Sexual Health Initiative to Foster Transformation
The Sexual Health Initiative to Foster Transformation (SHIFT) is a comprehensive research project that examines the individual, interpersonal, and structural (cultural, community, and institutional) factors that shape sexual health and sexual violence for undergraduates at Columbia and Barnard.
SHIFT’s research aims are:
- To understand the prevalence of sexual assault on campus;
- To understand the ecology of sexual assault by examining key individual, interpersonal/social, and contextual and institutional risk and protective factors associated with sexual violence and sexual health; and
- To use a Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach to work with key stakeholders to design the study and translate its findings into interventions and policy.
SHIFT will generate important new information that Columbia, Barnard and other institutions of higher education can use to inform innovative evidence-based programming to prevent sexual assault and to promote sexual health. Research that has been done to date has largely focused on individual factors, rather than on the social and institutional factors that play a significant role in shaping young people’s experiences on campus. SHIFT looks holistically at the undergraduate experiences, using a public health approach to examine policies and practices.
All of SHIFT’s research procedures have been reviewed and approved by the Columbia University Irving Medical Center Institutional Review Board, ensuring that individual data is appropriately secured and that the research is carried out in accordance with standards for the protection of research subjects. Moreover, the university has granted us an exemption from mandated reporting, so that information students share with us about sexual assault is not reported to the university. We do make sure that students who need information about supportive resources are provided with that information.
If you have any questions about what we’re doing, email us at shift@cumc.columbia.edu(link sends e-mail). This project presents an unparalleled opportunity for students to have a voice—even an anonymous one—in the ongoing effort to understand and improve the climate of our campus. We hope you’ll join us in this endeavor.
Ethnography
![](https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_200_16_9/public/media/images/2015-10/morningside1-1500x632.jpeg?itok=O7jwriXK 200w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_260_16_9/public/media/images/2015-10/morningside1-1500x632.jpeg?itok=Cwg2lncF 260w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_320_16_9/public/media/images/2015-10/morningside1-1500x632.jpeg?itok=aAQ216RT 320w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_400_16_9/public/media/images/2015-10/morningside1-1500x632.jpeg?itok=6ec5SRZd 400w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_520_16_9/public/media/images/2015-10/morningside1-1500x632.jpeg?itok=sCDZhkGm 520w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_640_16_9/public/media/images/2015-10/morningside1-1500x632.jpeg?itok=p2pXWaOo 640w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_800_16_9/public/media/images/2015-10/morningside1-1500x632.jpeg?itok=Sj6TTgGP 800w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_1040_16_9/public/media/images/2015-10/morningside1-1500x632.jpeg?itok=STOkwBwJ 1040w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_1280_16_9/public/media/images/2015-10/morningside1-1500x632.jpeg?itok=hpvEWSvq 1280w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_1600_16_9/public/media/images/2015-10/morningside1-1500x632.jpeg?itok=KHBkaSch 1600w)
Our ethnographic work examines and analyzes students’ experiences of socializing, sex, sexual assault and sexual health.
Policy
![](https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_200_16_9/public/media/images/2016-03/shift_policy.jpg?itok=5lJdpcEa 200w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_260_16_9/public/media/images/2016-03/shift_policy.jpg?itok=yw8PhTI- 260w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_320_16_9/public/media/images/2016-03/shift_policy.jpg?itok=PdBtySCJ 320w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_400_16_9/public/media/images/2016-03/shift_policy.jpg?itok=JuZfYasw 400w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_520_16_9/public/media/images/2016-03/shift_policy.jpg?itok=3hxlAodi 520w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_640_16_9/public/media/images/2016-03/shift_policy.jpg?itok=983bZAin 640w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_800_16_9/public/media/images/2016-03/shift_policy.jpg?itok=P7Jmu7HQ 800w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_1040_16_9/public/media/images/2016-03/shift_policy.jpg?itok=D2nfREt_ 1040w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_1280_16_9/public/media/images/2016-03/shift_policy.jpg?itok=ePq9IzoH 1280w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_1600_16_9/public/media/images/2016-03/shift_policy.jpg?itok=bclMqa8r 1600w)
A major priority of SHIFT is to make sure that the knowledge we generate is actually useful in enhancing the campus climate.
Quantitative
![](https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_200_16_9/public/media/images/2015-11/bas-22-782x512.jpg?itok=q67tdBL3 200w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_260_16_9/public/media/images/2015-11/bas-22-782x512.jpg?itok=Sgtz9ra0 260w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_320_16_9/public/media/images/2015-11/bas-22-782x512.jpg?itok=2_jVNOtM 320w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_400_16_9/public/media/images/2015-11/bas-22-782x512.jpg?itok=3v2ZTbFK 400w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_520_16_9/public/media/images/2015-11/bas-22-782x512.jpg?itok=kmPirBeu 520w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_640_16_9/public/media/images/2015-11/bas-22-782x512.jpg?itok=sEZJWupW 640w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_800_16_9/public/media/images/2015-11/bas-22-782x512.jpg?itok=scWxzCFj 800w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_1040_16_9/public/media/images/2015-11/bas-22-782x512.jpg?itok=umXrJKgb 1040w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_1280_16_9/public/media/images/2015-11/bas-22-782x512.jpg?itok=iZqKKS-f 1280w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_1600_16_9/public/media/images/2015-11/bas-22-782x512.jpg?itok=wcIsYF4q 1600w)
SHIFT’s quantitative components seek to identify the individual, social, and structural risk and protective factors.