Approaches to the Evaluation of Sexual Harassment Prevention and Response Efforts (2023)
Chapter: Conclusions
Conclusions
Many potential methods can be leveraged to evaluate sexual harassment prevention and response interventions. All evaluations require a combination of subject-matter experts and experts in quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods, and some of the methods require specific software and computing resources, or trained personnel to complete the analysis. To ensure that the process aligns with the objectives to be measured and the goal of the intervention, evaluators may consider those conditions and select the most appropriate method(s) to use.
Although the methods available to research teams are effective tools for information-gathering and assessment, evaluations do not exist in vacuums; they are affected by the culture of the students, faculty, staff, and trainees at an institution, as well as the ways in which higher education collects and uses data broadly. As interventions are replicated across institutions, scaled within an institution, and tailored to specific populations, evaluations will provide insight into how effective these interventions are and whether they are worth the investment of any particular college or university. The more evaluation becomes integrated into sexual harassment response and prevention work, the more information institutions will have about how to resolve the issues that are most salient to their own communities.
In addition to the ideas explored above, we have identified several goals for future evaluation efforts of sexual harassment interventions. These considerations are particularly important for evaluation plans that intend to build the evidence base for the body of research on sexual harassment, and include the following:
- Creating, leveraging, and maintaining data ecosystems
- Creating intersectional, diverse, and targeted question sets
- Developing approaches to cross-institution research partnerships
- Exploring models of research centers and research networks
- Exploring models for creating interdisciplinary evaluation teams
- Using trauma-informed approaches to research with those who have experienced sexual harassment
- Communicating results of climate surveys and interventions
- Empowering leaders to take action based on evaluation results
- Identifying the limitations of and considerations for program adjustment
This paper calls for evaluation to be built into the sexual harassment intervention process and shared widely with the higher education community, particularly as federal and state legislation takes a greater interest in data collection (Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, 2022). We are hopeful that building the evidence base through intentional and thoughtful evaluation efforts will help institutions and policymakers select, adapt, and expand the interventions that show the most promise for sexual harassment prevention and response.
