Faculty Assessment of Campus Climate

Demographics:

• Sex - 59.8% females (N=158)
• 40.2% males (N=106)
• Race/ethnicity identification -- 3% Asian
• 4.9% African American/Black
• .4% Native American
• 3.4% Latino/a
• 85.2% White
• 3% other categorizations
• Degree -- 65.2% Doctorate
• 25.6% Masters
• 5.8% Other
• Appointment status -- 50.4% Tenured (53% female)
• 29.1% tenure track (65% female)
• 11.6% non-tenure track full-time (77% female)
• 8.9% Adj./part time (57% female)
• Years at MTSU -- 38% <5 years
• 26.7% 5 - 10 years
• 24.8% 11 - 20 years
• 10.5% >20 years
• Children 18 or less living with you -
• 34.5% yes
• 65.5% no
• Adult caregiver - 4.9% yes
• 95.1% no
• US citizens - 95%
• Sexual orientation - 91.8% heterosexual
• 5.8% gay/lesbian
• 2.3% bisexual
• Religious faith - 64.5% Christian
• 3.4% Jewish
• 1.5% Muslim
• 23.3% none
• 7.3% Other
• Disabled - 4.2%
• Age groups -- 4.4% < 30
• 19.7% 30-39
• 32.4% 40-49
• 35.6% 50-59
• 7% >60

Section 1: Experience in department/unit at MTSU. (NOTE for easy reference -- questions that differ significantly by sex are boxed. Strongly agree is scored 1.)

"I feel that I have received adequate guidance/mentoring from other members of my department."

• Mean = 2.2, median = 2.
• 63.8% agree or strongly agree
• 33.6% disagree or strongly disagree
• 2.6% don't know

"My department chair meets with me as appropriate to discuss my performance, career, and/or promotions."

• Mean = 2.17, median = 2.
• Most (65.8%) agreed or strongly agreed but there were some important differences between groups that should be noted.
• More females (33%) than males (26%) either disagreed or somewhat disagreed. (p=.016)
• A significant difference was found between those tenured, in tenure track positions or not. Many more of those not in tenured or tenurable positions disagreed or simply did not know if they were meeting with their chair appropriately (62.5% adjunct/part time compared with 31.5% tenured and 26.7% of those in tenure track positions).

"Faculty who are openly critical of aspects of my department have no cause to fear retribution."

• Mean = 2.56, median = 2.
• Approximately 57% of the sample agreed or strongly agreed that they had no fear of retribution. This did not differ by sex, but it did differ by appointment status and years at MTSU.
• For each of the different levels of appointment, except part time/adjuncts (41.7%), the majority agreed or strongly agreed there was no fear. Interestingly the largest difference was found among those who strongly disagreed, implying a concern of retribution. Nearly 22% of the tenured faculty strongly disagreed compared to only an average of 12% across the other positions. Faculty in these positions were more likely to report that they did not know whether they should fear retributions (27% on average) compared to only 2.3% of those tenured. In other words the tenured faculty were more likely than the others to both agree and disagree that one should fear retribution for open critique of the department.
• Given the moderate correlation between years at MTSU and the likelihood of being tenured (Rho = .565), one might expect that years at MTSU would explain some of the variability in agreement. This expectation was true only in the sense that those at MTSU <5 years reported a much higher "don't know" response (25.5%) than those who had been at MTSU for more years (4.8%). Otherwise the percentages were much the same across the levels of years at MTSU.

"I often feel that I don't 'fit in' very well socially with other faculty members in my department."

• Mean = 3.01, median = 3.
• Nearly 36% reported that they don't fit in well, but this response did not vary significantly by sex, race, ethnicity, appointment status or years at MTSU.

"In general, my work relationship with other faculty in my department is good."

• Mean = 1.65, median = 1.
• 90% of the faculty agree or strongly agree that the working relationship is good. The only differences were found in strength of that agreement.

"In my department, expectations concerning promotions and career advancement are made clear."

