forcible rape: A national study (Report No. 219181). U.S. Department of Justice. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/219181.pdf

34.

Koss

M. P.

Abbey

Campbell

Cook

Norris

Testa

Ullman

West

White

(2007). Revising the SES: A collaborative process to improve assessment of sexual aggression and victimization. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 31(4), 357–370.

35.

Macmillan

Hagan

(2004). Violence in the transition to adulthood: Adolescent victimization, education, and socioeconomic attainment in later life. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 14(2), 127–158.

36.

McCloskey

L. A.

(1996). Socioeconomic and coercive power within the family. Gender & Society, 10(4), 449–463.

37.

McGee

E. O.

(2020). Interrogating structural racism in STEM higher education. Educational Researcher, 49(9), 633–644.

38.

McGee

E. O.

Bentley

(2017). The troubled success of Black women in STEM. Cognition and Instruction, 35(4), 265–289.

39.

McMahon

O’Connor

Seabrook

(2021). Not just an undergraduate issue: Campus climate and sexual violence among graduate students. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(7–8), NP4296–NP4314.

40.

Mengo

Black

B. M.

(2016). Violence victimization on a college campus: Impact on GPA and school dropout. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 18(2), 234–248.

41.

Moore

Mennicke

(2020). Empathy deficits and perceived permissive environments: Sexual harassment perpetration on college campuses. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 26(3), 372–384.

42.

Morais Maceira

. (2017). Economic benefits of gender equality in the EU. Intereconomics, 52, 178–183.

43.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2018). Sexual harassment of women: Climate, culture, and consequences in academic sciences, engineering, and medicine. The National Academies Press.

44.

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. (2021). Women, minorities, and persons with disabilities in science and engineering: 2021 (Special Report NSF 21-321). National Science Foundation.

45.

Parrott

D. J.

Zeichner

(2003). Effects of trait anger and negative attitudes towards women on physical assault in dating relationships. Journal of Family Violence, 18(5), 301–307.

46.

Pereira

J. L.

Guedes-Carneiro

G. M.

Netto

L. R.

Cavalcanti-Ribeiro

Lira

Nogueira

J. F.

Teles

C. A.

Koenen

K. C.

Sampaio

A. S.

Quarantini

L. C.

, & Trauma Anxiety Disorders Study Group- Universidade Federal da Bahia. (2018). Types of trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder, and academic performance in a population of university students. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 206(7), 507–512.

47.

Peterson

DeGue

Florence

Lokey

C. N.

(2017). Lifetime economic burden of rape among U.S. adults. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 52, 691–701.

48.

Piatek-Jimenez

Cribbs

Gill

(2018). College students’ perceptions of gender stereotypes: Making connections to the underrepresentation of women in STEM fields. International Journal of Science Education, 40(12), 1432–1454.

49.

Pino

E. C.

Gebo

Dugan

Jay

(2022). Trends in violent penetrating injuries during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. JAMA Network Open, 5(2), e2145708.

50.

Potter

Howard

Murphy

Moynihan

M. M.

(2018). Long-term impacts of college sexual assaults on women survivors’ educational and career attainments. Journal of American College Health, 66(6), 496–507.

51.

Quinlan

Clarke

Miller

(2016). Enhancing care and advocacy for sexual assault survivors on Canadian campuses. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 46(2), 40–54.

52.

Rasberry

C. N.

Lowry

Johns

Robin

Dunville

Pampati

Dittus

P. J.

Balaji

(2018). Sexual risk behavior differences among sexual minority high school students—United States, 2015 and 2017. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 67(36), 1007.

53.

Redding

E. M.

Ruiz-Cantero

M. T.

Fernández-Sáez

Guijarro-Garvi

(2017). Gender inequality and violence against women in Spain, 2006-2014: Towards a civilized society. Gaceta Sanitaria, 31, 82–88.

54.

