Spring 2015 (Undergraduate) Campus Climate Survey: A Summary of Overall Results, Sub-Group Comparisons, and Trends A presentation to the University Diversity Advisory Committee March 28, 2016 Nancy Whelchel, Office of Institutional Research and Planning

Presentation Overview  Survey methods  Response rates & demographic profile  Accessing reports on results  Findings  Overall highs & lows  Subgroup differences  Trends (2004 – 2010 – 2015)  Overall satisfaction  Role of diversity in higher education  Shaping diversity attitudes and behaviors  Campus climate  Participation in multicultural activities  Open-end comments: What’s going well and suggestions for improvements 2

Survey Administration  Population  All NC State undergraduate and graduate students  Enrolled Spring semester 2016  Taking 1+ face-to-face course  Online surveys  April 6 – May 4, 2015  Confidential (but not anonymous)  Questionnaires  Slightly different versions for grad & undergrads closed-end & 6 open-end questions 3

Survey Administration cont.  Promotion  Fliers  Electronic message boards  Campus groups/units listservs, Facebook, Twitter  invitation  From Chancellor  follow-up reminders (up to 3; non-respondents & partial respondents)  From OIRP (NCSU Surveys)  From DASA VC & Dean (Dr. Mike Mullen)  From OIED VP (Dr. Joanne Woodard)  Note: Technical difficulties w/ assessing online survey… 4

Response Rates  Undergraduate = 8.7% (MOSE +/- 2.1)  N = 1,795 of 20,693  Graduate = 14.5% (MOSE = +/- 2.7)  N = 992 of 6,856  Sample Bias: Undergraduates  ++ female (52% vs 44% of population)  + juniors  + COS, COE, CHASS  - CNR, PCOM, DASA 5

Demographic Profile of Undergraduate Respondents  26% Student of color  3% International  22% Poor / working class  24% 1 st Generation college student (no parent w/ college degree [7% w/ no college])  12% Rural  4% ‘Non-traditional’ student (> 27 yrs of age)  51% Female  3% Transgender/ genderqueer/ questioning (1% ‘prefer not to answer’ / ‘use a different term’)  14% Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual (3% ‘prefer not to answer’ / ‘use a different term’)  16% Disability (most commonly ADHD; 6% ‘prefer not to answer’ ) 6

Demographic Profile of Undergraduate Respondents cont.  Summary:  Straight, white, middle/upper middle class, traditional-age student with college-educated parents from small town/moderate size city  38% lived in a neighborhood AND graduated from a high school where the other residents/students were mostly, nearly all, or all their same race/ethnicity  Very similar to 2010 survey, except in 2015 have  Slightly larger percentage of students of color  Double the percentage of GLBT students and students with a disability  Slightly smaller percentage of females 7

Reports Currently Available Online see  Introduction, Research Methods, & Response Rates  Overall results (annotated questionnaires)  Each question by demographic profile  Academic class  Gender  Race/ethnicity  Residency (US citizen vs non US citizen)  Socioeconomic background  1 st generation college student vs other  Sexual orientation  Disability status  Age 8

Reports Currently Available Online cont.  Academic College  Overall college comparisons  Demographic profile w/in college  Gender  Race/ethnicity (white/student of color)  SES  Open-End Comments (verbatim responses, sorted 25 topics)  What is going well  Suggestions for improvements 9

Overall Satisfaction at NC State 10

Overall Satisfaction at NC State  Most positive ratings  Overall experience (92% ‘excellent’/’good’)  Overall academic experience (84% ‘very satisfied’/’satisfied’)  Proud to be member of NC State community (78% ‘often’/’always’)  Least positive ratings  Have a good support network (15% ‘seldom’/’never’)  Have good role models on campus (16% ‘seldom’/’never’)  Subgroup differences: Notably less positive than others  Transgender  LGB  African American  Poor / working class  Non-traditional age 11

Overall Satisfaction at NC State 12

Trends: Overall Satisfaction  No changes except students of all groups are more likely in 2015 than in 2010 to feel like they don’t fit in, especially  Asians & Hispanics/Latinos  International students  Poor / working class 13

The Role of Diversity in Higher Education Support for diversity as a goal Educational value of diversity Assessing diversity efforts at NC State 14