• Approximately 60% agree or strongly agree that expectations are clear, but women are somewhat less likely than males to respond so (55% to 66.4%). Women are also more likely to respond that they do not know if expectations are clear (8.9% to 1.9%).
• As might be expected those with tenure reported that expectations are made clear (66.9%), 56.6% of those in tenure track positions report agree or strongly agree, while those in non tenurable positions are less sure. In fact, 24.1% report that they don't know if expectations are clear or not (p<.000).
• Mean = 2.42, median = 2.

"Career advancement and salary decisions are made fairly in my department."

• Mean = 2.57, median = 2.
• Nearly 60% report agreement or strong agreement, but significant differences do exist by sex, appointment status and years at MTSU.
• The differences by sex are a matter of degree. More females than males both strongly agree and strongly disagree (30% to 27% and 18.4% to 12%). Also more females than males reported not knowing if decisions are made fairly (16% to 11%).
• Faculty with tenure agree or strongly agree that decisions are made fairly (70%) while only 56% of tenure track and 43% of non-tenurable report the same. These faculty are much more likely to report that they do not know (21.3% and 29.6%) than are tenured faculty (3.1%).
• A similar relationship is found for those with more years at MTSU. Faculty with 11 or more years at MTSU are more likely to agree or strongly agree than those with less than 11 years. For those with less than 5 years, 25.5% report they do not know if decisions are made fairly.

"Faculty members in my department treat me with respect."

• Mean = 1.65, median = 1.
• Nearly 88% agree or strongly agree.

"In recent searches for new faculty, my department has made a serious effort to hire racial minorities."

• Mean = 2.18, median = 2.
• Approximately 70% agree or strongly agree, but the responses vary by appointment status and years at MTSU. The variability is primarily in the lack of knowledge about searches for those who are in non-tenurable positions. When "don't know" responses are controlled for, the differences by appointment status disappear.
• The majority of faculty (60-70% over all years) agree or strongly agree that the department has made a serious effort to hire racial minorities, but interestingly those that MTSU for more than 20 years are also more likely (27%) to disagree or strongly disagree than the other groups (mean percentage = 14%).

"In recent searches for new faculty, my department has made a serious effort to hire ethnic minorities."

• Mean = 2.37, median = 2.
• A similar pattern as for racial minorities exists for ethnic minorities, except that there appears less knowledge about efforts to hire ethnic minorities across all appointment positions.
• A similar pattern also exists based on years at MTSU except that faculty who have been here more than 20 years are even more likely to disagree or strongly disagree (33%).

"In recent searches for new faculty, my department has made a serious effort to hire women."

• Mean = 2.22, median = 2.
• Nearly 71% of the faculty agree or strongly agree that serious efforts are made, but those at MTSU for more than 20 years are more sure of the efforts (81.4%) than are those on campus for less than 5 years (61%). Those on campus for less years are also less knowledgeable of efforts made or not made.
• Similarly, faculty with tenure report being more sure of the efforts (81.4% agree/strongly agree), while those in non-tenurable positions report more "don't know" responses (37%).

"There is a desire among my colleagues to enhance diversity in my department."

• Mean = 2.37, median = 2.
• The same pattern as discussed above for the efforts to hire various minority faculty holds for this question as well.

"It is important to me to incorporate ethnic perspectives in my courses or programs."

• Mean = 1.83, median = 1.
• Although nearly 81% of the faculty report this is important, women (86%) are significantly more likely (p<.000) to agree or strongly agree than are men (72%). Or to put it differently, men are more likely to disagree or strongly disagree (25%) than are women (9%).

"It is important to me to incorporate gender perspectives in my courses or programs."

• Mean = 1.81, median = 1.
• A nearly identical pattern exists for the importance of gender as for ethnic perspectives. Most faculty report this is at least somewhat important (81%), with a significant group (especially for males - 24%) not finding it particularly important.

I created a composite score for the first 12 questions in Section 1 - Climate in department/unit. The most positive response to each question scored a 1 and the least a 5, making a possible range of 12 to 60. The mean for this composite score is 27.3 and a median score of 25. Although women were slightly less positive than men about the climate, the difference was not statistically significant. Faculty with less than 10 years at MTSU were less positive than faculty with more years (p=.007). Minority members did not report less satisfaction with the climate than did whites.

