“I Do Not Speak as Freely”: Gendered Views on Campus Carry at a Research University

Abstract

As campus carry policies are implemented at colleges and universities across the country, the concern for the safety of students, faculty members, and campus community members has heightened. In the state of Texas, broad sweeping campus carry policies were recently enacted by Texas State Legislature that allows individuals to conceal carry firearms within educational spaces on campus. Within these educational spaces, faculty members are often relied upon to deliver educational content without having their Second Amendment speech rights chilled by the prospect of loaded firearms within a classroom. Given this tension, this study fills an important gap in the research and explains how faculty members view campus carry as it relates to their personal safety and professional work. This study employed a mixed methods design (survey and qualitative) to expound upon the attitudes toward campus carry of 226 faculty and staff members working in a large research-intensive university within the state of Texas. Results suggest strong gender differences between how faculty members view campus carry policies and their safety on campus, with women often reporting feeling less safe and less able to perform their job duties under the pressure and anxiety of campus carry policies. Ultimately, this study’s results imply that women faculty members may more less safe, more marginalized, and further victimized by campus carry laws than men faculty members, transgressing gender equity progress in the professoriate, as women have been traditionally underrepresented on college faculties.

Guns on Campus: The Impact of Campus Carry on Student Behavior and Emotions

“…First, students overwhelmingly reported no significant impact on their daily lives and their relationships on campus. This is significant as prior research focused on faculty has found campus carry policy to produce concrete changes in the behavior of these stakeholders (see Jones & Horan, 2019;Somers et al, 2017;Somers and Phelps, 2018;Somers, Gao, & Taylor, 2023). Second, the anxieties students expressed here regarding guns on campus in many ways existed in tension with the same students' reports that there was no impact on their behavior.…”

“…Some faculty reported attempts to move more of their courses online to increase safety, and faculty who are sexual minorities reported feeling considerably less safe (Somers et al, 2017). Somers, Gao, and Taylor (2023) combined survey and qualitative interview data of 226 faculty and staff members at a university in Texas to explore attitudes toward an existing campus carry policy. They found strong gender differences regarding faculty feelings of safety and position on the policy, with women faculty feeling less safe and more marginalized on campus.…”

Surviving campus carry: A CRT analysis of faculty of color at a Texas public PWI.

“…Though research on campus carry legislation has expanded over the years, how campus carry has impacted minoritized communities has remained limited (Ewing, 2017; Hassett et al, 2020; Somers & Valentine, 2021). Some empirical studies on campus carry policies have explored the perceptions of students (Bouffard et al, 2012; Brinker, 2008; Cavanaugh et al, 2012; Eaves et al, 2015; Jang et al, 2014; Kruis et al, 2020; Patten et al, 2013; Schildkraut et al, 2018; Thompson et al, 2013; Verrecchia & Hendrix, 2018); faculty (Bennett et al, 2012; Dahl et al, 2016; Drew, 2017; Jones & Horan, 2019; Somers et al, 2017; Thompson et al, 2012; Wolcott, 2017), and campus professionals and leaders such as advisors, campus police chiefs, and college presidents (Bartula & Bowen, 2015; Price et al, 2014, 2016; Somers et al, 2020; Thompson et al, 2009).…”