Digital vulnerabilities and online harassment of academics, consequences, and coping strategies. An exploratory analysis

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive statistics (n = 160).

Variable	Number of respondents (%)
How do you describe yourself?
Female	102 (76%)
Male	22 (16%)
Non-binary/third gender	4 (3%)
Prefer to self-describe	4 (3%)
Prefer not to say	3 (2%)
Age
24–30	17 (11%)
31–40	36 (23%)
41–50	52 (33%)
51–60	26 (16%)
61 and over	4 (3%)

Table 2. Coping strategies for online harassment (n = 81).^1.

Coping strategy	% of participants
Block the person on social media	72%
Ask for support from friends and family	41%
Ask for support from my colleagues - offline	39%
Reduce public appearances and participation in public discussions	32%
Report the incident to the institution I work	27%
Disclose it on social media	24%
Ask for support from my university – offline	23%
Ask for support from my colleagues – online	20%
Think about changing the subject matter of my work	20%
Ask for support from my colleagues - online	17%