Section 2: The climate in your department. The following questions (#15-22) refer to the climate in the department or unit at MTSU. "My department is... (1) - My department is not... (5)." The bolded comments and percentages refer to the same questions asked of MTSU in general (#39-46). "MTSU is ... (1) - MTSU is not... (5)"

"Accessible to people with disabilities"

• Mean = 2.09 (1.86), median = 2(2).
• Most of the faculty (70% -- response of 1 or 2) report that people with disabilities have accessibility to the department, but we do know that there are some exceptions. For example, my office on Main Street is not at all accessible to anyone in a wheelchair. A somewhat confusing finding is that 79% of faculty believe MTSU to be fairly accessible.

"Supportive of people with disabilities"

• Mean = 1.85 (1.78), median = 2 (2).
• Perhaps more importantly in terms of achieving complete accessibility is that 79% of the faculty report their departments to be supportive of people with disabilities. Nearly 81% report that MTSU is supportive.

"Non-racist"

• Mean = 1.81 (2.08), median = 1.5 (2).
• Although the majority report that their departments are non-racist (79%), this, of course, demonstrates that 21% report that their departments are at least somewhat racist. In contrast nearly 29% report that MTSU is somewhat racist.
• Minorities are slightly more likely to report moderate racism (response #3) in the department than are whites (25.6% to 10.7%; p=.04) but the same difference does not exist for perceptions of MTSU in general.

"Non-sexist"

• Mean = 1.97 (2.13), median = 2 (2).
• A similar pattern exists for sexism. The majority report their departments are non-sexist (74%). Although this means 26% report their department is at least moderately sexist, the difference is not explained by sex. Nearly 31% report that MTSU is at least moderately sexist.

"Supportive of non-heterosexuals"

• Mean = 2.29 (2.5), median = 2 (2).
• Nearly 40% of faculty report their department is not very supportive of non-heterosexuals while 48% report that MTSU is not very supportive. In fact, 10% report there is no departmental support for non-heterosexuals and 8% report there is not MTSU support.

"Supportive of different religious beliefs"

• Mean = 1.99 (2.34), median = 2 (2).
• Approximately 71% of the faculty report department support for different religious beliefs, while only 57% report that MTSU is supportive. Perhaps these differences can be explained by the more personal interaction within a given department and the "separation" of church and state within MTSU as a whole.

"Support of people with dependent children"

• Mean = 1.87 (2.21), median = 2 (2).
• Approximately 76% of faculty report departmental support, in contrast to only 67% report support from MTSU.

"Supportive of people with dependent adults"

• Mean = 2.12 (2.35), median = 2 (2).
• Similarly, 66% report department support. There is a statistical difference for those who serve as adult caregivers, suggesting an important concern, but the numbers of adult caregivers in the study is very small (n=13). Approximately 61% report MTSU as supportive, but this difference is not explained by being an adult caregiver.

I created two summative scores for these support questions (department and MTSU) to test if 1) respondents were consistent in their evaluation of their department/unit and MTSU in general, and 2) as a group did the evaluations of department/unit differ from those of MTSU in general. The respondent answers suggested a fair consistency between department and MTSU - significant correlation of .71. The mean scores were statistically different - overall MTSU in general was reported to be less accessible and supportive than a person's department or unit (paired samples T-test, p<.000).

Section 3: The climate at MTSU in general.

"Diversity is good for MTSU and should be actively promoted by student, staff, faculty and administrators"

• Mean = 1.48, median = 1.
• A vast majority of faculty agree or strongly agree that diversity is good for MTSU (93%).

"MTSU is placing too much emphasis on achieving diversity"

• Although the majority think diversity is good, a somewhat surprising percentage (29%) respond that MTSU is placing too much emphasis on achieving diversity.
• Mean = 3.15, median = 3.

"MTSU has a climate which fosters diversity"

• Mean = 2.2, median = 2.
• Nearly 72% of the faculty agree or strongly agree that the MTSU climate fosters diversity, but there exists a significant difference between minority and white responses.
• Approximately 75% of white faculty agree or strongly agree while only 53% of minority faculty (p=.012).

