University of Chicago Releases Results of Its Campus Climate Survey

The University of Chicago has completed a campus climate survey that measured students, faculty, and staff opinions on sexism and other topics. In the spring of 2016, the survey questionnaire was sent to 14,658 students, 3,315 faculty, academic appointees and postdoctoral researchers, and 7,621 staff.

The survey found that members of the campus community have a significantly more positive perception of their personal status on campus than they do of the overall institutional climate. For example, more than 60 percent of women on campus stated that their “proximal campus climate” regarding sexism was positive. But less than half thought the overall institutional climate was positive on issues of sexism.

Not unexpectantly, 82 percent of men on campus said their personal situation was positive and 73 percent viewed the overall campus climate on gender issues was positive.

Only 44 percent of women faculty said their personal experiences were positive regarding sexism. And only 36 percent viewed the institutional climate as positive regarding issues of sexism.

Women students were slightly more positive about their personal experiences and overall campus climate regarding sexism than were women faculty. Women staff members had the most positive experiences. Nearly three quarters of women staffers said their personal experiences were positive and more than half viewed the overall institutional climate on sexism as positive.