Diversity as NC State Mission/Value/Goal  Most supportive:  Diversity is good for NCSU (89% agree)  Fostering intellectual diversity should be key goal (84%)  Holding diversity as an essential value (82%)  Building diverse/inclusive campus should be key goal (82%)  Enhancing students ability to participate in a multicultural society should be a part of the University mission (74%)  Less supportive  Leads to admission of less qualified students (31% agree)  NC State places too much emphasis on diversity (28% agree)  Subgroup differences  Males, whites, and straight students are much less likely than others to be supportive of diversity as a University value 15

Diversity as NC State Mission/Value/Goal 16

Diversity as NC State Mission/Value/Goal 17

Trends: Diversity as NC State Mission/Value/Goal Support for diversity as a value/goal of NC State has grown over time for all areas asked about 18

Trends: Diversity as NC State Mission/Value/Goal Students are more likely to agree that “building a diverse and inclusive campus community should be a key goal of NC State” 19

Educational value of learning about diversity  Most supportive  Respect for diversity will better enable me to work in chosen field (80%) and to live in community (82%)  Learning about people from different cultures is important (78% agree)  Interaction with people who are different from me is essential part of college education (72%)  Less supportive  Diversity in curriculum detracts from important knowledge (34% agree)  Subgroup differences  Males and whites are much more likely than others to be skeptical of the educational value of learning about diversity. 20

Educational value of learning about diversity 21

Educational value of learning about diversity 22

Trends: Educational value of learning about diversity  Overall there has been little change in perceptions about the value of learning about diversity  Students are now more likely to ‘strongly agree’ that  Learning about people from different cultures is an essential part of a college education (26%  35%  40%)  Students are now slightly more likely to ‘disagree’ or ‘strongly disagree’ that  Including diversity topics in the curriculum detracts from learning more important knowledge (35% vs 45%) 23

Assessing diversity efforts at NC State  Most favorable  Expectations of respect/civility are clearly articulated (83% strongly agree/agree)  Messages/information about diversity is consistent (83%)  Creating a diversity/inclusive community is a priority (83%)  Provides an environment for free/open expression (82%)  Good job implementing policies and practices that reinforce a commitment to diversity (75%)  Good job articulating values of diversity/inclusion (74%)  Less favorable  Good place to gain understanding of multiculturalism (71% strongly agree/agree)  Is committed to helping minorities succeed (66%)  Leaders distinguish between free/hate speech and adequately respond (65%)  Easy to find diversity information on website (59%) 24

Subgroup differences: Assessing diversity efforts at NC State  Notably more negative about existing efforts to achieve/support diversity  African Americans  Poor and working class  International  GLBT 25

Assessing diversity efforts at NC State 26

Trends: Assessing Diversity Efforts at NC State Students have grown slightly more positive over time in their assessment of diversity efforts at NC State 27

Trends: Assessing Diversity Efforts at NC State 28 Students have grown increasingly more likely to think it is easy to find information about diversity on the University website

Shaping Diversity Attitudes and Behaviors What experiences influence thinking about diversity? How has overall NC State experience influenced attitudes/behaviors? 29

What experiences influence thinking about diversity?  Most likely to have a ‘very positive’ influence  Friends/acquaintances (41%)  Campus organizations/clubs (30%)  Family/hometown (25%)  Interactions with students outside of class (25%)  Least likely to have a ‘very positive’ influence  Course materials (14%)  Most likely to have a ‘negative’ influence  Family/hometown (12%)  Especially GLB (24%), disability (17%), low (15%) and high SES (13%), males (14%), whites (14%), transgender (14%)  Living in residence halls (7%)  Especially transgender (15%) and GLB (11%) 30

What experiences influence thinking about diversity? Cont.  Most likely to have no influence (i.e., ‘neither positive nor negative’)  Common Reading (61% [among those reading it])  Interactions/messages from NC State administration (33%)  Course materials (39%)  College/department activities/events (33%)  Interactions with faculty outside of class (31%)  Interactions with staff (31%)  Subgroup differences  Transgender students are consistently more likely to say specific experiences have had ‘neither a positive nor a negative’ influence on their thinking about diversity, followed by males, and non-traditional students 31

Trends: What experiences influence thinking about diversity?  Various experiences have become more positively impactful over time, and less likely to have no influence  Interactions w/ or messages from NCSU administration (33% “no influence” in 2015 vs 45% “no influence” in 2010)  Campus organizations/clubs (21% vs 28%)  Interactions w/ students outside of class (19% vs 24%)  Friendships/acquaintances (12% vs 18%)  Interactions with staff (31% vs 37%)  Interactions w/ faculty/instructors outside of class (31% vs 36%) 32

