Based on the statistics of sixty-two students across several organizations whom participated in an anonymous survey:
A Quick Analysis of the Results:
- 95% of students said that they had heard of Title IX
---> but only 44% were able to accurately describe Title IX in their own words.
- One third (32%) had heard of Title IX but could not describe it, while 19% were able to somewhat describe Title IX.
- Between the third that had heard of Title IX but could not describe it and of the 19% that could somewhat describe it, 32% described only Title VII, or both Title VII and Title IX.
- Most students could not locate the Title IX office and coordinator
---> 82% said they did not know where the Title IX office was located
---> 16% were able to state which building the office was located in
----> only one student was able to state which building and which floor the office was located on.
- 73% of the students stated that if they or a friend needed to file a complaint, they did not know how to do so.
- A little more than half (57%) of students said they had heard of the term "responsible employee"
---> when asked to list who qualified as a responsible employee on campus, only 45% could list some responsible employees
---> only 6% correctly identified that all UMBC faculty/staff are responsible employees unless they are specifically designated as confidential or quasi-confidential.
- When asked if they knew where to go for support resources, 58% of students indicated they knew where to obtain support resources
---> 42% said they did not know where to obtain support resources.
- Of the 58% who said they knew of support resources, only a subset could identify at least one support resource:
---> 32% listed the Women’s Center
---> 27% listed the Title IX office/Coordinator/website
---> 11% listed We Believe You
---> 10% listed the Counseling Center.
If you’re as shocked by these statistics as we were, good. These statistics only make is that much more clear that Title IX awareness and education is so important and crucial for students to learn about in college, as well as for universities to properly respond to allegations with the respect and dignity the victims deserve. Students need to know this basic information so that if and/or when something happens to themselves or their friends, they know the steps to take without having to search for hours about. Students deserve to know their rights.