Diversity survey targets students' opinions
The researchers want to determine if opinions have changed since 2002.
Published March 2, 2009
Two MU researchers are asking students to share their thoughts about campus diversity in an online survey.
The survey covers topics such as harassment, campus friendliness or hostility and level of satisfaction with campus diversity. Higher education professor Jeni Hart, one of the study's authors, said she hopes to discover changes in perceptions since the last campus climate study in 2002.
The previous study found one out of five minority respondents reported being the victim of harassment on campus. Also, members of minority groups viewed the campus climate as much more negative than members of majority groups did.
MU's numbers were largely in line with national statistics, although there were several differences. For instance, 72 percent of women in the MU sample reported gender-based harassment, compared to 60 percent nationally.
"We want to see if we've made any progression since the last study," Hart said. "I would say we're probably going to find we still have some work to do. I'd be foolish not to think that."
After the 2002 study, a task force including Hart made recommendations to improve the campus climate.
Some of the suggestions have been implemented, such as creating the position of chief diversity officer, increasing efforts to recruit a diverse student body and elevating women's and gender studies to departmental status.
Other recommendations have not been realized, such as mandatory multicultural training for all faculty, staff and teaching assistants.
The 2002 study included both faculty members and students, but Hart and professor Steve Whitney decided to tailor this year's survey specifically to students. They are planning another campus climate survey for faculty members, although no timeline has been set.
Student Diversity Coalition co-chairwoman Chatoyya Walker said the survey was a good idea, but didn't go far enough.
"There weren't a lot of questions relating to gender identity, and that's a large facet of why students may feel threatened on campus," she said.
Walker said the survey can give some insight into students' perceptions, but there are limitations to accuracy.
"There are going to be people who choose not to fill it out, people who fill it out quickly, people on the extremes whose opinions are still going to be averaged in," she said. "It's honestly better than nothing, although it will be a hollow gesture if changes aren't made after the survey."
An e-mail about the survey was sent to all students last week. Many students didn't pay attention.
Hart said about 2,000 students took the survey in the first week, out of more than 25,000 students who were invited.
The survey will be open to students until spring break, with results coming out this summer.
Hart said she hopes the climate survey will be administered regularly in the future, so the university can continue to measure change.
"One thing we're trying to do is enhance the momentum for diversity on this campus," she said. "It is partly symbolic in that we're saying that we're going to continue measuring this. We're going to continue reminding people that this is an important issue."