1. WVU Faculty Work Climate Survey
Leslie E. Tower, PhD
Associate Professor of Social Work & Public Administration
Council for Women’s Concerns (CWC)

2. Sampling All full-time WVU faculty were invited to participate
The overall response rate was 44% (970).

3. Data Collection Method
Electronic survey administered on Survey Monkey
The survey was opened for 2 months in the spring 2009 semester.

4. Data Collection Method
All full-time faculty were invited to participate through a web-link
Posts to several MIX, E-News, etc. alerting faculty of survey
Announcement to Faculty Senate to encourage Senators to inform their constituents (Welfare Committee endorsed survey)
Colorful flyers posted around campus to educate & remind
invitation was sent to Provost’s official Faculty List-serve
Four reminders sent to WVU list-serves (e.g., eNews & MIX). Each announcement increased the response rate.
Follow-up invitation sent to the Provost’s official Faculty List-serve.

5. Literature review identified several Climate scales
Instrumentation
Literature review identified several Climate scales
Jacobs, Bergen, & Korn (2000) selected
Subscales:
Positive Climate
Cohesion
Sexual Harassment
Gender Discrimination
Gender Insensitivity (e.g., inclusive language)

6. Climate instrument has demonstrated validity & reliability
Instrumentation
Climate instrument has demonstrated validity & reliability
Selected dimensions of other instruments incorporated to strengthen scale
Designed a new subscale: Additional Discrimination

7. Instrumentation Content validity Scale Cronbach alpha = .94
4 “experts” in field, including authors of the original instrument.
The instrument was further revised based on the experts’ comments.
Scale Cronbach alpha = .94
Subscale alphas ranged from .71 to .87.

8. Instrumentation
Added items at Faculty Senate Welfare Committee’s request:
“Issues” (10 items)
Workload
Faculty/Staff Shortages
“Benefits” (8 items)
Paid maternity/paternity leave
Domestic Partner Benefits

9. Response Rate

10. Demographics

11. Professional Characteristics

12. Climate Scale

13. Results Climate was moderate for all WVU faculty
Scale: Men perceive WVU Campus Climate to be significantly better than women (F=17.584, p=.0001).
Subscales: Men perceive:
more positive climate (F= 3.864, p=.050),
less sexual harassment (F= 6.033, p=.014),
less gender discrimination (F= , p=.014), and
less gender insensitivity compared to women (F=42.043, p=.000).

14. Legend Green: A Strength Blue: A moderate need of being addressed
76% - 100% of faculty endorse item
Blue: A moderate need of being addressed
51% - 75% of faculty endorse item
Red: A critical need of being addressed
0% - 50% of faculty endorse item

15. Positive Climate

16. Cohesion

17. Sexual Harassment

18. Gender Discrimination

19. Gender Insensitivity

20. Additional Discrimination

21. Differences in Minority Status
Racial Minority (n=49)
The Positive Climate Subscale items …
Additional Discrimination items tend to show a pattern of disparate perceptions
Sexual Orientation Minority (n=32)
Selected items throughout the survey show disparate perceptions (e.g., intrusive questions, sexist & homophobic jokes)
Religious Minority (n=108)
Gender Discrimination Subscale items…
Gender Insensitivity items…
Additional Discrimination items tend to show a pattern of disparate perceptions.

22. Differences in Minority Status
Although the n is small, this information may be helpful in thinking about the disparate experiences/perceptions minority faculty may face and how to transform WVU into a more inclusive environment for all faculty, staff, & students.

23. Open-Ended Item
“If there are any experiences or stories you would like to share about the climate or workplace culture at WVU, please do so below.”
Used grounded theory tradition of coding
Glaser & Strauss 1967; Huberman & Miles 2002; Corbin & Strauss 2008
Out of the total respondents (N=970), nearly 1 in 5 (19.3%) provided an answer to the open-ended question (N=188).

24. Open-Ended Themes

25. Issues

26. Issues

27. Issues Women identified significantly more ISSUES:
Workload (79% vs. 68%; X2= , p=.000)
Support Resources (68% vs. 62%; X2= 3.390, p=.039)
Workplace Safety (61% vs. 52%; X2=7.109, p=.005)
Parking (55% vs. 49%; X2=3.487, p=.036)
Networking opportunities (53% vs. 43%; X2= 6.929, p=.005)
Men identified significantly more ISSUES:
Health Insurance (89% vs. 84%; X2=4.197, p=.026)

28. Benefits

29. Benefits

30. Benefits & Female Faculty Preferences
Women perceived the following BENEFITS to be significantly more important to hiring & retaining quality faculty:
Sick leave (83% vs. 68%; X2= , p=.000)
Paid maternity/paternity leave (72% vs. 56%; X2= , p=.000)
On-site childcare (72% vs. 57%; X2= , p=.000)
Workload adjustments for new parents (66% vs. 51%; X2= , p=.000)
Domestic partner benefits (60% vs. 47%; X2= , p=.000)
Lactation support (41% vs. 21%; X2= , p=.000)

31. Benefits & Younger Faculty Preferences
Benefits more important to younger faculty (20-40 years old):
Paid maternity/paternity leave (81% vs. 57%; X2= , p=.000)
Workload adjustments for new parents (77% vs. 50%; X2= , p<.000)
On-site Childcare (73.4% vs. 61%; X2= , p=.000)
Domestic Partner Benefits (61% vs. 51%; X2= 8.046, p=.003)44% vs
Lactation Support (44% vs. 30%; X2= , p=.000)
Tuition Remission (X2= 2.469, p=.067).

32. Benefits & Older Faculty Preferences
Benefits More Important to Older Faculty (41 & older):
Health Insurance (88% vs. 83%; X2=3.511, p=.040)
Retirement Benefits (89% vs. 81%; X2=9.893, p=.001)
Workplace Safety (60% vs. 51%; X2=8.708, p=.002)
Staff Shortages (X2=2.752, p=.058)
Faculty Shortages (X2=2.108, p=.087)

33. Limitations
As in any survey research, this survey measures faculty perceptions. It may not always reflect practices.
Researches debate whether or not to include a “neutral” response in Lickert response sets (e.g., SD, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, SA). “Neutral” may mean: “not sure,” “don’t know”, or “no opinion.” But, it is considered best practice to offer a neutral choice (Newman, 2007).
The response rate is on the low side, but it is respectable for this population
The open-ended item “Administration lacks leadership skills” may be a reflection of the MBA matter that had not been resolved at the time of the survey.
Because of the homogeneity of the sample, it is not appropriate to run tests of difference between non-minority men and people identifying themselves as having minority characteristics.

34. Conclusion
There are many strengths in Campus Climate at WVU that can be built on (e.g., Cohesion).
Many of the Weaknesses may be addressed with Programs (e.g., trainings) or Policy Changes (Policy changes may require BOG approval and possibly the state legislature).