The influence of a workshop on dental students' perceptions about sexual harassment.

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of a workshop on the sexual harassment perceptions of students at the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry. Responses to a twenty-six-item questionnaire were elicited from 147 first-through fourth-year students before and after they attended a two-hour sexual harassment workshop. Five questions explored students' personal experiences with sexual harassment; twenty-one questions addressed students' attitudes about sexual harassment. The repeated measures option of the SPSS General Linear Model statistical program was used to individually analyze the Likert-type scale response to the twenty-one attitude items for the following variables: gender, year in dental education, and whether respondents had been sexually harassed or had observed harassment of others. Workshop participation significantly changed some student attitudes about sexual harassment regardless of gender, year in dental education, or whether they had been harassed personally or had witnessed harassment of someone else (p < .05). There were also significant gender-related differences in the direction and magnitude of change in pre- versus post-workshop responses to several attitude items (p < .05). Workshop participants were better informed about and more sensitive to a wide range of sexual harassment issues. The workshop empowered students, especially females, to help create an environment that minimizes the probability of sexual harassment. This may be possible because, after the workshop, participants better understood institutional policies and procedures to handle complaints, including provisions for protection from retaliation if they do file a grievance. This knowledge and sensitivity may result in an environment that facilitates the education of beginning general practitioners who are competent, empathetic, and sensitive.

Dental students' sexual harassment experiences and attitudes.

The objective of this study was to describe the sexual harassment experiences and attitudes of students at the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry. A twenty-six-item questionnaire was developed and administered to 170 dental students in years one through four of the curriculum. Five questions explored students' personal experiences with sexual harassment--whether they had been harassed or had observed harassment; twenty-one questions addressed students' attitudes about sexual harassment. Computations of mean differences in Likert-type scale responses for the twenty-one attitude items were completed using independent t-tests for the following variables: gender, whether respondents had been sexually harassed or had observed harassment of others, and years in dental education. Almost 15 percent of the students reported being sexually harassed at least once in dental college. Females were sexually harassed more often than males (p < .01), and second, third, and fourth year students more often than first year students (p < .05). Additionally, 30 percent of the students reported witnessing sexual harassment in the college. Harassers included faculty (88 percent), dental students (8 percent), and others (4 percent). Differences (p < .05) in sexual harassment attitudes were found when responses were analyzed by gender, by whether students had been sexually harassed, by whether they had witnessed harassment, and by years in dental education. The data show that sexual harassment occurs in the college. Dental faculty and students could benefit from programs to educate them about sexual harassment, how to prevent it from occurring, and how to respond if they are sexually harassed.