Sexual harassment and sexual intimacy in learning environments

Canadian Psychology, Feb 1996 by Pyke, Sandra W

Unfortunately, students often feel they have no recourse but to tolerate the unpleasant situation as best they can. In the case of graduate students, changing supervisors, for example, is not always a viable option. When it is an option, it may result in a longer completion time, as students must modify research plans to accommodate the requirements of a new supervisor or committee. Or, it may lead to other disputes such as ownership of the thesis data.

Mary Koss (1990) provides a comprehensive account and analysis of the impacts of sexual harassment in the behavioural realm as well as in terms of physical and mental health. She concludes, "experiencing sexual harassment transforms women into victims and changes their lives" (p. 37). The APA amicus brief on sexual harassment similarly notes that "psychological research 'firmly supports' the conclusion that sexual harassment psychologically harms many of its victims..." (DeAngelis, 1993, p. 19).

In sum, subjection to harassment can be and often is associated with heavy personal cost as well as deterioration in the quality of the educational experience.

Sexual Intimacy with Students

The ethical issues involved in dual relationships (student/faculty or supervisor/trainee sexual relationships) are both varied and complex. To illustrate, consider the following (C. Sinclair, personal communication, April 14, 1994): Is there any ethical difference between becoming sexually involved with your clinical supervisee, versus a student in your class, versus a student taking courses in your department, versus a student in your university but not in your department, and so on? Is there any ethical difference between becoming involved with an eighteenyear - old undergraduate twenty years your junior versus a thirty - five - year - old graduate student two years your senior? Is there any ethical difference between a faculty member who averages two sexual relationships with students a year and a faculty member who becomes involved only once?

Although the issue of the inappropriateness or unethicality of sexualintimacy between faculty and students continues to be a subject of debate (e.g., Hoffman, 1986), such relationships certainly constitute a situation with the potential for abuse. On the surface, consensual sexual relations between adults would not seem to be problematic. Indeed, many sexual harassment policy statements include the requirement that sexual advances by faculty members must be "unwelcome" in order to attract sanctions (Kilcoyne, 1990). And, the Canadian Association of University Teachers specifically note that the intent of their policy was not "to inhibit normal social relationships". On the other hand, "when one considers the expansive discretionary power wielded by faculty, student awareness of their vulnerability, the role of student mentor often fulfilled by faculty members, and the typical age differential, it is questionable whether such a relationship is not inherently coercive and exploitative" (Kilcoyne, 1990, p. 31). Similarly, Rutter (1989) concludes that the dynamics of the situation are such that, "there can be no such thing as consent, in the adult sense, to a sexual act by a woman with a man who has power over her..." (p. 101).