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1997 Graduating Senior Survey:
Campus Climate

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1997 Graduating Senior Survey:
Campus Climate


Summary

NC State's 1997 Graduating Senior Survey asked respondents to describe the campus climate in terms of their ratings of the discriminatory or supportive nature of NC State's campus. This report presents those responses.

A majority of respondents said they had never experienced discrimination while on NC State's campus on the basis of race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, physical disabilities, or other disabilities. However, more females than males indicated that they had experienced gender-based discrimination, and more minorities than whites experienced race-based discrimination.

The campus climate was largely seen as supportive for all sub-groups rated, with the most support for men and the least support for gays and lesbians. In general, African-Americans provided the lowest ratings of campus climate. Although comments for improving campus climate included various kinds of discrimination, twenty-five comments recommended improving racial relations, and ten comments suggested improving the campus climate for women. However, ten comments indicated a desire to de-emphasize campus diversity issues and instead promote the well-being of all students.

Introduction and Methodology

This report presents selected information from the March 1997 survey of spring 1997 graduating seniors at NC State. The responses analyzed represent 53.4% of the spring 1997 graduating senior class. Results of Chi-Square tests revealed no significant differences from the total population of graduating seniors in the areas of gender or ethnicity at the 0.01 significance level. However, significant differences were found by academic unit, so caution should be used when interpreting any comparisons by academic unit because the results may not generalize to the graduating senior class.

The quantitative data obtained from the 1997 Graduating Senior Survey were analyzed according to standard statistical methods. Responses were tested to determine whether there were any significant differences according to students' gender, ethnicity, and academic unit. Questions with categorical responses were analyzed using Chi-Square tests, and all questions with numerically coded responses were analyzed using either T-tests or one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Duncan's multiple comparison procedure. The significance level for all analyses was p<0.01

In addition to the quantitative data, the respondents were also asked two broad, open-ended questions. The first question asked, "What are the three most important things NC State could do to improve the quality of undergraduates' experience here?" Of the 1,002 survey respondents, 739 (74%) answered this question. The second open-ended question was more global: "Please share any general comments about your experiences at NC State or tell us why you were particularly satisfied/dissatisfied with any aspect of your education at NC State." For this second question, 416 of the 1,002 respondents (42%) provided answers. Responses to both open-ended questions were transcribed verbatim, and then examined for relevant themes. To represent and illustrate themes, student quotes are included throughout this report. Both open-ended and forced-choice responses are discussed in conjunction with each other.

Experiences with Discrimination

Graduating seniors were asked how often they experienced discrimination while on NC State's campus. A four-point scale was used to rate how frequently (never, almost never, somewhat often, very often) respondents experienced various types of discrimination (race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, physical disabilities, and other disabilities). Because so few respondents marked "somewhat often" and "very often," responses for these categories were combined for this report to form a single "often" category.

Percentages for the resulting three-point discrimination scale (never, almost never, often) are shown in Chart 1 below. For each type of discrimination, a majority said they had never experienced discrimination on that basis. Nonetheless, the most common types of discrimination were gender-based (9.6%) and race-based (7.3%).

Chart 1: Discrimination Experienced at NC State


Although discriminatory experiences were rare, Chi-Square analysis revealed significant differences among the gender and ethnicity of those experiencing discrimination (see Table 1). For gender-based discrimination, some degree of discrimination (often or almost never) was reported by 61% of female respondents, but only 26% of male respondents. In addition, gender-based discrimination was experienced "often" by a larger percentage of females (14%) than males (6%).

As shown in Table 1, race-based discrimination differed significantly by ethnic group. Some degree of race-based discrimination (often or almost never) was reported by 86% of African-Americans and 66% of other minorities, but only 26% of whites. Similarly, respondents indicated that race-based discrimination was experienced "often" by 41% of African-Americans, 9% of other minorities, and 5% of whites.

Table 1: Percent Experiencing Discrimination at NC State:

Differences by Gender and Ethnicity

How often have you experienced
Gender-based Discrimination (%)
Race-based Discrimination (%)
Discrimination?
Females
Males
African-Americans
Other Minorities
Whites
Never
39
74
14
34
73
Almost Never
47
20
45
57
21
Often
14
6
41
9
5

Gender & Ethnicity (p<0.01)

Campus Climate

Graduating seniors were asked to assess the supportive or discriminatory nature of campus climate using a five-point scale (strongly discriminatory=1 ... strongly supportive=5). As shown in Chart 2, the campus climate was largely seen as supportive. Respondents indicated that the campus was most supportive for men (mean = 4.25) and least supportive for gays and lesbians (mean = 2.88).

Chart 2: Campus Climate Means by Student Group

(1=strongly discriminatory... 5=strongly supportive)


Some perceptions of campus climate differed significantly by gender and ethnicity:

Discrimination and campus climate issues also appeared in responses to the open-ended questions. One student recommended that the university "strive towards making people comfortable about not being a white southern male." Others suggested that NC State "get serious about promoting diversity" and "work to improve the campus climate." In particular, twenty-five comments recommended improving racial relations. For gender, ten comments suggested improving the campus climate for women.

Recommendations for improving campus climate also included other issues: age and older students, physically disabilities, religious affiliations, and sexual orientation. One student suggested that NC State "add sexual orientation to the university's official non-discrimination policy." Although comments for improving campus climate included various subgroups, issues of race and gender were mentioned most frequently.

The open-ended responses also indicated that not everyone was in favor of diversity programs. One student suggested that NC State "quit forcing diversity issues on the students." Another stated, "It seems that academic environments such as ours cater to minorities and women more than they cater to students as a whole. I'm sick of diversity this and multi-cultural that." In all, ten comments indicated a desire to de-emphasize campus diversity issues and instead promote the well-being of all students.


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