A Comprehensive View of Sexual Harassment and Discrimination on Perpetrations, Perpetrators, and Places in a Large German University Student Sample: Implications for a Safe Learning Environment.

Universities are central to education, but they are also places where discrimination and sexual harassment are prevalent. However, studies on discrimination, including sexual harassment, tend to focus on specific forms of experiences, places, or perpetrators, providing only a fragmented view of the problem. This study takes an integrative approach, aiming to analyze the patterns of perpetration, perpetrators, and places of discrimination and sexual harassment as one frequent form of discrimination. Between April and July 2023, a total of 1,358 students (14% response rate) completed an online survey for the investigation of discrimination and sexual harassment. Latent class analysis was applied to identify similar classes in terms of patterns of perpetration, perpetrators, and places of discrimination and sexual harassment. Cross-tabulations were used to measure class differences for risk assessment. A 3-class solution was found for both discrimination (class 1 'gender discrimination by faculty member in lectures', class 2 'discriminated in terms of gender, nationality, and political opinion by fellow students in the public and educational context', and class 3 'multiple affected by fellow students and teachers in public and educational context') and sexual harassment (class 1 'sexual harassment in terms of offensive comments by teachers in lectures', class 2 'sexual harassment in terms of starring and physical contact by fellow students in the public and educational context', and class 3 'multiple affected by fellow students in the public and educational context'). Significant class differences were found in the risk analyses. This study highlights the importance of specific measures for the private students' lives and the academic settings in which students and teachers interact. These measures differ in terms of perpetrators and patterns of perpetration and are linked to specific places of occurrence.