"Top administrators are genuinely committed to increasing diversity at MTSU"

• Mean = 2.42, median = 2.
• Although 67.5% agree or strongly agree with this statement, a large percentage of faculty (22%) simply don't know if this is true, especially faculty on campus for <5 years.
• Interestingly, faculty on campus for 5-10 years are most likely to disagree or strongly disagree (20.3%) that the administration is committed to increasing diversity, while those at MTSU for >20 years are most likely to agree (77.8%).

"One problem with pursuing the goal of diversity is the admission of too many under prepared students"

• Mean = 2.86, median = 3.
• Approximately 44% of the faculty agree or strongly agree (19%) this is indeed a problem.
• Although not statistically significant, there is a pattern of responses depending on years at MTSU. Faculty on campus for less than 10 years were less likely to disagree with this statement than those on campus over 10 years. These newer faculty were also more likely to respond with a "do not know" choice.

"Affirmative Action leads to the hiring of less qualified faculty and staff"

• Mean = 3.01, median = 3.
• Nearly 35% of the faculty agree or strongly agree with this statement. Males were statistically (p=.003) more likely to agree or strongly agree (43%) than were females (27%).
• Responses did not vary by minority status, position or years at MTSU.

"All MTSU undergraduates should be required to take at least one course that focuses on racial minorities' history, culture, or perspectives"

• Mean = 2.74, median = 3.
• Approximately 43% of the faculty agree or strongly agree, but females were more likely to do so than males (51% and 34%).
• Minority faculty are also more in agreement with this requirement (61.5%) than are white faculty (41%).

"Racial minority faculty are adequately represented on important university committees"

• Mean = 3.09, median = 3.
• Nearly 49% of faculty agree or strongly agree that racial minority faculty are adequately represented, but a significant percentage (37.4) reported that they did not know if the representation was adequate.

"All MTSU undergraduates should be required to take at least one course that focuses on women's history, culture, or perspectives"

• While 43% of the faculty support a course requirement for one concerning racial minorities, only 37% support such a requirement for a course on women.
• Mean = 2.87, median = 3.
• Although not a majority opinion, women did support this requirement (43%) to a greater degree than did males (30%).

"Women faculty are adequately represented on important university committees"

• Nearly 64% of faculty agree or strongly agree that women are indeed adequately represented. Faculty on campus less than 11 years are less likely to agree and more likely to respond that they do not know if the representation is adequate than faculty on campus for more than 10 years.
• Mean = 2.6, median = 2.

"All MTSU undergraduates should be required to take at least one course that focuses on ethnic minorities' history, culture, or perspectives"

• Mean = 2.71, median = 3.
• Similarly as for courses on women and racial minorities, 45% would support such a required course. Women (52.2%) were more likely to agree or strongly agree than were men (40%).

"Ethnic minority faculty are adequately represented on important university committees"

• Mean = 3.31, median = 3.
• As for women and for racial minorities, newer faculty report being less knowledgeable than faculty having been on campus for over 10 years. All in all, 41% of the faculty agree that ethnic minority faculty are adequately represented.

"Racial minority faculty are given the same opportunities for administrative positions as other faculty"

• Mean = 2.94, median = 2.
• A majority of faculty agree or strongly agree (54%) that opportunities are the same. Of those who do not agree, the most common category is the "don't know" response.

"Ethnic minority faculty are given the same opportunities for administrative positions as other faculty"

• Mean = 3.15, median = 3.
• Nearly equal percentages of faculty either agree/strongly agree that the opportunities are the same (47.5%), or don't know (40.4%).

"Female faculty are given the same opportunities for administrative positions as male faculty"

• Although the majority of faculty agree/strongly agree (58%) that women are afforded the same opportunities as males, males are more positive (65%) than are females (54%).
• Mean = 2.72, median = 2.

"In order to 'fit in' at MTSU, I often feel that I have to change some of my personal characteristics (e.g. language, dress, behaviors)"

• Mean = 3.03, median = 3.
• Only 35% report feeling the necessity of change, but an interesting difference is found between minority and white faculty. Minority faculty responses are fairly evenly spread. over the four categories from strongly agree to strongly disagree, while 48% of whites strongly disagree. (p=.01)

Section 4: The climate at MTSU in general. MTSU is...

