A Case Study of Student and Employee Perspectives of Title IX

Abstract

This case study explores how students and employees within one campus community make sense of policy that is currently being used by the campus community to combat gender-based violence and sexual assault on college campuses. From April 2018 to January 2020, I collected 49 in-depth interviews with students and employees at a geographically isolated, minority-serving institution. I also conducted public, participant observations of three trainings facilitated by the office that oversees the implementation of the previously mentioned gender-based violence related policy–commonly known in educational settings as Title IX. My overall goal is to strengthen future interpretations, implementation, and training related to gender-based violence, campus sexual assault, and Title IX as a way to better the lives of students and employees on college campuses. Using an intersectional lens, I examine the everyday lives of students and employees to understand better how they make sense of gender-based violence and sexual assault as well as related topics. What I find in my dissertation is that there are many unintended consequences related to current Title IX interpretations and implementations, and these issues must be dealt with by campus administrators to eradicate gender-based violence and campus sexual assault. In terms of unintended consequences, I focus on the following topics in my dissertation: placed-based exceptionalism, race and ethnicity, the #metoo movement, and student engagement. I suggest that students and employees justify unsafe events and experiences on their campus by providing reasons why they believe their school is safer than other schools. Further, I propose that researchers and administrators must better understand the connections campus community members make between gender-related issues and race and ethnicity. Next, I write about the way members of the campus community talk about the #metoo movement to place their experiences into the national discourse. I conclude by elaborating on how students are currently engaged and how they should be engaged in the future, focusing on student engagement concerning Title IX training.