In 2000, WSU had the opportunity to participate in a national project assessing campus climate for underrepresented groups. Our participation was coordinated throught the Office of the Associate Vice Provost. The project was designed and directed by Sue Rankin, Senior Diversity Analyst at Pennsylvania State University, and colleges and universities around the country participated. For more information about the project, please contact Melynda Huskey. The Executive Summary of our data is
reproduced here.
Executive Summary
Surveys were distributed to students, staff, faculty, and administrators, and were submitted by 275 students, 156 faculty, and 306 staff/administrators.
The sample is representative of the population with respect to all of the characteristics except Middle Easterners and staff/administrators, who were oversampled, and Chicano/Latino/Hispanic participants and undergraduate students, who were undersampled.
The majority of respondents (nearly 70%) indicated that the overall campus climate was accepting of the various populations listed except for lesbians (32%) and gay men (26%).
Nearly 75% of the respondents had not heard faculty, staff, or administrators make insensitive or disparaging remarks about various populations. Over 48% of the respondents had not heard students make insensitive or disparaging remarks about various populations.
42% of the respondents indicated that they had experienced conduct that had interfered unreasonably with their ability to work or learn on campus (harassment). These experiences were primarily due to gender (46%), age (26%), and race (23%).
The harassment experienced was in the form of derogatory remarks (84%) and experienced more often by professional students (71%), African-Americans (87%), Asian/Pacific Islanders (71%), lesbians (70%), and bisexual persons (68%).
The respondents indicated that they observed conduct on campus that created an offensive, hostile, or intimidating working or learning environment mainly due to race (55%), gender (53%), and sexual orientation (51%).
43% of the respondents reported experiencing discriminatory hiring based on the characteristics presented, with the greatest number attributing the discrimination to gender. 15% of the respondents indicated experiencing discriminatory firing, and 42% suggested that they had experienced discriminatory promotion.
Respondents indicate that they have little or no contact with American Indians/Alaskan Natives (57%), Middle Easterners (52%), openly LGBT persons (50%), and people with disabilities (47%). 34% report little or no contact with Chicano/Latino/Hispanic people, and 31% report the same contact level for African-Americans.
The majority of respondents indicated that they would feel comfortable being a close friend with, sharing and office with, and being a roommate to people unlike themselves.
The respondents indicated that the campus thoroughly address issues related to racism (51%), disabilities (49%), heterosexism (42%), and sexism (43%). They were less likely to agree that issues related to ageism (35%) were addressed.
A substantial portion of the respondents (46%) feel that the campus's
leadership does not visibly foster diversity, and 34% do not feel that the
curriculum adequately represents the contributions of different groups of
people.
42% felt that the classroom climate was not welcoming for people from underrepresented groups, and 47% felt that the workplace climate was not welcoming for employees from underrepresented groups/
Over 70% of respondents indicated that they would challenge someone on derogatory remarks in regards to race and ethnicity. 41% would challenge someone on derogatory remarks about sexual orientation. 72% of the respondents indicated that it was unlikely that they would participate in
comments or jokes about people from under-represented groups.
The respondents indicated that providing more sensitivity/awareness workshops would increase the University community's awareness of the needs of people with disabilities (65%), ethnic minorities (55%0, racial minorities (54%), non-native English speakers (54%), and LBGT people (50%).
Over half the respondents felt that requiring all University students and staff to take at least one class that focuses on issues, research, and perspectives about various groups would improve the campus climate for those groups.
Respondents felt that the climate would potentially improve with the offering of art, music, and cultural events that recognize distinctive cultures (65%), people with disabilities (61%), and LGBT people (47%).
56% of the participants reported that if service that enhances the University's climate for diversity was included as a criterion for faculty and staff evaluations that the climate would improve.
If you would like to receive a copy of the entire report, please send an e-mail to Melynda Huskey with the subject heading of "Campus Climate Assessment Request."
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