Gender, Perceived Risk, and Risk Avoidance Strategies among Students in an Urban University Setting

• In Event: Gender, Fear of Crime, and Risk Avoidance Strategies

Abstract

Prior studies identify both gendered and ecological patterns in individuals’ reports of perceived risk and risk-avoidance strategies. Most research on the gendered nature of risk and risk management in urban communities has focused on community residents. How might their perceptions and behaviors compare to those of university students in such settings? Students’ broader community ties are typically more transitory, while they still must navigate interstitial spaces between the enclave of the university and the urban setting in which it is embedded. Do these factors impact the gendered nature of perceived risk and/or risk management? To investigate these questions, this study analyzes gender, perceived risk and risk avoidance strategies among students at an urban university in the northeast. Data were collected through in-depth qualitative interviews with a racially diverse sample of female and male undergraduate students. Our findings suggest that while male and female students both provided gendered accounts when discussing perceptions of risk and safety on campus, there were similarities in the types of precautionary strategies they employed. We discuss the implications of these findings for research on gender, place, perceived risk, and risk-management.

Authors

• Shannon K. Jacobsen, Rutgers University

• Ntasha Bhardwaj, Rutgers University

• Jody Miller, Rutgers University