Responding to sexual harassment at Radboud University: disincentive policy or a challenging task?
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2023-05-30
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en
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Sexual harassment is a persistent issue at universities in the Netherlands. One of the largest groups of victims of sexual harassment at Dutch universities are female students. A relatively understudied group of perpetrators are academic staff members. This thesis aims to uncover how it is possible that sexual harassment from academic staff against female students remains a persistent issue at Dutch universities, despite investments in formal rules condemning it. Based on feminist institutionalism, it is expected that there is a mismatch between the formal and informal institutions of university’s responses to sexual harassment, allowing for the persistence of sexual harassment. This thesis investigated whether such a mismatch exists and if it can be explained by either gender norms, hierarchy or institutional interests. This is done by conducting a case study analysis at Radboud University in the Netherlands, analyzing the implementation of the university’s Regulations on Undesirable Behavior. Seven interviews were held with the relevant members of professional staff involved in implementing the regulation. The results show that there is indeed a mismatch between the formal and informal institutions of this regulation, which can be explained by hierarchy, institutional interests, and unclarity regarding the existing consequences to sexual harassment.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen