North Carolina State University
Introduction, Methods, and Alumni Demographic Profile
Introduction
This series of reports presents findings from the NC State University 2003 Baccalaureate Alumni Survey. The on-line survey was conducted between January 8, 2003 and March 10, 2003. Information was gathered from alumni who received a bachelor's degree between Summer 1997 and Spring 2000. Alumni were asked about their undergraduate experience, post-graduation employment and education, their preparation in and need for various skills and abilities in their current professional positions, and to what extent they value certain alumni services.
This introductory report describes the survey methods and provides a demographic profile of survey respondents in comparison to the population of NC State baccalaureates. Specifically, survey respondents and baccalaureate alumni who graduated between Summer 1997 and Spring 2000 are compared in terms of gender, race/ethnicity 1, academic unit, and graduation year. A separate report, 2003 Baccalaureate Alumni Survey: All Respondents, focuses on each individual topic in the Alumni Survey. Survey questions and detailed tables of responses by gender, race/ethnicity, and college are also available on the web.
Survey Methods
The survey population included baccalaureate alumni who graduated between Summer 1997 and Spring 2000. The final sample excluded alumni whose mailing addresses are are unknown or classified as undeliverable by the post office (1,147 of the 10,401 baccalaureate alumni, or 11.0%). Alumni in the sample were sent letters requesting they complete the 2003 Baccalaureate Alumni Survey on the web. The personalized letters were on the letterhead of the department from which they graduated, and signed by the current head of the department. Up to two follow-up mailings were sent to non-respondents. Alumni were offered a lottery-type incentive (four $250 prizes) for participating in the survey. Each alumnus was assigned a unique ID and password that they were prompted to enter on the main page of the survey. In addition to allowing for the tracking of respondents, the unique identifiers eliminated the need to ask alumni various demographic questions that could be obtained from student data files. Although the Alumni Survey was designed to be completed on the web, respondents were given the option of completing a paper or telephone survey in lieu of the web survey. One alumnus elected to complete the survey by telephone and two alumni completed paper versions of the survey.
After three mailings, a total of 2,963 surveys were completed for a 32.0 percent response rate (2,963 out of 9,254). The margin of error for the Alumni Survey is low (+1.2) at a 95 percent confidence interval. That is, if 76.2 percent of the respondents said they participated in the Cooperative Education Program while at NC State, we can be 95 percent sure that the true figure would be between 75.0 percent (76.2-1.2) and 77.4 percent (76.2+1.2) if all alumni graduating between Summer 1997 and Spring 2000 had responded to the survey2. Because the margin of error increases as the sample size decreases, statements for various subgroups, such as the separate figures reported for whites and African Americans, are less precise than statements based on the total sample.
Demographics of Summer 1997 - Spring 2000 Graduates, Final Sample, and Survey Respondents
The following sections compare demographic characteristics of the full population of eligible alumni, the final sample of alumni, and those who actually responded to the survey. As previously noted, 11.0% of the survey population of Summer 1997 through Spring 2000 baccalaureate graduates had undeliverable addresses, and were therefore excluded from the final sample. Analyses were performed to compare alumni with undeliverable addresses to those with deliverable addresses in terms of gender, race/ethnicity, academic unit, and year of graduation. These analyses indicate that there is no gender difference in the two groups. However, the percentage of alumni excluded from the survey sample is greater among Hispanic alumni (21.2%), as compared to white (11.1%), Native American (7.8%), African American (7.3%), and Asian (12.2%) alumni. The percentage of alumni classified as undeliverable ranges from 5.9 percent in the College of Management to 14.5 percent in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Alumni who graduated more recently are more likely to be classified as undeliverable (13.0% for AY99-00) than are earlier graduates (10.3% for AY98-99 and 9.8% for AY97-98). Despite these differences, the final sample closely mirrors the demographic characteristics of the population.
Those responding to the survey vary somewhat from the full population on gender and race/ethnicity, but not the college from which they graduated or the year in which they graduated. In general, because of their relatively high response rates, there are slightly more whites and women among the survey respondents than among the full population of alumni. The differences, however, are not great enough to imply that the survey results would be appreciably different for the full population of baccalaureate graduates from Summer 1997 to Spring 2000. These reports are therefore based on the assumption that the results obtained are broadly representative of the population of NC State bachelor degree recipients between Summer 1997 and Spring 2000.
Gender and Race/Ethnicity (Tables 2-1 and 2-2)
Women made up about 43 percent of those who received bachelors' degrees from NC State between Summer 1997 and Spring 2000, but 45 percent of those responding to the survey. Similarly, while 84 percent of the graduates in the survey population were white, 89 percent of survey respondents were white. African Americans are slightly underrepresented in the results, making up about 6 percent of survey respondents, but 8 percent of the alumni population. Similarly, Asian and Hispanic alumni are slightly underrepresented.
Table 2-1: Gender of Alumni Population, Sample, and Survey Respondents
|
N % |
Population |
|
Respondents |
Rate (N Survey Resp/N Sample) |
|
Women |
4,446 42.7% |
3,922 42.4% |
1,345 45.4% |
34.3% |
|
Men |
5,955 57.3% |
5,332 57.6% |
1,618 54.6% |
30.3% |
|
Total |
10,401 100.0% |
9,254 100.0% |
2,963 100.0% |
32.0% |
Table 2-2: Race/Ethnicity of Alumni Population, Sample, and Survey Respondents
|
N % |
Population |
|
Respondents |
Rate (N Survey Resp/N Sample) |
|
White |
8,760 84.2% |
7,786 84.1% |
2,623 88.5% |
33.7% |
|
African American |
846 8.1% |
784 8.5% |
173 5.8% |
22.1% |
|
Native American |
64 0.6% |
59 0.6% |
18 0.6% |
30.5% |
|
Asian |
542 5.2% |
476 5.1% |
109 3.7% |
22.9% |
|
Hispanic |
189 1.8% |
149 1.6% |
40 1.3% |
26.8% |
|
Total |
10,401 99.9% |
9,254 99.9% |
2,963 99.9% |
32.0% |
Academic Unit (Table 2-3)
Table 2-3 shows the college from which primary or first degree was received for the Summer 1997 through Spring 2000 alumni population, the final sample, and the survey respondents. There are no significant differences between the alumni population, sample, and survey respondents in terms of the academic unit in which they graduated. Each college is generally accurately represented in the survey, with similar proportions of survey respondents and graduating class members. For example, graduates of the College of Textiles represent about 5 percent of the population, 5 percent of the sample and 5 percent of survey respondents.
Table 2-3: Academic Unit of Alumni Population, Sample, and Survey Respondents
|
N % |
Population |
|
Respondents |
(N Survey Resp/N Sample) |
|
Agriculture and Life Sciences |
1,997 19.2% |
1,756 19.0% |
583 19.7% |
33.2% |
|
Design |
331 3.2% |
302 3.3% |
119 4.0% |
39.4% |
|
Education |
272 2.6% |
242 2.6% |
69 2.3% |
28.5% |
|
Engineering |
2,458 23.6% |
2,158 23.3% |
664 22.4% |
30.8% |
|
Natural Resources |
467 4.5% |
426 4.6% |
143 4.8% |
33.6% |
|
Humanities and Social Sciences |
2282 21.9% |
1,952 21.1% |
591 19.9% |
30.3% |
|
Physical and Mathematical Sciences |
448 4.3% |
401 4.3% |
143 4.8% |
35.7% |
|
Textiles |
494 4.7% |
463 5.0% |
153 5.2% |
33.0% |
|
Management |
1,652 15.9% |
1,554 16.8% |
498 16.8% |
32.0% |
|
Total |
10,401 99.9% |
9,254 100.0% |
2,963 99.9% |
32.0% |
Graduation Year (Table 2-4)
There are no significant differences between the alumni population, the sample, and survey respondents with respect to the academic year in which they received their bachelor???s degrees. Similar to both the alumni population and survey sample, about one-third of survey respondents graduated in each academic year represented in the survey.
Table 2-4: Graduation Year of Alumni Population, Sample, and Survey Respondents
|
N % |
Population |
|
Respondents |
Rate (N Survey Resp/N Sample) |
|
AY 97-98 |
3,495 33.6% |
3,153 34.1% |
986 33.3% |
31.3% |
|
AY 98-99 |
3,477 33.4% |
3,118 33.7% |
1,016 34.3% |
32.6% |
|
AY 99-00 |
3,429 33.0% |
2,983 32.2% |
961 32.4% |
32.2% |
|
Total |
10,401 100.0% |
9,254 100.0% |
2,963 100.0% |
32.0% |
Posted: April, 2003
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