• See Section 2 above

Section 5: Climate at MTSU in general: (Excellent - 1 to Poor - 4)

"Respect by faculty members for students of different racial and ethnic groups"

• Although the sample as a whole reports respect to be good to excellent (74%), only 58% of minorities do so compared to 76.5% of whites.
• Mean = 2.2, median = 2.

"Respect by students for faculty of different racial and ethnic groups"

• Mean = 2.72 and median = 2
• A somewhat different pattern as above is found for this question. Overall, 61% of the faculty think the respect they receive from students is fair to good, but 21% of minority faculty report the respect to be poor compared to 10% of white faculty (p=.046).

"Racial/ethnic integration on campus"

• Only 44% of the group thinks integration is good (33%) to excellent. One might expect minorities to report a significant difference, but this is not the case. What is interesting is that women are less likely (p=.024) to report the integration to be excellent (7.4%) than are men (15.9%) and more likely to report it to be poor (20.4%) than are men (8.4%).
• Mean = 2.7and median 3.

"University commitment to the success of students of different racial and ethnic groups"

• The majority (69%) report commitment to be good to excellent but minority faculty report such a level of commitment less so (46%) than do white faculty (72%).
• Mean = 2.28 and median = 2.

"University commitment to the success of faculty of different racial and ethnic groups"

• A similar pattern as the previous question is found here. The majority of faculty report commitment to be good to excellent, but minority faculty are less positive (46%) than are white faculty (70%). Nearly 14% of minority faculty report the commitment to be poor, as compared to 6% of white faculty.
• Mean = 2.36, median = 2.

"University commitment to the success of women students."

• The majority (72%) report good to excellent commitment, but more women also say fair to poor (24.8%) than do men (10.5%). More men report that they do not know the level of commitment (11.4%).
• Mean = 2.19 and median = 2.

"University commitment to the success of women faculty"

• Similarly the majority (69%) report good to excellent commitment, but more women also say fair to poor (29%) than do men (14%). The largest response category is "good" for women (43%) and "excellent" for men (42%).
• Mean = 2.21, median = 2.

"Friendship between faculty of different racial and ethnic groups."

• The majority (65.5%) report good to excellent.
• Mean = 2.47 and median = 2.

"Racial and ethnic relations in the classroom"

• The majority report good to excellent relations (62%), but an important 28.5% report relations to be fair to poor. These responses did not differ by sex , years at MTSU, or racial grouping.
• Mean = 2.43 and median = 2

Sections 6 and 7: Frequency of being treated unfairly based on personal characteristics (see table at end of section for percentages over entire sample). As reported rates of harassment overall are very small and follow a similar pattern as for unfair treatment, I have combined the reporting of these sets of questions. Responses for harassment based on the listed characteristics are in bold type.

"How often have you been treated unfairly (harassed) at MTSU because of your race?"

• Mean = 3.7 (3.87), median = 4 (4).
• Most faculty reported never (81%/92.9%) and only 1.5% reported often. These percentages did differ (p< .000) by minority status - 87% (97%) of whites said never, while minorities 50% (73.7) reported never and 26.3% sometimes (8% often).

"How often have you been treated unfairly (harassed) at MTSU because of your ethnicity?"

• Mean = 3.71 (3.91), median = 4(4).
• Very similar to the above response set, most faculty reported never (83%/94.8%), but again, these percentages did differ by minority status - 89% (98%) of whites compared to 46% (79%)of minorities reported never, while 8.1% reported often compared to almost 1% of whites.

"How often have you been treated unfairly (harassed) at MTSU because of your gender?"

• Mean = 3.24 (3.63), median = 4 (4).
• Overall, 24% (21%) reported this has happened "sometimes" to "often" but more men than women reported they have never been treated unfairly (harassed) due to gender (73% to 43% and 90.6% to 71.3%).

"How often have you been treated unfairly (harassed) at MTSU because of your sexual orientation?"

