Do students perceive faculty as responsible for equitable learning environments? Results from a mixed-methods study

Abstract

ABSTRACT Despite having expertise, student voices have typically been left out of faculty professional development literature. The purpose of this study was to center college student voices around perceptions of equitable learning environments for use in faculty professional development programs. Using a mixed-methodology, student-driven approach, the current study examined students’ perceptions of college instructors' responsibilities to implement equitable classroom practices to more deeply inform faculty development programming on equity. Student responses were also compared to faculty perceptions. Participants were 66 undergraduates and 141 faculty from a comprehensive state university. Both students and faculty completed a survey assessing instructor responsibilities to implement highly equitable classroom practices, while students additionally completed open-ended questions about instructor responsibilities. Results revealed students and faculty had similar perceptions and both endorsed the importance of equitable classroom practices. Using content analysis to generate themes, students identified instructor responsibilities to promote learning environments that are: (1) caring and supportive, (2) safe and equitable, (3) individualized, (4) student-centered, and (5) active and collaborative. Overall, these themes shared considerable overlap with survey results measuring equitable classroom practices. The findings support efforts to include both student and faculty perceptions in the design, curricula, and evaluation of equity-based faculty professional development programs.