North Carolina State University
2009 Baccalaureate Alumni Survey
Gender and Racial/Ethnic Comparisons of Undergraduate Educational Goals
This document reports survey data on gender and racial/ethnic differences in respondents' assessment of educational goals held by NC State. Survey results for all respondents are provided in "2009 Baccalaureate Alumni Survey: All Respondents." For information about the survey and analysis methods, see "2009 Baccalaureate Alumni Survey: Introduction, Methods, and Student Demographic Profile."
Undergraduate Educational Goals: Importance | Satisfaction | Impact of Undergraduate Education
Skills/Perspectives: Current Importance | Development
Teaching and Learning Technologies
Q NC State's Undergraduate Educational Goals
Importance for an Undergraduate Education
| Mean Rating (based on a scale of 5="Very Important," 4="Important," 3="Moderately Important," 2="Limited Importance," 1="Not Important") |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCSU | Women | Men | AfAm | White | Other | |
| Preparing for a career | 4.74 | 4.80 | 4.68 | 4.76 | 4.75 | 4.64 |
| Understanding my own abilities and interests | 4.73 | 4.77 | 4.69 | 4.77 | 4.73 | 4.64 |
| Ability to critically analyze/evaluate idea/information | 4.67 | 4.70 | 4.64 | 4.66 | 4.67 | 4.70 |
| Recognizing and acting upon ethical principles | 4.60 | 4.67 | 4.53 | 4.62 | 4.60 | 4.58 |
| Ability to use technologies/search strategies to access info | 4.57 | 4.61 | 4.53 | 4.61 | 4.57 | 4.56 |
| Valuing learning as a lifelong process | 4.56 | 4.60 | 4.51 | 4.52 | 4.57 | 4.46 |
| Ability to construct clear, precise, and accurate arguments | 4.56 | 4.55 | 4.57 | 4.62 | 4.55 | 4.56 |
| Ability to collect relevant data | 4.52 | 4.54 | 4.50 | 4.51 | 4.52 | 4.54 |
| Having tolerance for different points of view | 4.45 | 4.61 | 4.29 | 4.68 | 4.43 | 4.49 |
| Ability to understand current literature in my field | 4.38 | 4.44 | 4.33 | 4.53 | 4.38 | 4.28 |
| Developing and sustaining an active and healthy lifestyle | 4.35 | 4.43 | 4.27 | 4.54 | 4.34 | 4.28 |
| Understanding basic concepts in a broad range of disciplines | 4.35 | 4.37 | 4.33 | 4.47 | 4.33 | 4.44 |
| NCSU | Women | Men | AfAm | White | Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Understanding issues and problems facing the world | 4.29 | 4.45 | 4.13 | 4.52 | 4.27 | 4.32 |
| Understanding diverse cultures/values | 4.17 | 4.41 | 3.92 | 4.73 | 4.10 | 4.39 |
| Understanding how science/technology influence society/everyday life | 4.10 | 4.18 | 4.02 | 4.33 | 4.07 | 4.18 |
| Ability to formulate/test hypotheses | 4.06 | 4.02 | 4.09 | 4.06 | 4.05 | 4.13 |
| Being involved in public and community affairs | 4.04 | 4.26 | 3.82 | 4.37 | 4.02 | 3.98 |
| Understanding the present as it relates to history | 4.01 | 4.05 | 3.97 | 4.30 | 4.00 | 3.84 |
| Understanding commonality of human problems through global perspective | 4.00 | 4.21 | 3.78 | 4.45 | 3.94 | 4.22 |
| Acquiring an awareness of new scientific knowledge/discoveries | 3.94 | 3.96 | 3.92 | 4.07 | 3.92 | 4.09 |
| Appreciating the humanities (e.g., literature, philosophy, religion, history, etc.) | 3.84 | 4.00 | 3.68 | 4.18 | 3.80 | 3.91 |
| Understanding issues associated with gender inequality | 3.83 | 4.10 | 3.55 | 4.58 | 3.75 | 3.94 |
| Understanding issues associated with racial inequality | 3.82 | 4.06 | 3.57 | 4.66 | 3.73 | 3.95 |
| Appreciating the arts (e.g., music, art, theater, etc.) | 3.72 | 3.93 | 3.51 | 4.08 | 3.68 | 3.78 |
| Applying social science methods to understand human behavior | 3.70 | 3.87 | 3.51 | 4.07 | 3.65 | 3.81 |
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Satisfaction that Education Met Each Goal
