How DEI-focused campuses mitigate sexual assault risk: New insights from MSU researchers

July 8, 2024 - Brandon Drain

A team of Michigan State University School of Social Work researchers found evidence suggesting that several campus-level factors – characteristics of a college and its students – are uniquely associated with an individual’s risk of experiencing sexual assault on a college campus.

These factors include the amount of binge drinking that takes place on campus, the amount of discrimination being experienced by students, and the gender and sexual orientation diversity on campus, according to the research team.

“One of the really interesting findings in this study is that students were less likely to have experienced sexual assault on campuses that were more diverse, or where students reported less discrimination,” said Carrie Moylan, an associate professor at MSU’s School of Social Work. “We suspect that campuses that are diverse and inclusive create more of a sense of belonging and community, which is likely protective against sexual assault.”

In addition to the DEI-related findings, the team – which includes MSU School of Social Work PhD student Jacob Nason and professor Angie Kennedy – found that even when a student’s own binge drinking is accounted for, “being on a campus where a higher percentage of students binge drink increases the risk of experiencing sexual assault,” said Moylan. This suggests risk factors aren’t just about what you do as an individual “but what the people around you are doing that creates risk for sexual assault.”

This framing of campus-levels risk factors is vital for strengthening prevention strategies, the team suggested. Being able to pinpoint the environments that make sexual assault more likely to happen, and to understand the risk factors that those environments carry, make for a more proactive approach to prevention as well.

This approach could supplement and extend the typical strategies employed by college campuses, which focus on individuals by trying to change attitudes, intentions and behaviors.

“Prevention science tells us that comprehensive programming targeting all levels of the social ecology are most effective,” said Moylan. “So, identifying factors that make a social environment more or less risky provides new insights into how we might design prevention programs that target community level factors.”

The study’s insights come forth at a time where some voices are dissenting from the importance of DEI on college campuses; with some institutions getting rid of their DEI programs altogether.

Moylan suggests that, “dismantling DEI programs will likely have a cascade of consequences for the health and well-being of students, including potentially higher rates of sexual assault.”

Given the findings, the team emphasizes that the rate of sexual assault happening on different campuses varies – with some campuses experiencing higher rates of sexual assault compared to others. “Understanding why that variation exists is an exciting opportunity to better understand the conditions that enable sexual assault so that we can target risky environments and hopefully reduce the prevalence of sexual assault,” said Moylan.