Overall NC State experience influence on diversity attitudes/behaviors  Little variation in amount/type of influence  Two-thirds or more say NCSU had a ‘positive’ or ‘very positive’ influence on each attitude/behavior asked about  Almost no reports of negative influence  Most likely to have ‘very positive’ influence on  Comfort interacting w/ people from a different country (33%)  Ability to work in job setting w/ diverse people (34%)  Comfort interacting w/ people from different race/ethnicity (33%) 33

Overall NC State experience influence on diversity attitudes/behaviors?  Most likely to have no influence (i.e., ‘neither positive nor negative’) on  Pointing out to person when he/she used offensive language (30%)  Initiating a conversation w/ someone you don’t know well with a different race/ethnicity (30%)  Comfort interacting w/ person w/ a disability (29%)  Comfort interacting w/ person w/ a sexual orientation different from one’s own (28%)  Likelihood of discussing diversity w/ friends (26%)  Subgroup differences  Males, transgender students, and whites are consistently more likely to say that their overall experience at NC State has had ‘neither a positive nor a negative’ influence on their attitudes and behaviors related to diversity. 34

Trends: Overall NC State experience influence on diversity attitudes/behaviors  NC State’s influence on various attitudes/behaviors has become more positively impactful over time, and less likely to have no impact in all areas asked about  Understanding of diversity (19% “no influence” in 2015 vs 28% “no influence” in 2010)  Comfort interacting w/ a person w/ a  sexual orientation different from one’s own (28% vs 36%)  race/ethnicity different from one’s own (21% vs 28%)  disability (29% vs 37%)  religion different from one’s own (23% vs 32%)  country or origin from one’s own (19% vs 28%)  Ability to work in job setting w/ people from diverse backgrounds (20% vs 28%) 35

Trends: Overall NC State experience influence on diversity attitudes/behaviors cont.  NC State’s influence on various attitudes/behaviors has become more positively impactful over time, and less likely to have no impact in all areas asked about  Comfort working on course projects w/ students from diverse backgrounds (21% “no influence” in 2015 vs 29% “no influence” in 2010)  Likelihood of  discussing diversity with friends (26% vs 36%)  not using language offensive to others (26% vs 33%)  letting others know they have used language offensive to others (30% vs 39%) 36

Campus Climate Respect & friendships among students Use of inappropriate statements Supportiveness of campus environment Experiences in class 37

Respect among students  Significant numbers of students rate respect between different groups as “fair” or “poor” 38

Subgroup Differences: Respect among students  Negative ratings are notably higher among the underrepresented group being asked about 39

Trends: Respect among students  While ratings of respect for GLB students is unchanged, ratings for respect between students from different racial/ethnic group have gotten slightly more negative * The item about respect for transgender students was new in

Inappropriate statements by faculty  While it does not happen often, students overall are less likely now than in the past to say they never hear faculty make inappropriate statements* related to…  Race/ethnicity (70% ‘never’ in 2015 vs 83% ‘never’ in 2010)  Immigration background (79%  85% ‘never’)  Religion (69%  79% ‘never’)  SES (76%  84% ‘never’)  Sexual orientation (80%  85% ‘never’) *(so, it’s happening more often now) 41

Inappropriate statements by students  More than one-in-five students say they “often” or “very often” hear other students making inappropriate statements about…  Race/ethnicity (24%)  Sexual orientation (24%)  Gender identity (22%)  Religion (20%) 42

Subgroup differences: Inappropriate statements by students  Students in a particular group are more likely to report hearing other students make inappropriate comments about their group 43

Trends: Inappropriate statements by students  Students are more likely in 2015 than in 2010 to report at least occasionally hearing other students make inappropriate comments about  Race/ethnicity (67% in 2015 vs 53% in 2010)  Religion (51% vs 45%)  SES (35% vs 27%)  But they are slightly less likely to often/very often hear inappropriate statements about sexual orientation (23% in 2015 vs 30% in 2010) 44

Supportiveness of campus environment for different groups of students  Most likely ‘strongly supportive’ for  Whites (54%)  Males (46%)  Christians (44%)  High SES (42%)  Least likely ‘strongly supportive’ for  Students with children (21%)  Transgender students (21% [12% ‘nonsupportive’])  Jewish/Muslim/other non-Christian (22%, 24%, 22% respectively)  ‘Non-traditional’ students (i.e., >27yrs) (22%) 45

