Beyond Compliance: Why Shared Responsibility Is the Missing Piece in Higher Education Harassment and Discrimination Prevention

Most higher education institutions meet harassment and discrimination training requirements. Many have clear policies and reporting procedures in place. Yet faculty and staff continue to report concerns about whether misconduct will be prevented, addressed consistently, or supported when reported.

The gap is not a lack of compliance. It is a lack of shared responsibility.

A new white paper from Vector Solutions, Beyond Compliance: Building Shared Responsibility for Harassment and Discrimination Prevention in Higher Education, examines how prevention efforts are working in practice and what distinguishes institutions that are building stronger, more supportive workplace cultures.

What the Data Reveals

The analysis draws on survey responses from more than 309,000 faculty and staff at colleges and universities who completed Vector Solutions’ Preventing Harassment and Discrimination training courses during the 2020 to 2021 and 2024 to 2025 academic years.

Skills Are Strong, and Norms Are Shifting

Faculty and staff consistently reported high confidence in recognizing problematic behavior and intervening appropriately. These findings suggest that skill-based, scenario-driven training supports lasting readiness to act, even as higher education workplaces continue to evolve.

One of the most meaningful changes over time involved perceptions of colleague behavior. In earlier survey data, female employees were less confident that coworkers would intervene or report harassment and discrimination. By 2024 to 2025, trust in colleague intervention increased substantially, pointing to a shift toward shared expectations and collective accountability.

Trust Remains Central to Reporting

Despite these gains, barriers to reporting continue and are not uniform across groups. Male respondents more often reported uncertainty about reporting processes, while female respondents expressed greater concerns about credibility, confidentiality, retaliation, and whether appropriate action would be taken.

These findings highlight a critical reality. Clear policies and training matter, but trust in how reports are handled ultimately shapes whether employees speak up.

Moving Beyond Compliance

The research underscores that effective prevention requires more than meeting regulatory requirements. Institutions make the greatest progress when they reinforce practical skills, model supportive norms, and demonstrate consistent, transparent responses to concerns.

Prevention works best when it is understood not as a mandate, but as a shared responsibility.