A “culture of harassment” and widespread sexism exists in universities across the UK, a new report has suggested.

The National Union of Students (NUS) has published a report entitled That’s what she said: Women students’ experiences of lad culture in higher education, which looks at the experiences of a sample of female students in England and Scotland.

Half of the participants in the study recognised that there was “prevailing sexism” at their universities. Those surveyed described a ‘lad culture’ based on “pack mentality”, along with sexist and homophobic “banter”. The report also suggested a connection between ‘laddism’ and cases of sexual violence.

Several respondents related their discomfort at misogynistic jokes that are rife within their social circles and the difficulty in speaking out against it. One participant commented: “I felt so uncomfortable but there’s nothing I could really do about it…I voiced opposition and it didn’t make a difference.”

Nightclubs were also identified as a frequent setting for sexual harassment. The survey reveals that groping and unsolicited sexual advances are a ubiquitous part of a university student’s night out. One survey respondent sees nightclub promotion as complicit to this tendency: “In first year there were definitely club nights which were advertising this image of slutty girls…trying to have this image of girls who are going to put out whatever, using them as bait for the guys to come.” In some cases this leads to girls foregoing certain social events altogether, fearing “laddish behaviour”.

One participant in the survey pointed out: “I think...the misconception [is] that they’re these rough lads from rough backgrounds who have no respect for women – well they’re not, they’re everywhere, they’re in all parts of the country.”

At the University of Cambridge, some consider the presence of drinking societies to be proof of the existence of ‘lad culture’. One student noted that “in predominantly male social circles, such as drinking societies, jokes always tend towards a bit of sexism” but added that “as long as there are enough girls to balance it out, it shouldn’t get out of hand.” Another female student argued that alcohol cannot be blamed for sexist behaviour: “I don’t think that drinking has anything to do with sexist behaviour; there is nothing wrong with [drinking] on its own”.

However, it has also been suggested that ‘lad culture’ is not the main issue at the University. When asked whether aggressive or potentially violent sexist behaviour seems widespread in Cambridge, a female student commented: “I’ve never been harassed in a social context, but more latent forms of sexism are present, even in academic circles.”

Although the emergence of ‘laddism’ dates back to the 1990s, its cultural effect is very much a current issue. The website UniLad shows an extreme example of contemporary attitudes. Created in 2010, the site is dedicated to promoting lad culture among male university students. It has received widespread media attention and negative criticism for articles and merchandise that seem to make light of rape. The site bounced back from its recent hiatus with the editorial comment: “The site isn't out to offend, it's to give them a break from the heavy stories in the mainstream news and to have a laugh.”