| Mean Rating (based on a scale of 5="Very Satisfied," 4="Somewhat Satisfied," 3="Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied," 2="Somewhat Dissatisfied," 1="Very Dissatisfied") |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCSU | Women | Men | AfAm | White | Other | |
| Ability to collect relevant data | 4.36 | 4.39 | 4.32 | 4.32 | 4.36 | 4.32 |
| Ability to use technologies/search strategies to access info | 4.36 | 4.36 | 4.35 | 4.38 | 4.36 | 4.25 |
| Understanding basic concepts in a broad range of disciplines | 4.36 | 4.37 | 4.35 | 4.35 | 4.37 | 4.22 |
| Ability to critically analyze/evaluate idea/information | 4.34 | 4.37 | 4.32 | 4.41 | 4.35 | 4.17 |
| Having tolerance for different points of view | 4.25 | 4.32 | 4.17 | 4.37 | 4.25 | 4.13 |
| Recognizing and acting upon ethical principles | 4.25 | 4.32 | 4.17 | 4.18 | 4.26 | 4.15 |
| Valuing learning as a lifelong process | 4.24 | 4.31 | 4.18 | 4.19 | 4.26 | 4.10 |
| Ability to construct clear, precise, and accurate arguments | 4.19 | 4.22 | 4.16 | 4.28 | 4.19 | 4.13 |
| Ability to formulate/test hypotheses | 4.17 | 4.20 | 4.15 | 4.10 | 4.17 | 4.26 |
| Ability to understand current literature in my field | 4.13 | 4.20 | 4.06 | 4.26 | 4.13 | 3.97 |
| Understanding diverse cultures/values | 4.13 | 4.23 | 4.04 | 4.16 | 4.13 | 4.15 |
| Understanding how science/technology influence society/everyday life | 4.10 | 4.14 | 4.06 | 4.13 | 4.10 | 3.99 |
| NCSU | Women | Men | AfAm | White | Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Understanding my own abilities and interests | 4.07 | 4.11 | 4.03 | 4.10 | 4.09 | 3.89 |
| Appreciating the humanities (e.g., literature, philosophy, religion, history, etc.) | 3.99 | 4.11 | 3.87 | 4.08 | 3.98 | 3.99 |
| Understanding the present as it relates to history | 3.95 | 3.96 | 3.93 | 4.06 | 3.94 | 3.96 |
| Acquiring an awareness of new scientific knowledge/discoveries | 3.93 | 3.96 | 3.90 | 3.93 | 3.93 | 3.90 |
| Understanding commonality of human problems through global perspective | 3.92 | 4.00 | 3.84 | 4.02 | 3.91 | 3.90 |
| Understanding issues and problems facing the world | 3.92 | 3.96 | 3.88 | 3.97 | 3.93 | 3.77 |
| Applying social science methods to understand human behavior | 3.91 | 4.03 | 3.80 | 3.96 | 3.91 | 3.88 |
| Understanding issues associated with racial inequality | 3.90 | 3.98 | 3.83 | 3.82 | 3.91 | 3.88 |
| Understanding issues associated with gender inequality | 3.89 | 3.97 | 3.81 | 3.86 | 3.89 | 3.92 |
| Developing and sustaining an active and healthy lifestyle | 3.87 | 3.89 | 3.85 | 3.95 | 3.87 | 3.79 |
| Preparing for a career | 3.85 | 3.87 | 3.82 | 3.99 | 3.85 | 3.71 |
| Being involved in public and community affairs | 3.85 | 3.95 | 3.75 | 4.03 | 3.84 | 3.75 |
| Appreciating the arts (e.g., music, art, theater, etc.) | 3.81 | 3.93 | 3.69 | 3.99 | 3.80 | 3.74 |
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Q Impact of Undergraduate Education
| Mean Rating (based on a scale of 5="Agree," 4="Tend to Agree," 3="Neither Agree nor Disagree," 2="Tend to Disagree," 1="Disagree") |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCSU | Women | Men | AfAm | White | Other | |
| NC State experiences helped ability to acccess/use info in profession | 4.40 | 4.42 | 4.38 | 4.45 | 4.41 | 4.24 |
| NC State experiences/courses encouraged creative/innovative thinking | 4.34 | 4.37 | 4.30 | 4.32 | 4.35 | 4.15 |
| NC State education prepared me to be competitive with grads from other institutions | 4.33 | 4.30 | 4.36 | 4.34 | 4.35 | 4.03 |
| NC State foreign language courses helped me gain appreciation for other cultures | 3.85 | 3.99 | 3.69 | 3.93 | 3.83 | 3.91 |
| NC State physical educ course(s) positively influenced current exercise/health | 3.63 | 3.60 | 3.65 | 3.69 | 3.61 | 3.76 |
