Title IX Offices at Top United States Universities with Medical Centers: Staffing, Investigations and Transparency

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Authors

  • Johanna B. Folk, PhD Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, CA 94110, USA
  • Sarah P. Carter, PhD Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Rockville, MD 20814, USA
  • Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil Department of Radiation Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine and Winship Cancer Institute, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
  • Christina Mangurian, MD, MAS Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, CA 94110, USA; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, CA 94158, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17140/WHOJ-9-149

Keywords:

Academic medicine; Gender equity; Sexual harassment; Title IX.

Abstract

Background
Sexual harassment pervades higher education and disproportionately impacts women in medicine. The Department of Education’s guidance related to Title IX, a federal civil rights law intended to protect against discrimination based on sex in educational
programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance, was revised in 2020 to narrow the definition of sexual harassment and
disallow a single investigator model. This added to the required tasks of already overburdened and under-resourced Title IX offices.
Methods
The current report documents characteristics of Title IX offices at leading universities with medical schools in the 2020-2021
academic year.
Results
Findings highlight a low number of staff managing sexual harassment complaints, with an average ratio of 2.99 staff per 10,000
people at the university. A small percentage of complaints were formally investigated, with only 4% at public universities and
11% at private universities. Findings also suggest a lack of transparency regarding the actual length of investigations, which was
reported in only 20% of public reports.
Conclusion
Given the importance of trust that sexual harassment complaints will be handled in a timely and transparent manner, we suggest
potential opportunities for universities to consider.

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Published

2023-06-16

How to Cite

Johanna B. Folk, PhD, Sarah P. Carter, PhD, Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil, & Christina Mangurian, MD, MAS. (2023). Title IX Offices at Top United States Universities with Medical Centers: Staffing, Investigations and Transparency. Women’s Health, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.17140/WHOJ-9-149

Issue

Volume 9 Issue 1 2023

Section

Articles

License

Creative Commons License

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