“It Was Kind of Like Everything Was Hitting Rock Bottom All at Once”: The Impacts of Gender-Based Violence on Undergraduate Student Academic Success

Abstract

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a multilayered problem with well-established health and social consequences. Unique to undergraduate students are the impacts of GBV on their academics. Despite this reality, little is known about how students navigate their academic lives after experiencing GBV. The purpose of this cross-sectional, qualitative study was to explore how GBV impacted undergraduate students’ academics both immediately and over time. Seventeen undergraduate students were interviewed and identified both immediate (i.e., increased difficulty concentrating on schoolwork, avoidance of schoolwork/classes/campus, decreased academic achievement) and long-term (i.e., lower academic standing, crossroads and decisions, reclaiming academic careers) academic consequences of GBV. A timeline of academic impacts emerged providing insight into the trajectory and extent of the consequences that the continuum of violence has on students’ academics. As the crisis of GBV persists on university campuses, it is imperative that academic policies be revised to mitigate the consequences of violence on students’ academics.