Microaggression and Sexual Harassment as Strain: Hazardous Drinking among Female Graduate and Law Students

• In Event: Posters II

Abstract

Research proliferates on undergraduates' encounters with discrimination and unwanted sexual contact and on the effects of these experiences on well-being. However, criminologists rarely focus on graduate and law students. As record numbers of women enter graduate and law school, awareness of risk factors for and the consequences of negative treatment is increasingly important. These women are in precarious positions, as they often face simultaneous work/school/family/economic stressors and they are dependent on professors and departments for funding and job opportunities. Although public discourse has shed light on harassment and microaggressions directed toward graduate students, recent research on the topic is sparse, and studies rarely focus on the consequences of these experiences. The current study utilizes general strain theory (GST) to demonstrate how common strains experienced in graduate and law school produce negative emotion and increase the likelihood of hazardous drinking in a sample of 1,000 women at a public Southeastern university. Findings support GST’s emotion mechanism: anger and frustration explain ten to 95% of the effects of strain on hazardous drinking. The current study illustrates the effects of stress, bias, and harassment among post-undergraduate women while demonstrating the import of strain and emotion for understanding risky drinking behaviors.

Author

• Kaitlin M. Boyle, University of Georgia