The Undergraduate Student Assessment of Campus Climate

Summary

The Undergraduate Student Assessment of Campus Climate was mailed to 3,000 of the 13,174 eligible undergraduate students enrolled at Virginia Tech during the fall 1998 semester. Of the 2,895 deliverable surveys, 1,120 completed surveys were returned for an overall response rate of 38.7 percent. In order to obtain sufficient numbers of minority responses for comparisons across racial/ethnic groups, surveys were sent to all African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic-American and Native American undergraduate students.

The survey identified 15 dimensions:

1. General Virginia Tech climate for groups
2. Interaction with faculty and administrators
3. Racial/ethnic interaction on campus
4. Social/interpersonal climate
5. General diversity at Virginia Tech
6. Affirmative Action/diversity attitudes
7. Diversity teaching
8. Insensitive/negative comments or experiences
9. Lack of freedom to voice opinions
10. Unfair treatment based on personal characteristics
11. Fair treatment by groups
12. Challenge derogatory remarks
13. Proactive diversity behavior
14. Derogatory comments
15. Overall awareness of services and programs

Findings

Some findings from the survey of undergraduates follow:

• Undergraduate males (and white American males in particular) generally see a campus that is supportive, comfortable, and sufficiently diverse. In contrast, female undergraduate students (particularly African-American women) see a less inviting environment that is not especially supportive of minorities (i.e., anyone who is not white, male, heterosexual, Christian, and without disability) or that is conducive to interactions among students of different races.
• Female undergraduates also differ from males in their diversity-related conduct. Females are more likely to challenge others on derogatory remarks, participate in diversity-related events or programs, and refrain from making derogatory comments.
• While responses to some questions showed, overall, no significant difference by gender, this was not true when college was considered. Males and females are having differentially satisfying experiences with faculty and varying levels of fair treatment by others (such as faculty and teaching assistants) depending on the college of their major. The differences were apparent in colleges that have the greatest disparity in male/female enrollment, for example, women in the College of Engineering and men in the College of Human Resources and Education, where the gender in the minority was less satisfied.
• Women were more likely than men to believe that diversity is good for Virginia Tech, and they expressed less concern about the emphasis placed on diversity and the potential of admitting under-qualified students through affirmative action programs (See Figure 13).
• In general, minorities see a less receptive climate, while white American respondents observe an institution where students are treated fairly and where diversity is actively promoted. And unlike the results based on gender, racial differences were pervasive across the colleges, with minority students consistently expressing less positive attitudes, regardless of college major.
• Although white American respondents differed in perceptions and experiences from all other racial groups on at least some climate dimensions, racial differences in general were most consistent and greatest in magnitude between African-American and white American students. For example, while 59 percent of white American respondents characterized the university climate as relatively non-racist, only 24 percent of African-Americans rated it similarly (See Figure 14). The gap in perceptions of race relations in the classroom is also substantial: 35 percent of African-American, 56 percent of Asian-American, 60 percent of other minorites, but 78 percent of white Americans rated them as good or excellent. Nor are African-American students convinced that the university is committed to the success of students of different racial/ethnic backgrounds‹only 36 percent agreed with this statement compared to 84 percent of white Americans.
• White American students are also more likely to have their comments or questions taken seriously by faculty members and to believe that faculty members respect students of different racial/ethnic groups than are members of underrepresented groups.
• African-Americans were just as likely as others to believe that they have a chance to succeed at Virginia Tech (94 percent versus 95 percent) but were more likely (40 percent) than whites (21 percent) to feel that they do not fit in very well with other students at Virginia Tech.
• Gays/lesbians/bisexuals differed significantly from heterosexuals on 11 of the 15 dimensions measured. For example, non-heterosexuals experienced unfair treatment based on sexual orientation far more often than heterosexuals (60 percent compared with 2 percent of heterosexuals), and they were the group most frequently constrained from expressing their candid opinions concerning particular minority group issues on campus. Gays and lesbians also seem to have a heightened sensitivity to the plight of other minority groups, and they tend to put a greater value on diversity as well as to engage in more active promotion of diversity.
• Students without disabilities were more likely to have positive interaction with faculty; reported more positive social interaction, such as opportunities to socialize with people ³different from myself²; and were more likely to receive fair treatment by others, including faculty, staff, and other students. Students with disabilities observed insensitive remarks/materials more frequently, were more likely to feel silenced, reported higher levels of unfair treatment by others, and were more aware of programs and services.

Conclusions

Overall conclusions based on undergraduate student responses include the following:

• There is no single, uniformly perceived climate for diversity at Virginia Tech. One must consider multiple climates in terms of group membership based on gender, race, sexual orientation, disability status, and major (among others) and combinations of these characteristics.
• Overall, those in the majority, whether based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or disability status, tend to perceive a more positive climate and to be less sensitive to negative experiences of others. Conversely, those with minority status tend to show greater awareness of diversity issues, even when those issues do not directly affect them.
• Differences in perceptions based on race, particularly for African-Americans, and sexual orientation appear to be the most pervasive and of the greatest magnitude.
• Gender differences were significant for a number of dimensions in the survey. In some cases, overall differences between women and men were not significant, but when analyzed by college or race, the differences then became apparent. Thus, the interaction of gender and race, or gender and college major, was important to understanding the findings, whereas the differences based on race/ethnicity appeared to be significant across all colleges.

Faculty Assessment | Staff Assessment | Undergraduate Assessment | Graduate Assessment

Contents | Welcome | Mission and Vision | Goals and Tasks | Climate and Status Data | VT Core Values | Print

Office of Multicultural Affairs - Virginia Tech 332 Burruss Hall, Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA 24061-0176

Telephone: 540-231-1820/TTY 540-231-9460 FAX: 540-231-1818 Email: multicultural@vt.edu Web: http://www.multicultural.vt.edu/