Subgroup differences: Supportiveness of campus environment for different groups of students  White students are consistently more likely, and males generally more likely, than others say the campus is ‘very supportive’ of all groups, except for whites, males, and upper class students  Students from identified group are consistently much less likely than others to say the campus environment is supportive of their ‘group.’ 46

Trends: Supportiveness of campus environment for different groups of students  Compared to the 2010 CCS, perceptions that the campus environment is ‘supportive’ or ‘strongly supportive’ of their ‘group’ in 2015  Increased for  Asians (72% in 2015 vs 67% in 2010)  Whites (82% vs 76%)  International students (73% vs 56%)  Males (78% vs 70%)  Decreased for  African Americans (57% in 2015 vs 70% in 2010) 47

Experiences in class  Two-thirds or more students indicate a positive experience in each area asked about (with one exception)  Most positive  My comments are taken seriously by the instructor (86% agree)  Professor communicates that I am welcome in the course (84% agree)  Feel comfortable with other students (81% agree)  Am ignored/given trivial jobs during small group work (82% disagree)  Am often ignored in class when attempt to participate (81% disagree)  Have been exposed to intolerant atmosphere by instructor (80% disagree)  Least positive  Have been stereotyped by students in a course (24% agree) 48

Experiences in class cont.  Subgroup differences  International students, Asians, African Americans, low SES, those with a disability, and GLBT students are consistently more likely than others to report negative experiences in the classroom  Trends  Overall there has been no notable change in students’ perceptions of their experiences in class 49

Participation in Multicultural Activities Number of times participated Reasons for participating Reasons for not participating 50

Number of times participated in multicultural activities on campus  More than one-third of respondents have “never” participated in a multicultural activity/event on campus  Whites, males, straight students, and non-traditional students are most likely to have never participated 51

Trend: Number of times participated in multicultural activities on campus  The number of students saying they have ‘never’ attended a multicultural activity on campus has dramatically decreased overall and for all sub-groups (except Asians and international students) 52

Why participate in multicultural activities? 53

Subgroup differences: Why participate in multicultural activities? More likely than others to say…  Interact with others  African Americans, Asians, international, Hispanics, GLB, transgender  Support organization/friends  African Americans, GLB, Hispanics, and Asians  Broaden understanding/awareness  Transgender, Hispanic/Latino, international, GLB  Required/encouraged for class  Whites, high SES, straight  Professional development  Non-traditional  Entertainment  African American, transgender, GLB  Affirm aspect of identity  Transgender, African American, Hispanic, International, low SES, GLB 54

Why NOT participate in multicultural activities?  Most likely  Not enough time (67%)  Not convenient to schedule (64%)  Not aware of activities (60%)  Topic of event has nothing to do with me (55%)  Whites more likely than others to say  Topic does not interest me (49%)  Least likely  Accessibility issues (3%)  Location (12%)  Cost (12%)  Would be uncomfortable (17%) 55

In their own words…. What is going well and what needs to be done to improve the campus climate 56

What do you think is working well at NC State to support diversity on campus? (N=766 comments) Events and Programs 41% (N=313) Student Organizations 21% (N=157) Awareness 20% (N=156) Campus Environment 18% (N=136) University Encouragement 16% (N=120) “I think the programs and organizations the target minorities on campus are a great place for people of similar backgrounds to meet and congregate. The administrative offices that are supportive of minorities are an essential part of the minorities' experience here at State.” -African-American Male Student “There is a very successful and encouraging atmosphere built around diversity on campus…” – White Female Student “I feel very happy at my school and well supported as a Hispanic woman. I could not feel happier to call NC State home.” -Hispanic Female Student

What do you think needs to be done to improve the diversity climate at NC State? (N=732 comments) Events and Programs 23% (N=165) Campus Environment 19% (N=142) Population Diversity 16% (N=115) Curriculum 15% (N=106) Diversity is Overemphasized 14% (N=104) “Stop trying to force it on everyone and just let people from different backgrounds work together.” -White Male Student “More programs where students are able to learn about diversity and ways to socialize with students who are different from them.” –Hispanic Female Student “Stress the importance of diversity when students come to State, make a certain amount of programs mandatory for students, add more diverse courses, have more diverse faculty and staff…” -African- American Female Student “Courses should require students to attend more diversity sessions and activities in order for the entire campus to well- educated in diverse areas.” –White Female Student

 Questions?  Comments?  Discussion? 59