Reidy

D. E.

D’Inverno

A. D.

Bogen

K. W.

Swahn

M. H.

Jacobs

G. M.

(2020). Masculinity and violence against women from a social ecological perspective: Implications for prevention. In Geffner

Veith

Vaughan-Eden

Rosenbaum

Hamberger

L. K.

White

(Eds.) Handbook of Interpersonal Violence and Abuse Across the Lifespan (pp. 1–22). Springer.

55.

Reidy

D. E.

Leone

R. M.

Bogen

K. W.

Swahn

M. H.

(2022). The culture of masculinity and sexual violence: Raising boys to be nonviolent men. In Orchowski

L. M.

Berkowitz

A. D.

(Eds.), Engaging Boys and Men in Sexual Assault Prevention (pp. 125–148). Academic Press.

56.

Reidy

D. E.

Shirk

S. D.

Sloan

C. A.

Zeichner

(2009). Men who aggress against women: Effects of feminine gender role violation on physical aggression in hypermasculine men. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 10(1), 1–12.

57.

Rennison

C. M.

Addington

L. A.

(2014). Violence against college women: A review to identify limitations in defining the problem and inform future research. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 15(3), 159–169.

58.

Reyes

M. E.

(2011). Unique challenges for women of color in STEM transferring from community colleges to universities. Harvard Educational Review, 81(2), 241–263.

59.

Robertson

Murachver

(2007). Correlates of partner violence for incarcerated women and men. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 22(5), 639–655.

60.

Rosenthal

M. N.

Smidt

A. M.

Freyd

J. J.

(2016). Still second class: Sexual harassment of graduate students. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 40, 364–377.

61.

Russell

D. E. H.

(1975). The politics of rape: The victim’s perspective. Stein and Day

62.

Sanz-Barbero

Corradi

Otero-García

Ayala

Vives-Cases

(2018). The effect of macrosocial policies on violence against women: A multilevel study in 28 European countries. International Journal of Public Health, 63(8), 901–911.

63.

Schleimer

J. P.

McCort

C. D.

Shev

A. B.

Pear

V. A.

Tomsich

De Biasi

Buggs

Laqueur

H. S.

Wintemute

G. J.

(2021). Firearm purchasing and firearm violence during the coronavirus pandemic in the United States: A cross-sectional study. Injury Epidemiology, 8(1), 1–10.

64.

Sinko

Munro-Kramer

Conley

Saint Arnault

(2021). Internalized messages: The role of sexual violence normalization on meaning-making after campus sexual violence. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 30(5), 565–585.

65.

Straus

M. A.

(1994). State-to-state differences in social inequality and social bonds in relation to assaults, on wives in the United States. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 25(1), 7–24.

66.

Vivolo-Kantor

A. M.

DeGue

DiLillo

Cuadra

L. E.

(2013). The mediating effect of hostility toward women on the relationship between childhood emotional abuse and sexual violence perpetration. Violence and Victims, 28(1), 178–192.

67.

Walsh

Choo

T. H.

Wall

Hirsch

J. S.

Ford

Santelli

J. S.

Gilbert

Thompson

M. P.

Reardon

Mellins

C. A.

(2020). Repeat sexual victimization during college: Prevalence and psychosocial correlates. Psychology of Violence, 10, 676–686.

68.

Walters

M. L.

Chen

Breiding

M. J.

(2013). The national intimate partner and sexual violence survey (NISVS): 2010 findings on victimization by sexual orientation. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

69.

Whaley

R. B.

(2001). The paradoxical relationship between gender inequality and rape: Toward a refined theory. Gender & Society, 15(4), 531–555.

70.

Willness

C. R.

Steel

Lee

(2007). A meta-analysis of the antecedents and consequences of workplace sexual harassment. Personnel Psychology, 60, 127–162.

71.

Yodanis

C. L.

(2004). Gender inequality, violence against women, and fear: A cross-national test of the feminist theory of violence against women. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 19(6), 655–675.