• Mean = 3.79 (3.88), median = 4 (4).
• Although 89% of the faculty reported never (only 8.2% of the faculty claimed to be non-heterosexual), 14% of the male faculty did report some unfair treatment compared to only 7% of women. Obviously to me this reflects the somewhat harsher societal attitude toward gay/bisexual males than females. Further, 13.5% of minority faculty reported harassment "rarely" to "often" compared to 4.5% of white faculty.

"How often have you been treated unfairly (harassed) at MTSU because of your social class?"

• Mean = 3.73 (3.9), median = 4 (4).
• Although the majority of faculty (81.5%) report never, those who have experienced this unfair treatment differ by racial grouping (30% report some unfair treatment compared to only 15% of whites).
• The same is true for the majority of faculty concerning harassment. Approximately 96% report never, but harassment does differ by racial grouping (15.8% report some harassment compared to only 3.5% of whites).

"How often have you been treated unfairly (harassed) at MTSU because of your religion?"

Mean = 3.56 (3.78), median = 4 (4).

• Nearly 15% also reported unfair treatment sometimes (12.4%) to often (2.3%). Those reporting no religious faith or one other than Christianity reported more unfair treatment. This is particularly true for those reporting a religious faith other than Christianity, Jewish or Muslim (40% report sometimes to often).
• Nearly 14% report being harassed rarely to often.

"How often have you been treated unfairly (harassed) at MTSU because of your age?"

• Mean = 3.54 (3.84), median = 4 (4).
• Approximately 15% of the faculty reported unfair treatment sometimes or often due to age. (Note the mean/median age is about 47.)
• Only 9% report any harassment at all.

"How often have you been treated unfairly (harassed) at MTSU because of your accent/dialect?"

• Mean = 3.66 (3.84), median = 4 (4).
• Only 10.5% of the faculty report unfair treatment sometimes or often, but this varied significantly by minority status. Thirty percent of minority faculty report unfair treatment sometimes to often, compared to only 7% of white faculty.
• Overall only 5.2% report being harassed sometimes or often but this also varies by minority status. Approximately 13% of minority faculty report being harassed sometimes to often, compared to only 3% of white faculty.

"How often have you been treated unfairly (harassed) at MTSU because of your national origin?"

• Mean = 3.82 (3.91), median = 4 (4).
• Only 6% of the faculty report unfair treatment sometimes or often, but again this varied significantly by minority status. Thirty percent of minority faculty report unfair treatment sometimes to often, compared to only 2% of white faculty.
• Again the same relationship holds for being harassed. Minority faculty report at least some harassment (19%) compared to only 1.3% of white faculty.

"How often have you been treated unfairly (harassed) at MTSU because of your disability?"

• Mean = 3.85 (3.93), median = 4 (4).
• Similarly only 5% (2.1%) reported unfair treatment (harassment) sometimes or often.

Section 8: Frequency of feeling pressure to remain silent about issues concerning groups at MTSU (see table at end of section for percentages of the entire sample).

"How often have you felt pressure to remain silent about issues concerning racial minorities?"

• Mean = 3.29, median = 4.
• Approximately 25% of the faculty reported sometimes or often feeling pressure, but the responses did not vary by racial grouping.

"How often have you felt pressure to remain silent about issues concerning ethnic minorities?"

• Nearly 20% reported sometimes or often feeling pressure, but again the responses did not vary by racial grouping.
• Mean = 3.41, median = 4.

"How often have you felt pressure to remain silent about issues concerning women?"

• Approximately 22% of faculty report sometimes or often feeling pressure, but the responses did not vary by years at MTSU, position, sex, or sexual orientation.
• Mean 3.35, median = 4.

"How often have you felt pressure to remain silent about issues concerning men?"

• Comparatively fewer faculty report feeling pressure to remain silent about issues concerning men (14.2%) than women, but again the responses did not vary by years at MTSU, position, sex, or sexual orientation.
• Mean = 3.56, median = 4.

"How often have you felt pressure to remain silent about issues concerning non-heterosexuals?"

• Mean 3.3, median = 4.
• Approximately 23% reported feeling pressure to remain silent sometimes or often.
• Although the numbers are very small (n=21 self identified gay, lesbian, or bisexual), the responses did vary by sexual orientation (p<.000). Interestingly gays/lesbians more frequently report they often felt pressure (40%) to remain silent.

