Perceptions of the university climate among students in different academic majors at two colleges of arts and sciences

Abstract

This study employed the semantic differential technique to investigate the consistency of differences in perceptions of the institutional climate among humanities, social science, and natural science majors in two colleges of arts and sciences. Significant differences were obtained on two of four factors. Humanities majors at one institution rated the institutional climate significantly higher on an Aestheticism/Idealism factor than their peers in the social sciences. A more significant finding was that social science majors at both universities rated the climate of their institution significantly higher on a Bureaucracy factor than either humanities or natural science majors. A possible explanation for this latter finding as the interaction of initial student dispositions and subsequent major field experiences is outlined.