The Power of Networks: Social Capital and its Influence in College Student Perceptions of Sexual Harassment of Female Sports Reporters

<p>For decades, women have sought legal remedy as they tried to break through the metaphorical glass ceiling in a male-dominated workforce. In their efforts to make it to higher positions of power, many endured the subtle taunts and comments, while others struggled with blatant discrimination and environments that clearly did not welcome women (Hardin & Shain, 2005a; 2005b), including their own place of work (Hardin & Whiteside, 2009). In multiple studies, female sports journalists admitted to sexual harassment, but dismissed it as part of the job (Hardin & Shain, 2006; 2005a; 2005b). Public outcry over this phenomenon is minimal, and when it does occur often the victim is the one facing sanctions (Disch & Kane, 1996). This study utilized masculine hegemony and gender role expectations within social capital theory to uncover if negative social capital influenced future sport managers and journalist perceptions of sexual harassment using a sample of n=81 from a large Northeastern university. Results using MANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests demonstrated significant differences between men and women on accepting sexual harassment (<em>p</em><.05). Correlations between subscales using Kendall’s τ also showed significant positive relationships between trust and locker room norms (<em>p</em><.001), trust and information networks (<em>p</em><.01), trust and adherence to beliefs about traditional gender roles (<em>p</em><.001), information networks and locker room norms (<em>p</em><.001), and locker room norms and adherence to beliefs about traditional gender roles (<em>p</em><.001). Results are discussed within the context of social capital and gender roles.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Kinesiology

Year dc:date.available

2011

Author dc:creator

• Perotti, Brittany M

Contributors dc:contributor

• Laura Burton; Janet Fink; John Settlage
• Jennifer E. Bruening

• sexual harassment
• social capital
• survey research
• masculine hegemony
• gender
• college students
• perceptions
• journalism
• sport management

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/gs_theses/174

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu:gs_theses-1120