"How often have you felt pressure to remain silent about issues concerning people with disabilities?"

• Mean = 3.68, median = 4.
• Only 9.3% of faculty felt pressure sometimes or often.

"How often have you felt pressure to remain silent about issues concerning individuals from different national origins?"

• Mean = 3.59, median = 4.
• Only 12% report sometimes or often feeling pressure.

"How often have you felt pressure to remain silent about issues concerning religious groups?"

• Mean = 3.3, median = 4.
• Overall 25% report sometimes or often feeling pressure to remain silent. This is especially true for those who claim no religious affiliation (38.3%) or claim affiliation with religious groups other than Christian, Jewish, or Muslim faiths (42%) - p=.047.

Across most of these questions, there is a consistent pattern of some faculty reporting feeling pressured to remain silent about these varied groups, but my sense is that these are situational pressures and not ones easily explained by ones sex, race, religion, position within the faculty, etc. With rare exception significant differences were not found based on these demographic categories. Perhaps if the numbers were larger for some of the groups, more sophisticated analyses could be done to identify interaction effects.

Section 9: Frequency of reading, hearing, or seeing insensitive or negative comments or material at MTSU about different groups (see table at end for percentages of entire sample of faculty).

"How often have you read, heard, or seen insensitive or negative comments or material at MTSU about racial minorities?

• As one might expect, answers differed by racial groupings (p=.001). Although minority and white groups report similar "never" responses, they differed in degree. Minority faculty are more likely to report "sometimes" (34.2%) compared to "rarely" being the most frequent response from white faculty (38.4%).
• Mean = 3.01, median = 3.

"How often have you read, heard, or seen insensitive or negative comments or material at MTSU about ethnic minorities?

• Mean = 3.17, median = 3.
• Similar to the responses in the previous question, minority and white faculty are the same in reporting "never" but differ in frequency. Minority faculty are more likely to report "sometimes" (28.9%) compared to "rarely" being the most frequent response from white faculty (32.9%).

"How often have you read, heard, or seen insensitive or negative comments or material at MTSU about women?"

• Mean = 3.00, median = 3.
• Only 35% of the faculty report never having read, seen or heard such comments or material. Obviously this implies that 65% have, but the findings do not differ by sex.

"How often have you read, heard, or seen insensitive or negative comments or material at MTSU about men?"

• Mean = 3.39, median = 4.
• Compared to negative comments or material about women, faculty report never having read, seen or heard such comments about men more frequently (59%). Again the findings do not differ by sex.

"How often have you read, heard, or seen insensitive or negative comments or material at MTSU about non-heterosexuals?"

• Mean = 2.81, median = 3.
• About 31% of faculty report not having witnessed insensitivity or negativity about non-heterosexuals, but this does differ by sex (p=.004). Women were less likely to witness this negativity than men (38% to 22%, respectively). They are also more likely to report having often witnessed this negativity (11.4% to 8.4%).
• Keeping in mind the numbers are small, 80% of gays/lesbians report these insensitivities sometimes or often compared to 50% for bisexuals and 36% for heterosexuals.

"How often have you read, heard, or seen insensitive or negative comments or material at MTSU about people with disabilities?"

• Mean = 3.62, median = 4.
• Again, most faculty report never having read, seen or heard insensitivity or negativity about people with disabilities (71%). Of those who did witness such negativity it was rarely so (21%).

"How often have you read, heard, or seen insensitive or negative comments or material at MTSU about individuals from different national origins?"

• Mean = 3.14, median = 3.
• Approximately 55% of the faculty report having read, seen or heard some negativity, but most of this was rarely so (29%) or sometimes (23%).

"How often have you read, heard, or seen insensitive or negative comments or material at MTSU about religious groups?"

• Mean 3.07, median = 3.
• Approximately 57% of the faculty reported having read, seen or heard some negativity, and most reported "rarely." These responses did vary by religious affiliation (p=.001). Those not affiliated with any particular religious group or those claiming an affiliation other than Christian, Jewish or Muslim were most likely to report witnessing such negativity sometimes or often (44.6% and 57.9%, respectively for these groups).

