Toward Safer Learning Environments in Creative Higher Education: A Capabilities-Informed Multimethod Study of Misconduct Prevention

Students at creative higher education (CHE) institutions frequently report boundary violations and other forms of misconduct, while prevention efforts have been described as insufficient. Drawing on a capabilities-informed perspective attentive to the environmental and institutional conditions of flourishing, we examine what structural and cultural conditions stakeholders consider necessary for misconduct prevention in CHE. Using a complementary multimethod qualitative design, we report two studies: 16 interviews with stakeholder groups analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis, and 228 open-ended responses from a national student survey analyzed through structured tabular thematic analysis. Interview participants identified three interconnected areas of transformation: community, institutions, and knowledge and norms. Seven themes generated from the survey responses were classified as confirmatory, and one theme as expanding, foregrounding material stability and students’ aspirations for cultural and institutional reform, a dimension addressed only implicitly in the interviews. Two themes had no direct counterpart, foregrounding students’ skepticism about the possibility of change and the societal recognition of artists. Across both studies, participants described prevention efforts as often reactive and insufficient, and called for systemic approaches in which institutions recognize their societal role and prioritize students’ flourishing. Our findings identify participant-informed starting points for developing and evaluating prevention strategies.