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CU-BOULDER CAMPUS CLIMATE SURVEY: FALL 2001

Gender and Class Level

Climate data were analyzed separately by gender and class level to determine how men and women's and graduate and undergraduate students' experiences on the Boulder campus differ. The number of students in each group is:

Highlights

Gender

Overall, there are few differences between the genders in their response to the CU-Boulder campus climate survey. In general, students of both genders report having had quite positive experiences at UCB and the community at large.

The greatest divergence in the men and women's responses is for reports of how likely they are to say they challenge derogatory remarks and/or behavior. In all cases, women are more likely than men to challenge such remarks and/or behavior. This gender difference is particularly pronounced when the derogatory remarks and/or behavior concern gender and sexual orientation.

Women's ratings of climate, both inside and outside of the classroom, are slightly more negative than those of men. However, both women's and men's ratings are generally positive, with higher ratings for in-classroom than outside-classroom climate.

As one might expect, women are much more likely than men to list their gender as their most important group identity in how they are treated on campus. Twelve percent of women listed their gender as central compared to only 4% of men.

Level

In general, there were not many differences in reports of campus climate between graduate and undergraduate students. Both levels of students report moderate to high levels of comfort in various social and academic settings.

The biggest discrepancy between undergraduates and graduates is in their ratings of how often they hear other students make disparaging remarks about various groups. In nearly all cases, graduate students report hearing significantly fewer such remarks than undergraduate students. Among undergraduates, the highest frequency of disparaging remarks are targeted at the gay community (GLBT); graduate students report the highest frequency of remarks targeted at people with strong religious beliefs. Consistent with these findings, undergraduates are more likely than graduate students to rate the environment outside the classroom as disrespectful. They also report more homophobia both inside and outside of the classroom.

As one would expect, undergraduate students are more comfortable living in the residence halls; these same students, especially the undergraduate men, also report feeling more comfortable hanging out on the Hill, a residential/commercial area adjacent to campus. They are less comfortable than graduate students interacting with the police, significantly so when it is with the Boulder Police Department.

Both graduate and undergraduate students agree that faculty are generally sensitive to diversity issues in the classroom. The consensus seems to be that there is very little disparagement from faculty. Nonetheless, graduate students report feeling much more comfortable interacting with faculty than undergraduates. This, of course, could simply reflect the nature of the relationship between graduate students and faculty, which is often more personalized, with interactions that take place in smaller classroom and lab settings.

Both groups have varied contacts with other students during the course of their studies. However, graduate students report having more frequent interactions with foreign students and people with strong religious beliefs than do undergraduate students. Graduate students' more frequent contact with foreign students is not surprising given the number of foreign scholars who come to UCB to study at the graduate level.

The two groups differ considerably with regard to the identity that is most central to how they are treated on campus. Graduate students are much more likely to list their graduate-level standing as most important; 14% say graduate student versus only 1% of undergraduates who reference their class level. In addition, more than one in five (22%) graduate students list their discipline (e.g., law, engineering) as important compared to only 11% of undergraduates.

Graph of scale scores by gender and level

Campus Climate Survey 2001 Table of Contents

l:\ir\survey\climate\climate01\report\summarydraft-bygenderandlevel.doc last updated 6/13/02

Last revision 07/18/02