A new survey for Lesley employees will advance our ongoing efforts to create a more inclusive environment at the university.
“We want to improve people’s experience on campus,” said Interim Chief Diversity Officer Lilu Barbosa.
Barbosa, along with Director of Assessment Linda Pursley and Director of Human Resources Jane Joyce, created the survey, which will launch in April, and will include many of the same questions in a version that approximately 1,000 students participated in last spring.
The student survey, which was the first of its kind administered by the university, focused on the topics of diversity and inclusion, asking students to assess and share their experiences.
According to Barbosa, our campus data shows that students from historically marginalized groups (such as people of color or individuals in the LGBTQ+ community) expressed that they often feel out of place on campus while also suggesting that students from dominant groups are largely unaware of racial, ethnic, gender or socioeconomic biases. The survey also uncovered negative treatment or bias around politics, age and religion.
“A lack of diversity also impacts how we experience and perceive the environment,” said Barbosa. “When you have very homogenous settings, for folks coming in who don’t share a particular social identity with the dominant group, it affects how they perceive that space, how they are perceived by others and ultimately how they experience that environment.”
Student survey confirmed some problems, unearthed others
Barbosa and Pursley assessed the extensive data from the student survey responses, including examples of bias and negative treatment, as well as positive experiences students had while interacting with their peers, faculty and staff.
The survey confirmed some issues of discrimination that Barbosa was aware of anecdotally, such as coursework that focused solely on a “hetero, white, male, middle class perspective.” The survey also brought new issues to the university’s attention.
For example, a number of commuter and off-campus students, many of whom are from historically marginalized groups, said they appreciated the increase in diverse programs, but scheduling conflicts prevented attendance. Students requested that events be streamed over the internet to allow them to participate, a tactic organizations such as the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Student Inclusion are more conscious of this year. This kind of feedback is helping the university create more targeted strategies in its work to make all students feel included and to improve the overall educational experience.
“It’s really about being evidence-based in our practices, not doing something because we think it’s appealing or sounds really interesting,” Barbosa said. “This is about organizational learning, how we can improve, how we can strengthen the climate.”
Assessing diversity and inclusion in the workplace
Like the student survey, the employee iteration will address issues related to the individual’s experiences on campus and how that person perceives the campus climate. The approximately 35 questions will encompass socioeconomic status, cultural norms, and peer-to-peer and student-to-peer interactions. Questions will also target Lesley’s work-life culture, such as if and how a department addresses diversity and inclusion.
Demographic questions will be included to help access the data and make it more useful for analysis, but Barbosa and Pursley stress that the survey will maintain employee anonymity.
“We would hope they feel they can be honest. There’s no interest or attempt to identify anyone,” Pursley said. “The only agenda is to be able to better target the work of the President’s Committee on Inclusive Excellence to try to improve the climate.”
As with the results from the student survey, the employee data will be presented in multiple public forums where the Lesley community can also provide feedback. Additionally, the President’s Committee on Inclusive Excellence will incorporate the survey results and community response into its ongoing work to create a more inclusive environment on campus.