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Q Skills/perspectives gained through courses/experiences
Current Importance| Mean Rating (based on a scale of 5="Very Important," 4="Important," 3="Moderately Important," 2="Limited Importance," 1="Not Important") |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCSU | Women | Men | AfAm | White | Other | |
| Skills/perspectives gained through research/internship/co-op/student teaching | 3.68 | 3.77 | 3.59 | 3.80 | 3.65 | 3.87 |
| Skills/perspectives gained through community service/service learning | 3.02 | 3.30 | 2.74 | 3.44 | 2.96 | 3.26 |
| Foreign language skills | 2.45 | 2.55 | 2.35 | 2.71 | 2.40 | 2.84 |
| Skills/perspectives gained through study abroad experience | 2.21 | 2.36 | 2.06 | 2.23 | 2.19 | 2.47 |
Skill Development
| Mean Rating (based on a scale of 5="Excellent," 4="Good," 3="Average," 2="Fair," 1="Poor") |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCSU | Women | Men | AfAm | White | Other | |
| Skills/perspectives gained through study abroad experience | 4.11 | 4.28 | 3.89 | 3.97 | 4.13 | 4.02 |
| Skills/perspectives gained through research/internship/co-op/student teaching | 4.01 | 4.08 | 3.95 | 4.06 | 4.01 | 4.05 |
| Skills/perspectives gained through community service/service learning | 3.84 | 3.96 | 3.69 | 4.00 | 3.82 | 3.89 |
| Foreign language skills | 2.82 | 2.83 | 2.81 | 2.97 | 2.77 | 3.27 |
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Teaching and Learning Technologies
Q Impact of Teaching and Learning Technologies at NC State| Mean rating (based on a scale of 4="A great deal," 3="Some," 2="A little," 1="Not at all") |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCSU | Women | Men | AfAm | White | Other | |
| Improved ability to use info from internet, books, journals, etc. | 3.53 | 3.59 | 3.48 | 3.61 | 3.54 | 3.40 |
| Improved ability to use skills/technogies of field | 3.44 | 3.46 | 3.42 | 3.46 | 3.44 | 3.33 |
| Improved ability to answer questions in field | 3.42 | 3.43 | 3.40 | 3.42 | 3.42 | 3.31 |
| Improved ability to solve problems in field | 3.39 | 3.38 | 3.40 | 3.34 | 3.40 | 3.28 |
| Improved ability to use methods/rsrch in field | 3.28 | 3.34 | 3.23 | 3.33 | 3.29 | 3.17 |
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| NC State distance educ/online courses taken while undergraduate | NCSU | Women | Men | AfAm | White | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | 56.0% | 54.1% | 58.0% | 55.3% | 55.9% | 58.2% |
| 1 | 16.0% | 15.9% | 16.1% | 14.7% | 16.4% | 12.4% |
| 2-3 | 21.6% | 22.6% | 20.5% | 20.8% | 21.4% | 24.9% |
| 4-6 | 4.9% | 5.8% | 3.9% | 6.6% | 4.9% | 2.8% |
| 7-10 | 0.9% | 1.2% | 0.6% | 1.5% | 0.8% | 1.7% |
| More than 10 | 0.6% | 0.4% | 0.9% | 1.0% | 0.6% | 0.0% |
| Total (N) | 2,583 | 1,301 | 1,282 | 197 | 2,209 | 177 |
| Satisfaction with variety of distance educ/online courses offered by NC State | NCSU | Women | Men | AfAm | White | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean Rating | 3.90 | 3.94 | 3.85 | 4.08 | 3.89 | 3.82 |
| Very satisfied | 30.6% | 32.7% | 28.2% | 41.7% | 29.6% | 29.6% |
| Somewhat satisfied | 43.0% | 41.9% | 44.2% | 36.9% | 43.6% | 42.3% |
| Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied | 14.3% | 13.9% | 14.9% | 11.9% | 14.6% | 14.1% |
| Somewhat dissatisfied | 9.7% | 9.8% | 9.7% | 7.1% | 10.1% | 8.5% |
| Very dissatisfied | 2.3% | 1.8% | 3.0% | 2.4% | 2.1% | 5.6% |
| Total (N) | 1,067 | 563 | 504 | 84 | 912 | 71 |
Dr. Nancy Whelchel, Associate Director for Survey Research
Office of Institutional Planning and Research
Box 7002
NCSU
Phone: (919) 515-4184
Email: Nancy_Whelchel@ncsu.edu
Posted: May, 2009
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