More Than Half of University's Students Feel Unsafe

Jan 28, 2009 2:40 PM

A survey conducted during fall semester at the University of Connecticut found that 40 percent of 1,667 students who responded to the question feel safe on campus.

The intent of the survey was to find out how safe undergraduates feel at UConn. It was conducted by three members of a feminist methodologists research class taught by Nancy Naples, professor of sociology.

According to the Daily Campus newspaper, a similar survey was conducted in 2006 for the same class by a different group of students, but focused its attention on safety alone. This year's survey focused not only on safety, but also the added element of sexual assault.

The three students chose this topic for their research project before the two sexual assaults occurred on campus early last semester. With the aftermath of two occurrences, a lot of speculation resulted as well as the need for more discussion on the topic, making the survey results critical information to combat such events on campus.

One of the major impacts on safety is gender. When asked if they felt safe on campus, the majority of men responded that they do feel safe on campus. Even though there is a relatively even ratio of men to women on campus, 75 percent of the respondents to the survey were female. In total, 1,274 females took part in the survey, whereas only 410 males did.

The survey showed that women who were aware of various resources on campus were more inclined to feel safe but men who were aware of resources were less inclined to feel safe. Women tend to have the issue more readily in the back of their head, whereas men tend to think about the issues less often. As a result, the survey showed that men who think about their vulnerability are more apt to feel susceptible on campus.

The survey showed that 52.2 percent of people knew very little about resources on and off-campus that were available to them. Just over 12 percent knew nothing about the resources.

The survey asked students how safe they felt at multiple locations on campus. The ratings went from one to eight, with one being least concerned and eight being most concerned about safety. The location that students felt the least concerned about safety was at the Student Union. Students felt most concerned about safety in parking lots. Overall, women are less inclined than men to feel safe on campus.

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