"How often have you read, heard, or seen insensitive or negative comments or material at MTSU about older faculty?"

• Mean = 3.15, median = 3.
• Nearly 50% report never having witnessed such insensitivities while nearly 50% have, but the responses do not vary within the included demographic categories.

"How often have you read, heard, or seen insensitive or negative comments or material at MTSU about older students?"

• Mean = 3.40, median = 4.
• Approximately 58% report never having heard, seen, or read negativity. And again the responses seem to be fairly consistent across the different demographic categories.

Section 10: Feelings of safety (reported in %)

Note: For each of the following questions of safety, responses differed by sex, those with an asterisk * were statistically different. Male and female responses for "very safe" feelings are shown in bold on the bottom two rows of the table. Males consistently report feeling more safe than females, especially walking across campus, attending evening activities, and in the parking lots.

Section 11: Actions relative to diversity. (The most important responses for the following questions seem to me to be NA —not applicable-- or that they sometimes or often respond. Therefore the summations will follow this pattern. One other point to make is that many of the following questions ask people to report on their own negative actions. Given the tendency for people not to want to look bad, the percentages should be used with caution.)

"In the past year, how often have you challenged others on racially/ethnically derogatory comments?"

• NA = 27%. Faculty report challenging others sometimes (26%) or often (5.3%). The responses did not vary by racial grouping.

"In the past year, how often have you challenged others on sexually derogatory comments?"

• NA = 26.3%. Faculty report challenging others sometimes (24.4%) or often (6.4%). The responses did not vary by sex.

"In the past year, how often have you made a derogatory comment or joke about gays, lesbians, bisexuals, or transgendered persons?"

• NA plus never = 90.6%.

"In the past year, how often have you developed friendships with people from different cultures or groups?"

• NA = 6%. Faculty report sometimes (43.6%) or often (36.1%) developing friendships. The responses did not vary by racial grouping.

"In the past year, how often have you made a derogatory statement or joke about a religion or religious beliefs other than your own?"

• NA plus never = 77%. Faculty report making negative comments sometimes (4.9%) or often (1.9%). The responses did not vary by religious affiliation.

"In the past year, how often have you refused to participate in comments or jokes that are derogatory to any group, culture, or gender?"

• NA = 28.6%. Faculty report refusing to comment sometimes (31.2%) or often (22.9%).

"In the past year, how often have you taken action to have offensive graffiti removed?"

• NA = 43.8%. Only 10.6% report sometimes or often taking such action.

"In the past year, how often have you made a derogatory statement or joke about persons with disabilities?"

• NA plus never = 95.8%.

"In the past year, how often have you attended non-classroom programs or activities about gender or issues related to women?"

• NA = 11.7%.
• Although nearly 38% report never attending such programs, another 35% report that they sometimes or often do so. The responses, as might be expected, did vary by sex but not by position at MTSU. Women are more likely to sometimes or often attend (44%) than are men (21.5%).

"In the past year, how often have you attended non-classroom programs or activities about the history, culture, or social concerns of various racial and ethnic groups?"

• NA = 11.7%.
• Similar percentages are found for these activities in that nearly 37% report never attending while 33% attend sometimes or often. Responses did not vary by racial grouping, sex, or positions at MTSU.

"In the past year, how often have you made a derogatory statement or joke about a person's age?"

• NA plus never = 78.6%.

"In the past year, how often have you made a derogatory statement or joke about a person's racial identity?"

• NA plus never = 94.6%.

Section 12: Familiarity about programs and services offered at MTSU.

*Differs by sex. Females more familiar than males.

Section 13: Interest in attending workshops. NOTE: You will notice a consistent percentage of persons expressing an interest in attending workshops dedicated to issues of diversity. It would behoove MTSU to build on this interest and continue to create opportunities for faculty to attend meaningful workshops.

*responses vary by position at MTSU. Tenure track and non-tenurable faculty express more interest than tenured faculty.

+responses vary by sex. Females express more interest than males.

**responses vary by sexual orientation. Non-heterosexuals express more interest than heterosexuals.